Sentence reduced for young man who killed neighbor over land dispute

According to the indictment, there was a long-standing land dispute between the family of Phan Van Viet (born in 1983, living in the same hamlet) and Quang's family that had not been resolved. On the morning of August 10, 2017, when Mr. Viet went to the area where Quang and his father were clearing weeds, a fight broke out. As a result, Mr. Viet died, Mr. Phan Dinh Binh - Quang's father was injured in the abdomen, and Quang was slightly injured. Quang was identified as the person who stabbed his neighbor to death.

After many postponements and returning the case file for further investigation, in the first instance trial in September 2018, Nghe An Provincial People's Court sentenced Phan Dinh Quang to 20 years in prison, forced the defendant to compensate the victim more than 160 million VND, and provide 1.5 million VND/month for Viet's two children until they reach adulthood.

Subject Phan Dinh Quang. Photo: Nhu Binh

Phan Dinh Quang then filed an appeal to reduce his sentence. The legal representative of the victim also filed an appeal to cancel the first instance judgment and reinvestigate the case because they believe that the authorities have missed people and crimes against Mr. Phan Dinh Binh or increased the sentence for Phan Dinh Quang to death, and increased the child support for Mr. Viet to 2.5 million VND/month/child.

At the trial, the legal representative of the victim did not provide any new documents or evidence compared to the first instance trial. Before the high-level appeal trial took place, Phan Dinh Quang had influenced the family to fully compensate 160 million VND (30 million VND had been compensated during the investigation phase) according to the decision of the first instance judgment. This is considered a mitigating circumstance for the new sentence for the defendant according to the provisions of the law.

After a comprehensive review of the case, the High People's Court rejected all the appeals of the legal representative of the victim; accepted the appeal, partially amended the judgment, and sentenced Phan Dinh Quang to 18 years in prison, a reduction of 2 years compared to the first instance judgment. Regarding the amount of child support for the victim Viet, the High People's Court upheld the same as the first instance judgment.