The second trial of "Jiangxi 11 year old boy left a suicide note to jump off a building" upheld the original verdict

On the morning of May 17, 2024, the Intermediate People's Court of Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province Zhang and Wang were sentenced publicly in the second instance of the case against Zou, the defendant in the original trial, for insulting and maltreating the ward 。

The picture shows the court hearing scene

The Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court found out after hearing that at about 16:00 on November 9, 2021, Zhang, a sixth grader of a primary school in Jiujiang City, fell from a building and died in his residential area. The public security organ arrived at the scene after receiving the alarm and found a suicide note on Zhang, saying that his death was related to the head teacher and Chinese teacher Zou. Before the incident, Zhang failed to complete the work according to the specified time and quality for many times. Classroom monitoring video shows that Zou used words such as "the king in debt" and "dishonest" when criticizing Zhang, and carried out behaviors such as changing seats, slapping the head and neck with pamphlets, and standing in class as a punishment. When Zou criticizes and educates other students in class, he uses the same language as Zhang.

Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court makes a judgment on the case

Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court held that Zou's criticism of Zhang's education behavior in daily teaching did not deviate from the educational purpose in essence. When he criticized other students in the classroom, he was also harsh and did not deliberately target Zhang. Zhang's classmates could correctly understand and accept Zou's criticism and education, There is no causal relationship between Zhang's death and Zou's behavior in the sense of criminal law. Zou's behavior does not constitute the crime of insulting or maltreating the guarded. In the first instance judgment, the facts were clearly identified, the evidence was reliable and sufficient, the application of the law was correct, and the trial procedure was legal. Therefore, the appeal was rejected and Zou's acquittal in the first instance was upheld.

When Zou criticized the education, he failed to pay attention to the psychological and emotional changes of Zhang, who was not yet physically and mentally mature. He did not strengthen the assistance to students and communicate with parents in a timely manner afterwards. Some of Zou's speech acts were also inconsistent with the requirements of the people's professional ethics for teachers, The competent education department has given Zou the corresponding party discipline and government punishment in combination with other violations of discipline.

Event review

The 11 year old boy jumped from a building and died, leaving a 37 word suicide note to accuse the head teacher. The court of first instance handed down a verdict of not guilty

On November 9, 2021, an 11 year old boy named Zhang jumped down from the 24th floor after school. In his 37 word suicide note, he accused the head teacher Zou of violence and said that his death was only related to her.

After the incident, when Zhang's parents checked the classroom's monitoring on the same day and the first half month, they found that Zou had repeatedly taunted, abused and pinched Zhang's face. According to Zhang's father, Mr. Zhang, on the day of the incident, Zhang was hated by Zou as many as 8 times. Zhang's parents filed a criminal private prosecution to the People's Court of Lianxi District, Jiujiang City, requesting that Zou be found guilty of insulting and maltreating the ward and investigated for criminal responsibility.

On the morning of August 9, 2023, the judgment of the first instance of the case was pronounced. The court held that Zou's criticism, education and punishment of Zhang took place in the normal process of education and teaching. Although there were some inappropriate words and behaviors, they did not deviate from the educational purpose in general. There is no evidence to prove that the defendant, Zou, committed an abusive act against Zhang, as claimed by the private prosecutor. After the sentence was pronounced, Zhang's parents filed an appeal.

On November 21, the second instance of the case was heard in Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court. Mr. Zhang (Zhang's father) told China News Weekly that they had submitted several sets of new evidence, including the transcripts of the Education Bureau on Zou and other parents, the transcripts of the public security investigation on Zou and Zhang's classmates, Zhang's own exercise books, exercise books, etc., hoping to prove in court that Zhang was not the "poor student" described by Zou.

"The core of this trial is still the evaluation and determination of Zou's behavior, which is an educational disciplinary behavior or an insult in the criminal law." He also mentioned that the classroom surveillance video was missing for six hours, and the video content is still a mystery.

No judgment was delivered in court in the second instance. The judge said that a technical team would be arranged later to identify and restore the original memory card of the video.

Site map of first instance judgment/Lianxi District People's Court

11 year old left a suicide note

For Mr. Zhang and his wife, Ms. Wang, there is no sign of Zhang's death. Mr. Zhang works in the traffic police department, while Ms. Wang is a psychological consultant. In their eyes, Zhang has always been a clever and sensible child.

