"The anchor was sentenced to life for taking drug couriers across provinces for fans" Second instance: whether it is subjectively knowing

　　On the morning of January 4, a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News confirmed from the parties' families and defense lawyers that the drug-related case of Mu, an Internet celebrity male anchor in Leshan, Sichuan, who was remanded for retrial, was tried in Xi'an.

　　On the afternoon of the 4th, Mu's defense lawyer said that the trial began at 10 a.m. and ended at about 14:40, and the prosecution and defense engaged in a heated argument over whether Mu knew that there were drugs in the suitcase stored in the dry cleaner, and the case was not pronounced in court.

　　The context of the case

　　It was ruled that the case was remanded for retrial because the facts were unclear and the evidence was insufficient

　　On August 6, 2019, 21-year-old Mu was arrested by Xi'an police in Xianyang, Shaanxi. On August 7, he was detained on suspicion of transporting drugs.

　　In August 2020, the Xi'an Municipal Procuratorate filed a public prosecution with the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court. The Xi'an Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to life and a fine of 100,000 yuan for illegal possession of drugs.

　　In January 2022, the Shaanxi Provincial High Court ruled to remand for a new trial on the grounds that "some of the facts in the original judgment were unclear and the evidence was insufficient". In May 2023, after the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court upheld the original verdict, Mu appealed again.

　　According to the notice of appearance of the Shaanxi Provincial High Court, the case of the appellant Mu's illegal possession of drugs accepted by the court is scheduled to be tried in open court at 10 a.m. on January 4 in the Ninth Court of the Yiyi District Court of Xi'an City.

　　Former Internet celebrity

　　When I was in my third year of high school, I could earn hundreds of yuan a day by doing live broadcasts

　　Mu's father told a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News that his son was from Muchuan County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province, and was arrested before his 21st birthday. "He was born on August 8, 1998, in Xi'an on August 6, 2019, and entered the Xi'an Yunyi District Detention Center on his birthday on August 8, 2019. ”

　　Before the case, Mu was the anchor of a cultural media company in Muchuan County, and the short video platform account he was responsible for operating had 155,000 followers. Mu's classmates testified that they were students at a local vocational high school, and that Mu was in his third year of high school and was already earning hundreds of yuan a day when he was doing live broadcasts.

　　The relevant verdict shows that according to Mu's confession, around 2016, he met his fan Yang, and cheered him on from time to time, at most once he swiped nearly 1,000 yuan as a gift, and the two sides added WeChat and QQ.

　　Inter-provincial pick-up

　　claimed to have been instructed by a fan to pick up a suitcase and was caught by the police

　　On August 5, 2019, Mu received a WeChat call from Yang, asking him to help him go to Xi'an to pick up the things put by his friend, and someone would take them from him, and after the matter was completed, he would be reimbursed for the travel expenses and given him a reward of 20,000 yuan.

　　Early the next morning, Mu flew from Chengdu to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and found a hotel near Xianyang People's Hospital. Yang asked him to go to a dry cleaner to pick up a suitcase that a man had deposited on August 5, and when he walked out of the dry cleaner with the suitcase, he was immediately arrested by the police who had deployed the suitcase. Police seized 5 cans of suspected drugs with a net weight of 3,255.17 grams from the suitcase. Heroin was found in all five cans.

　　The chat records extracted by the police show that during the whole process, Mu reported the road situation to Yang, sent photos of boarding passes, and after he went to the laundry, Yang asked if he had opened the suitcase and whether it was heavy, and the other party transferred 2,000 yuan, 1,000 yuan and 500 yuan to him respectively.

　　There is a reward for reporting

　　Some people choose to call the police, and Internet celebrities have long been targeted by the police

　　According to the relevant verdict, Gu Moumou's testimony said that on August 1, 2019, he went to Chongqing to find his ex-girlfriend to get back together. The next night, he drank too much and got into an argument with his ex-girlfriend, who dropped his phone, and he wanted to earn some money to buy a new phone for his ex-girlfriend.

　　In 2018, when he was in Myanmar, he heard from others that there were rewards for reporting drug production and trafficking and helping others bring drugs. So he searched with his mobile phone and found a "bring goods" post. After contacting the other party's QQ, the other party said that he would go to Xi'an to pick up the express and give him 10,000 yuan after the matter was completed.

　　Gu Moumou arrived in Xi'an earlier than Mu, but he chose to call the police and cooperated with the police, waiting for the receiver to appear. Instructed by the "upline", on August 4, 2019, Gu Moumou checked into the hotel. On the morning of August 5, he put the courier (that is, the suitcase that Mu picked up later) and a few pieces of clothes to a dry cleaner near Xianyang People's Hospital as required, and took photos of the laundry receipts and sent them to the "upline".

