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A Study on the Factors Limiting the Death Penalty for Intentional Homicide

Author(s)

Gao Ya

Affiliation(s)

School of Political Science and Law, University of Jinan, Shandong, Jinan, China

Abstract

This paper looks at the intentional homicide case of Li Chun. The court gave him a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, often called a suspended death penalty. The judges mentioned several reasons for this decision. They pointed to the defendant's voluntary surrender, some fault they saw on the part of the victim, and a pardon from the victim's family. This paper focuses on two contested issues: "victim fault" and "family pardon." It asks what counts as victim fault in criminal law and whether the court applied that idea correctly in this case. It also compares different views on whether a pardon from the victim's family should matter in intentional homicide cases. After looking at the facts and the law, this paper argues that both mitigating factors were used too loosely. Such easy leniency, the paper concludes, may weaken the death penalty's power to stop violence, especially in cases involving domestic abuse.

Keywords

Intentional Homicide; Victim Fault; Criminal Reconciliation; Death Penalty Mitigation; Domestic Violence

References

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