On the crime of "Murder in a state of extreme agitation"

      Approved by the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court on August 22, 2019 and promulgated under Decision No. 293/QD-CA dated September 9, 2019 of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court.

Source of case law:

      Final judgment No. 162/2018/HS-GDT dated September 25, 2018 of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court on the case of "Murder in a state of extreme emotional agitation" against defendant Tran Van C, born in 1991

• Victim: Mr. Nguyen Hong Q, born in 1994 (deceased)

Location of case law

       Paragraph 1 of “Court's Opinion”

Overview of case law

• Case law

      The victim committed a series of illegal acts, continuously attacking the defendant, causing the defendant to be psychologically depressed and mentally agitated. In a state of losing self-control, the defendant used a knife to stab the victim in an attempt to escape the attack. The defendant did not fully realize the nature and level of danger of the actions he had committed. The consequences led to the victim's death.  

• Legal solutions

      In this case, the defendant must be prosecuted for the crime of "Murder in a state of extreme emotional agitation".

Legal provisions relating to precedents

      Provisions of Clause 1, Article 95 of the 1999 Penal Code (corresponding to Clause 1, Article 125 of the 2015 Penal Code)

Keywords of case law

      “Murder in a state of extreme agitation”; “Severe agitation”; “Loss of self-control”

       Contents of the case

      At approximately 11:30 p.m. on November 3, 2016, Tran Van C was playing games at the Internet cafe "Su Su" in village 1A, commune N, district K, Dak Lak province when his friend Nguyen Hong Q called to ask where C was. When he learned that C was playing games at the Internet cafe, Mr. Q also came and played at machine number 6. While playing games, Mr. Q came to where C was sitting many times to ask to borrow money, but C said he had no money. A while later, Mr. Q came to where C was sitting and gave him his 2 cell phones, asking C to pawn them to borrow money. C still did not agree, so Q went back to his seat and continued playing games.

      About 15 minutes later, Mr. Q came to C and said, "Don't you believe me? Help me." C replied, "I don't have any real money. Please go somewhere else so I can play." Mr. Q cursed, "Fuck you, remember my face." C heard that and said nothing. Mr. Q went back to his computer. A few minutes later, Mr. Q went to where C was playing the game and punched C hard on the left cheek, causing it to bleed. After being beaten, C angrily took the Thai knife that was on the table between the two computers, then held the knife in his right hand and stood on the chair he was sitting on. Seeing that, Mr. Q rushed over. C used the knife to swing it back and forth, hitting Mr. Q's face, causing it to bleed. Mr. Q rushed over and used both hands to pull C down onto the chair. Then, Mr. Q used both hands to clamp C's neck so that C's head was behind Mr. Q's back, and C's arms, body, and legs were in front of Mr. Q. With Mr. Q's neck clamped, C used his left hand to grab Mr. Q's right hip, while C's right hand held a Thai knife and stabbed Mr. Q once in the chest. Mr. Nguyen Hai Q1, who was playing a game, saw this and ran over to knock the knife out of C's hand and threw it into the corner of the shop. At this time, Mr. Q fell to the floor. Then, C and some people present in the shop took Mr. Q to the hospital for emergency treatment. On November 4, 2016, Mr. Q died. Immediately after that, C went to the K District Police to surrender.

      The autopsy results of Nguyen Hong Q recorded: The left forehead above the eyebrow has a slit-shaped skin tear, 0.7cm long. The tip of the nose has a 2cm long, 0.4cm deep, and 3cm away from this tear on the upper lip is a 2cm long slit-shaped skin tear. The right edge has a 3cm long, 0.8cm deep slit-shaped skin tear. The three skin tears form a discontinuous straight line from top to bottom, except from left to right. The right breast is 3.5cm forward from the right nipple, 9cm from the midline, with a 1.3cm long horizontal slit-shaped skin abrasion. The left breast is 120cm from the left heel, 5cm from the midline, with a 2.5cm long, 1cm wide tear, horizontally from left to right, from front to back, from outside to inside.

