Villager caught in land dispute narrowly avoided severe punishment, sought help from Zhiming lawyer and received reduced sentence
To increase income, villagers Li Mou-sheng and Liu Mou-fu from Ling Village, Dayu County, Jiangxi Province, planted saplings and other cash crops on their barren self-owned hills, which unexpectedly brought them endless trouble.
On November 11, 2014, Li Mou Sheng and Liu Mou Fu received a lawsuit from the court: the reason was that they had planted seedlings hastily next to a newly built substation and used violent threats in an attempt to obtain more demolition compensation. A week later, the first-instance verdict was issued: Li Mou Sheng and Liu Mou Fu were convicted of extortion and sentenced to five years and six months in prison, with a fine of 15,000 yuan.
Li Mou Sheng and Liu Mou Fu, dissatisfied with the first-instance verdict, sought out Jia Runlian, a lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm. After reviewing the relevant materials, Lawyer Jia drafted legal documents such as "Objections to the Facts Found in the First-Instance Verdict" overnight to appeal for the two clients. Lawyer Jia argued that the planting activities of Li Mou Sheng and Liu Mou Fu were normal agricultural production, not hasty planting, and did not involve extortion. Furthermore, the compensation for land acquisition received by her clients was obtained through negotiation with the substation, so there was no use of violent threats as stated in the first-instance verdict. The court accepted Lawyer Jia's appeal arguments and ultimately reduced the sentence to one year and six months. Lawyer Jia also received the gratitude of the clients!
