Killer of township official on trial in China county

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-16 09:41

BADONG, Hubei Province -- A waitress accused of stabbing an official to death and injuring another upon alleged sexual assault on May 10 was brought to court Tuesday in Badong County, central China's Hubei Province.

Deng Yujiao, 21, a local pedicurist, was charged by local procurators for intentionally assaulting others.

Deng's lawyers, Wang Shaopeng and Liu Gang, have said she is innocent, according to the Caijing Magazine.

Wang said the trial could last for three to four hours.

Police believe Deng, 21, conducted "excessive defense" when she allegedly killed Deng Guida and injured Huang Dezhi with a knife after she refused to join them in a bath on May 10. The two men are township officials of Badong county, under the administration of Enshi.

The men pushed, shoved and insulted Deng, according to a police statement from the Enshi Public Security Bureau.

The case has caused huge public uproar as police initially investigated the case as murder.

Before the trial, Deng was diagnosed with a "mental imbalance", which could result in a mitigation of criminal punishments, Caijing reported yesterday.

People who suffer from a "mental imbalance" usually show symptoms of both depression and anxiety, according to the report. According to Criminal Law, the maximum sentence for "intentional assault" is the death penalty. But because Deng turned herself in after the stabbing, she may face a sentence of less than 10 years with suspended sentences, legal experts said.

"No matter whether Deng is diagnosed as mentally imbalanced, she should be released or given a suspended sentence, " said Zhou Ze, a lawyer and professor with China Youth College for Political Science in Beijing. "But such a diagnosis will of course increase the possibility (of the granting of suspended sentences)."

People who are given suspended jail sentences are allowed to remain outside prison for a certain period of time. If during that time they commit no crime, the rest of their jail sentence is waived.