[2] Yang, a resident of Haiyang City, Shandong Province, suspected her husband of having an affair. She enlisted a friend to tail him, aiming to gather evidence for a future divorce. Yang also did something she thought was very satisfying: she followed her husband to his lover's residence, broke in to catch them in the act, and took nude photos of the pair.[3] Recently, after a public prosecution by the Haiyang City Court, the court issued a first-instance verdict. Yang and her friend Wu were found guilty of unlawful trespass and sentenced to six months of criminal detention, suspended for six months.
 

[4] In the first half of 2018, Yang and her husband Liu frequently argued due to marital discord. Yang then suspected her husband of having an affair but lacked evidence. After her husband filed for divorce, Yang sought to catch him cheating to gain an advantage in property division during the divorce proceedings. She enlisted her friend Wu to tail her husband together.

[5] One day, Yang saw her husband Liu riding an electric scooter with a woman on the street. Yang and Wu followed Liu to a residence. After Liu entered, Yang and Wu waited for a long time with no movement. Yang listened at the door for a while and, thinking the time was right, they forcefully kicked the door open and rushed inside. They found her husband and a woman naked. Yang felt she had finally found evidence of her husband's affair. She rushed forward and took photos of the pair with her phone. Later, Yang's husband Liu called the police, and the Haiyang City Court initiated an investigation.
 

[6] Subsequently, the Haiyang City Procuratorate indicted Yang and Wu for the crime of unlawful trespass, bringing the case to the Haiyang City Court.The court found that during her divorce proceedings with her husband Liu, Yang, in collusion with Wu, forcibly entered Li's residence by kicking the door without permission from Liu or Li, and took photos of Liu and Li who were inside. This case arose from a divorce, and Yang should not have obtained evidence illegally, let alone through criminal means. Yang and Wu unlawfully intruded into another person's residence, and their actions constituted the crime of illegal intrusion into a residence. (Source: China Economic Weekly)

A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm stated"Caught in the act" can provide direct evidence of a spouse's infidelity, but many parties involved, when faced with a cheating spouse, are easily swayed by emotions and mishandle evidence collection, rendering the obtained evidence not only unusable but also leading to legal trouble.

How to legally "catch a cheating spouse"?

1. When catching a cheating spouse, try to invite disinterested parties to accompany you. Do not act alone; instead, invite two or three people who can testify in court to come along, and use photography, audio recording, or video recording to document the evidence as much as possible.

2. Do not take overly explicit photos, let alone disseminate them; do not intimidate the other party to extort money; and do not engage in physical assault or personal attacks.

注意：

(1) Generally speaking, videos of adultery taken in one's own home can be used as legal evidence. Photos or videos taken in private spaces such as hotels or a third party's home cannot be used as evidence and may even lead to legal liability for violating third-party privacy or illegal trespassing.

(2) When discovering a spouse going to a hotel with a third party, directly barging in may involve infringing on others' privacy. The correct approach is to call 110 and report suspected prostitution. Police will enter the hotel and take statements from both parties, which can be used as evidence of the spouse's infidelity.

What if direct evidence of the spouse's infidelity cannot be found?

If direct evidence of the spouse's infidelity cannot be found, try to collect as much circumstantial evidence as possible, such as intimate photos, chat records, hotel check-in records, witness testimony, etc. If circumstantial evidence can corroborate each other and form a complete chain of evidence, it can also prove the fact of the spouse's infidelity.

注意：

(1) Do not alter any recordings, videos, photos, chat records, etc., such as deleting, editing, or clipping them, as this will affect their probative value.

(2) For easily deletable evidence such as voice messages, photos, and chat records, once obtained, go to a notary office for notarization as soon as possible.

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