At about 4 p.m. on the day of the incident, Mr. Zhang, a sixth grader, jumped down from another high-rise building in his community. The monitoring video shows that when he returned to the community, he did not walk through the nearest gate, but bypassed another gate.

On the third day of the incident, Mr. Zhang and his wife learned from the police that their son had left a suicide note. The posthumous note was written on the assignment paper: "I, I, Mr. Zhang, Cheng (Cheng) recognized that my death was not related to my parents, parents, society, or the country, but only to Mr. Zou, who used violence." The signature was signed by Mr. Zhang and printed with finger prints.

The suicide note left by Zhang (copy)

The couple's grief and anger were mixed. They sued Zou for insulting and maltreating the protected person through criminal private prosecution.

The monitoring video in the classroom becomes the key. After the incident, they repeatedly asked to view the surveillance video. At first, they were told that the video sound could not be recovered, only the video data. Later, Mr. Zhang contacted the technician himself and completed the repair of the video.

At last, a voice came out of the monitoring screen that day. Mr. Zhang and his wife heard Zou yelling at Mr. Zhang, "Mr. Zhang is a king in debt! The small volume is not qualified! The test paper is not qualified! The composition is also in debt!" "I never dreamed that Mr. Zhang was a liar in our class, and his words were untrustworthy.". In addition, Zou also called Zhang a "paper thief", laughed at his poverty and slapped Zhang on the head with a book. "I was resented eight times a day", Mr. Zhang believed that such public insults finally overwhelmed Zhang.

Since then, the couple saw the surveillance video of Zhang within 15 days before the accident. According to Mr. Zhang, Zou took Zhang as a "negative case" for many times, mocking, abusing, pinching his face, in addition to physical contact, punishment and standing.

Monitoring shows that Zou once slapped the child's face with a book/Ziniu News

In July 2022, the Education Bureau of Jiujiang City reported the handling opinions of Zou. The notice pointed out that Zou had "problems such as accepting red envelope gifts from service objects in violation of regulations, accepting banquets from service objects and accommodation arrangements in Lushan" and "problems such as ridiculing and discriminating against many students for many times". Zou was given a serious warning within the Party, reduced two post levels and transferred from teaching posts.

Mr. Zhang said that after being punished, Zou still stayed at the school and was transferred to the library.

The court of first instance delivered a verdict of not guilty

On April 29, 2023, the People's Court of Lianxi District, Jiujiang City will hear the case in the first instance. Mr. Zhang said that they had submitted a number of evidences, including the testimonies of students and teachers in the class, and the monitoring video of the classroom.

Mr. Zhang believes that Zou has been defending himself during the trial, "for example, my son does not hand in his homework and eats paper crazily". China News Weekly learned that Zou denied that he had beaten and scolded Zhang, and considered himself "equal" and "humorous teaching".

In August this year, the court sentenced Zou to be innocent. It was reported that the court found after hearing that the defendant, Zou, was a class teacher and a language teacher of Zhang. Before the incident, Zhang failed to complete his homework tasks according to the specified time, form and quality for many times, and asked for leave for many times.

According to the classroom monitoring video, during the teaching process from October 26 to November 9, 2021, the defendant Zou Mou criticized Zhang Mou by using words such as "stupid brain", "king in debt", "faithless words", "bite books and eat" and "common practices", and also implemented a pat on the head and neck with a book, a penalty of standing for about half an hour, a seat change After class, stand on the platform and read the text.

After trial, the court held that whether the defendant Zou's behavior constituted an insult in the crime of insult, it is necessary to accurately distinguish between the insult and the education punishment. Whether the defendant Zou's behavior exceeds the reasonable limit of education punishment stipulated in relevant education laws and regulations, and constitutes an insult behavior that demeans others' personality and destroys others' reputation in the crime of insult, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the legitimacy of its purpose, the legitimacy of its means, and the equivalence of its degree.

After reviewing the existing evidence, the defendant Zou's criticism, education and punishment of Zhang took place in the normal process of education and teaching. Although there were some inappropriate words and behaviors, they did not deviate from the educational purpose in general, aiming to promote Zhang to better complete his learning tasks, and draw lessons, recognize and correct mistakes; The educational and disciplinary measures adopted generally did not violate the provisions of the Punishment Rules for Primary and Secondary Education (for Trial Implementation) issued by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and to a certain extent, they were basically consistent with Zhang's behavior; In the basic cognition of Zhang's classmates, there was no negative impact on Zhang's personality and reputation. The court held that the defendant Zou's behavior did not meet the constitutive requirements of the crime of insult, and did not constitute a crime of insult.