　　Court of first instance

　　Defendant found guilty of "illegal possession of drugs"

　　According to the criminal verdict of the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court, the court comprehensively judged the defendant Mu and his defender to argue that because of an account dispute, Mu was deceived into obtaining a courier and did not know that there were drugs hidden in the express package, the court made a comprehensive judgment as follows:

　　After investigation, the account information, tipping, and account transactions of the short video platform obtained by the police showed that it was impossible to confirm whether Mu's account was transferred to others. Yang confessed in July 2020 that he met Mu through live broadcast and denied instructing Mu to participate in drug trafficking. Therefore, the court held that this was only one side of Mu's words, and there was no relevant evidence to corroborate it.

　　In addition, according to Mu's confession during the investigation stage and the original trial, evidence such as the mobile phone chat records between Mu and the "upline", the arrest and investigation process, the boarding pass, and the seized drugs formed a chain of evidence, which is sufficient to determine that Mu was instructed by the "upline" to receive the courier with the drugs hidden, and not only collected the toll paid by the "upline" on the way that far exceeded the cost of the express delivery in a normal way, but also reported the situation on the way to the "upline" at any time, and Mu's behavior clearly violated the usual handover method of legal items. Combined with Mu's confession during the investigation stage, the "upline" promised to pay him a high remuneration afterwards, which is sufficient to determine Mu's subjective knowledge that there may be drugs hidden in the express package.

　　The evidence in this case shows that Mu was instructed by the upline to go to the laundry to pick up the drug package when he knew that there might be drugs hidden in the package he picked, and was later arrested by the police, constituting the crime of illegal possession of drugs in accordance with the law.

　　In this regard, the defense lawyer has been defending Mu's innocence, saying that Mu was lured to Xianyang by Yang, who had a debt dispute with him, and Yang promised to return the 20,000 yuan in arrears after helping, and Mu did not know about the drugs in the suitcase.

　　The second instance was held

　　The classmate testified in court, saying that the anchor had an account dispute

　　On the afternoon of January 4, Mu's father told reporters that four witnesses, including Mu's classmates and friends, were willing to testify in court. However, only two of Mu's classmates testified in court that day, proving that there was indeed an economic dispute between Mu and Yang over the Kuaishou account. The other two witnesses were unable to appear in court for some reason, and "the presiding judge asked the defense to follow up with these two witnesses to collect video testimony." ”

　　Mu's father said that he learned from Mu's classmate that Mu had agreed with Yang to sell his Kuaishou account with 150,000 fans to Yang at a price of 40,000 yuan. Yang paid 800 yuan first, and Mu handed over the account number and password to Yang, but found that the account was stolen in less than a week. After the two parties agreed to bear half of the responsibility, the transaction price became 20,000 yuan. Mu once asked the above-mentioned classmate to help him appeal and recover the account, and if he could get it back, he would sell it for 40,000 yuan, but it was unsuccessful, "After the appeal failed, Mu frequently called Yang to ask for money to no avail, and he also mentioned the matter with his classmates to discuss how to get the account." ”

　　Mu's father said that during the trial, the judge asked Mu, "Yang has always refused to contact him and said that he has no money, why do you believe that the other party has the money to pay you back this time (to help Yang pick up the express)?" Mu replied that Yang clearly told him that he was taking valuables, and he went to Xianyang to take the valuables in his own hands, and if Yang did not give the money to buy the account, he would not give the valuables to Yang.

　　Prosecution and defense focus

　　Whether the anchor subjectively knew that there were drugs in the courier

　　On January 4, Mu was sentenced to life for the express delivery of drugs for fans in the second instance of the Xi'an Yiyi District Court. On the afternoon of the 4th, Mu's defense lawyer told reporters that the main focus of the trial that day was still whether Mu subjectively knew that there were drugs in the courier.

　　On the same day, Mu's defense lawyer continued to defend Mu's innocence. The reason is that Mu did not know that there were drugs in the suitcase, and the reason why he agreed to Yang to go to Xianyang, Shaanxi Province to pick up things was because he had a Kuaishou account economic dispute with Yang, "Although Mu is an anchor, his monthly salary and bonus are only four or five thousand yuan, and when the person who owes him money says that he can pay back the money by picking up things, he believes it rashly." ”

　　When Mu was arrested by the police, he learned from the police that the suitcase was full of drugs, and since then the suitcase has been controlled by the police, and Mu cooperated with the police to find and arrest Yang. In addition, Mu has no history of drug involvement, and the information provided by the police also shows that Mu's urine tests for drugs are all negative.

　　The verdict in the case was not pronounced in court on the 4th.

Source: Huashang Net-Huashang Daily