      In the forensic autopsy conclusion No. 714/QDPY dated November 24, 2016 of the Criminal Techniques Department of Dak Lak Provincial Police, it was concluded that the cause of death of Mr. Nguyen Hong Q was a penetrating wound to the left chest causing damage to the heart leading to cardiac arrest and irreversible acute circulatory failure.

       In the Forensic Injury Conclusion No. 113/PY-TgT dated January 4, 2017 of the Dak Lak Provincial Forensic Center, it was concluded that Tran Van C suffered an injury to his left cheek with a 02% injury.

       Before the first instance trial, Tran Van C's family compensated the victim's family 95,000,000 VND.

      In the First Instance Criminal Judgment No. 14/2017/HSST dated May 9, 2017, the People's Court of Dak Lak province applied Clause 1, Article 95; points b, h, p, Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 46 of the Penal Code, sentenced Tran Van C to 02 (two) years 06 (six) months in prison for the crime of "Murder in a state of extreme emotional agitation"; based on Article 43 of the Penal Code, Articles 606, 610 of the Civil Code, the defendant C was ordered to compensate the victim's family 122,600,000 VND, of which 95,000,000 VND had been compensated, the remaining compensation was 27,600,000 VND; forced to provide child support for Nguyen Hong M 600,000 VND/month; Regarding the newborn child of Mr. Nguyen Hong Q, Ms. Lai Thi Minh T has the right to file a lawsuit for alimony in another civil case upon request.

      In addition, the Court of First Instance also decides on the handling of evidence, court fees and declares the right to appeal according to the provisions of law.

      On May 22, 2017, the legal representative of the victim, Ms. Lai Thi Minh T, appealed, requesting the application of Clause 2, Article 93 of the Penal Code to Tran Van C and increasing the penalty; at the same time, requesting an increase in the level of support for Hong M and requesting to determine the responsibility for support for Mr. Q's newborn child, Hai D (born on April 29, 2017).

      On May 24, 2017, Tran Van C appealed for a reduction in sentence.

      In the Criminal Appeal Judgment No. 200/2017/HSPT dated August 10, 2017, the High People's Court in Da Nang based on points a, b, c, Clause 2, Article 248; Clause 3, Article 249 of the Criminal Procedure Code:

• Not accepting the appeal of defendant Tran Van
• Accept the appeal of the legal representative of the victim:

      + Amend the first instance judgment on criminal liability: Apply Clause 2, Article 93; points b, p, Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 46 of the Penal Code, sentence Tran Van C to 07 (seven) years in prison for the crime of "Murder".

      + Partially annul the first instance criminal judgment related to the victim's child support responsibility; transfer the case to the Dak Lak Provincial People's Court for re-settlement according to the provisions of law.

      In Judgment No. 47/2017/HSST dated September 14, 2017, Dak Lak Provincial People's Court decided to force Tran Van C to have the obligation to provide child support for 02 children Nguyen Hong M and Nguyen Hai D, each child 650,000 VND/month.

       In the Decision on appeal for review No. 15/2018/KN-HS dated May 22, 2018, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court decided to appeal the Criminal Appeal Judgment No. 200/2017/HSPT dated August 10, 2017 of the High People's Court in Da Nang and requested the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court to review the final judgment to annul the above criminal appeal judgment regarding the criminal liability of Tran Van C and transfer the case file to the High People's Court in Da Nang for re-trial.

      At the appeal hearing, the representative of the Supreme People's Procuracy agreed with the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court's decision to appeal for review and requested the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court to decide to annul the appeal judgment and uphold the decision of the first instance judgment regarding the crime and punishment for Tran Van C.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT:

• Regarding the crime: Based on the testimony of Tran Van C consistent with the testimony of witnesses Le Huu N1 and Nguyen Van N2, there is a basis to determine that the cause of the incident originated from the fault of the victim Nguyen Hong Anh Q.

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