The court also said that after the trial, it was found that there was no evidence to prove that the defendant Zou had committed an abusive act against Zhang, which the private prosecutor claimed. There is no other evidence to prove the abuse of other students by Zou, the accused accused by the private prosecutor, and it is beyond the scope of his private prosecution, which is not within the scope of the trial of this case. Therefore, the defendant Zou was judged innocent according to the law.

The court held that the defendant Zou's words and behaviors of criticism, education and punishment did not meet the relevant requirements of the construction of teachers' morality and style, and he also failed to care about the students' psychological emotions, and failed to strengthen the assistance to students and communication with parents in a timely manner. The competent education department has given the corresponding party discipline and government punishment to the behavior of violating the teacher's ethics and style.

The court deeply regretted Zhang's suicide and appealed to the whole society to pay more attention to the education of minors. Schools and teachers should pay attention to the ways and methods of education, pay more attention to home school cooperation, actively communicate with parents, and strive for parents' understanding, support and cooperation in implementing criticism, education, punishment and other measures; Parents should cooperate with schools and teachers to educate students and jointly promote the healthy growth of minors.

After the judgment of the first instance was pronounced, the private prosecutor appealed in court, and the defendant, Zou, said he would not appeal after serving the judgment.

"Punishment should be in good faith"

On November 21, the second instance of the case was heard in Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court. Mr. Zhang told China Newsweek that they provided evidence in court, hoping to explain the fact that the children complied with discipline, completed their homework on time, and completed their homework as required.

Tan Mintao, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongwen (Xi'an) Law Firm, said to China News Weekly that from the definition of the crime of humiliation, it refers to the use of violence or other methods to publicly degrade the personality of others, damage their reputation, and the circumstances are serious. In his opinion, the direction of the student's suicide note can prove that the teacher's criticism is the main factor in his suicide. However, whether the teacher's improper speech constitutes a crime of insult still needs to be combined with the teacher's language and behavior itself, even though the teacher may treat students differently for some reasons.

Tan Mintao said that the requirement of maltreatment for the crime of maltreating the protected person should be far higher than the standard of insult. When it cannot be proved that the standard of insult is met, it is generally difficult to meet the standard of maltreatment, "Usually, the crime of maltreating the guardians and carers belongs to a public prosecution case, and the family members directly file a private criminal prosecution, which is likely because the local public security organ does not think it constitutes a criminal case standard and does not file a criminal case." The failure of a private criminal prosecution does not prevent the family members from filing a civil lawsuit against teachers and schools, and requires the teachers and schools involved to pay civil compensation.

Some legal persons believe that, relatively speaking, whether the behavior of the teachers involved constitutes a crime of humiliation is more controversial in this case, which is also the focus of the court debate. In fact, similar private prosecution cases are not common. Mr. Zhang mentioned to China News Weekly the case of a 15-year-old female student who committed suicide by jumping from a building in Chongqing in 2003. The girl complained in her suicide note that the head teacher said she was "not qualified to sit on the stage". At that time, some media said that the case was the first case in Chongqing in which a student jumped from a building in school to commit suicide because of resistance to teachers' rude education. Finally, the head teacher involved was found guilty of insulting.

"Zou's behavior has gone beyond the scope of educational punishment", Mr. Zhang said, first of all, punishment should be rational, respectful, well intentioned, and have a legitimate purpose. However, insults and beatings are arbitrary and emotional. According to personal preferences, they are emotional ways of venting, and they are excessive, sometimes even malicious.

According to Mr. Zhang, he did not feel a kind of love for children from what Zou said to Zhang.

"Among so many children, only Zhang has such a thing, which does not mean that this kind of thing is a small probability event", Mr. Zhang said that they clearly stated in the court that the consequences of Zhang's suicide are closely related to Zou's injuries and insults in time, space and cause and effect.

After the incident, Mr. Zhang quit his job for 15 years and joined a Shanghai law firm in March this year to represent Mr. Zhang in his own case. Ms. Wang is still engaged in the work of a psychological consultant.

Author: Chen Weijing