Villager caught in land dispute narrowly avoided severe punishment, sought help from Zhiming lawyer and received reduced sentence

To increase their income, Li Mou-sheng and Liu Mou-fu, villagers from Lingmou Village in Dayu County, Jiangxi Province, planted seedlings and other cash crops on barren private hills, but little did they expect it would bring 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 judgment, sought the help of Attorney Jia Run-lian from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm. After reviewing the relevant materials, Attorney Jia drafted legal documents overnight, including "Objections to the Facts Found in the First-Instance Judgment," to file an appeal on behalf of the two clients. Attorney Jia argued that the planting activities of Li Mou-sheng and Liu Mou-fu constituted normal agricultural production, not malicious planting, and did not involve extortion. Furthermore, the land compensation obtained by her clients was negotiated with the substation, so there was no use of violence or threats as stated in the first-instance judgment. The court considered Attorney Jia's grounds for appeal and ultimately reduced the sentence to one year and six months. Attorney Jia also received the gratitude of her clients!