Why did the "Mercedes-Benz Gasai" incident ferment? Lawyer: Punishment should be hastily imposed on the basis of the degree of fault rather than the pressure of public opinion

Although a week has passed since the incident, the incident of "Mercedes-Benz plugging and smashing the hood" has not subsided on the Internet. On February 4, the police in Rizhao, Shandong Province also had to "go down" and confirmed that there was no fake license plate for the Chery car involved.

Why did the so-called "Rashomon" appear after the Xuwen County Public Security Bureau of Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, issued a "circular" over a trivial matter that caused a dispute over the order of passage? Hu Lei, a lawyer at the Sichuan Dingqi Law Firm, believes that the police should further investigate the causes and consequences of the entire incident, clarify the degree of Wang's fault in this matter, and should not rush to punish him in the face of public opinion pressure.

Some netizens said that the driver of the Chery car was suspected of driving without a license and overloading at the time of the incident

On January 31, the Xuwen County Public Security Bureau issued a "Circular" stating that at about 15 o'clock on the 29th, a white car (hereinafter referred to as Chery car) and a black commercial vehicle (hereinafter referred to as Mercedes-Benz) were queuing up to buy tickets and board the ship at Xuwen Port due to disputes over the order of passage. Mercedes-Benz passenger Wang (male, 40 years old, from Hebei Province) got off the station and went to Chery, stopped the car and insulted and smashed the hood of the Chery car with his fist, causing the hood to dent. Afterwards, the two sides drove away in their respective cars. At present, the Xu Wen police have imposed 10 days of administrative detention on Wang and fined him 500 yuan in accordance with the law.

Dashcam footage of the Mercedes-Benz car involved.

In a previous report, Ms. Xu (Douyin account "Wulian Xu August"), a passenger of Chery, posted a video saying that it was her 71-year-old grandmother who was driving the Chery car at the time of the incident. In the follow-up video released by Ms. Xu, it was also Ms. Xu's grandmother who came forward to accept the condolences of Chery's staff and drove the scooter provided by Chery.

Photos taken by netizens at the scene show that the driver of the Chery car is a man.

On the evening of February 1, some netizens posted pictures saying that the driver of the Chery car was a man, not a grandmother. On February 2, Ms. Xu said in an interview with Jiupai News: "I never said (grandma is a driver)."

After that, some netizens said that the driver of Chery was suspected of driving without a license, Chery was suspected of being overloaded, and Chery was also suspected of colliding with Wang, so Chery did not choose to call the police immediately after Wang smashed the hood. But so far, the Xu Wen police have not made any further report on the matter.

Media: The police should investigate the facts and respond to public concerns

On February 4, Jimu News commented, "(This) was originally a trivial matter that could open up the sky by taking a step back, but it has developed into such a huge public opinion turmoil, and many people have been caught in it, which is really regrettable and not worth it." The comment believes that since the police have intervened to deal with it, there should also be detailed investigation results, and a single sentence of "controversy due to the order of passage" cannot fully clarify the facts, and it is recommended to make further authoritative and detailed explanations for several doubts that netizens are concerned about, and respond to public opinion concerns.

Screenshot of Xu Wengang's surveillance video, the red circle is the location of the Mercedes-Benz car and Chery car.

Hu Lei, a lawyer at Sichuan Dingqi Law Firm, also believes that although the Xu Wen police quickly punished after the incident aroused public attention, whether they completely investigated the ins and outs of the entire incident played an important role in the handling of the incident. From the perspective of administrative law, the public security organs must impose public security penalties on those suspected of violating the administration of public security on the basis of clear facts of the violation and sufficient main evidence, and the administrative punishment follows the principle of proportionality of punishment, and the degree of fault of Wang in this mutual assault dispute is an important consideration for his administrative punishment, so it may be unfair to deal with Wang if it is not clear whether Wang smashed the car after being hit. ”

Hu Lei believes that the police should further investigate the causes and consequences of the whole incident, clarify the degree of Wang's fault in this matter, and should not be hastily punished in the face of public opinion pressure.

How to determine the loss of Chery Car? Lawyer: It should be confirmed by judicial appraisal

The Xu Wen police report described the incident as "Wang got off the station and went to the white car, stopped the car and insulted and smashed the hood of the white car with his fist, causing the hood to dent", and accordingly Wang was administratively detained for 10 days and fined 500 yuan in accordance with the law. The local police did not give a specific explanation for the reason for the punishment.

"Articles 26 and 49 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law clarify administrative responsibility for picking quarrels and provoking troubles and intentionally damaging property, and the police have the right to detain the two acts for not less than 5 days but not more than 10 days, and may also impose a fine of up to 500 yuan; Hu Lei said that according to the police report and the results of the treatment, it is still impossible to determine whether the handling of the 10-day detention and a fine of 500 yuan is the consequence of Wang's smashing of the car, or the consequence of his intentional damage to property, because the unclear characterization of his behavior makes it impossible to judge the "severity" of the police punishment. The Zhanjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau published on its official website the "About Amendment

According to the Economic Observer, "it is misleading to say that dealers deliberately overpriced 5,200 yuan for maintenance fees", Chery spokesman Jin Yibo responded that Chery brand Haikou dealers provided two maintenance plans, one is maintenance, the price is 600 yuan; The second is to replace the hood for a total of 4,100 yuan (3,200 yuan for parts and 900 yuan for painting, installation and other man-hour service fees), and the user finally chose to pay 4,100 yuan to replace the cover.

Hu Lei said that according to the relevant judicial interpretations of intentional damage to property, if the intentional destruction of public or private property exceeds 5,000 yuan, the police should file a case for prosecution, "that is, if the property damage exceeds 5,000 yuan, the perpetrator should be investigated for criminal responsibility, and the standard for filing a case in economically developed areas will be raised accordingly." In this case, the car company's damage assessment was only 4,100 yuan, which did not meet the standard for pursuing criminal liability, and there was still controversy over whether the final loss was 600 or 4,100, and the amount of the loss could not be determined by a maintenance point or the victim, and should be determined through a legal and compliant judicial appraisal, and the manufacturer's damage assessment could only be used as a reference."

The lawyer suggests that the management party should improve the efficiency of road traffic and the level of order maintenance

Guangdong Xuwengang WeChat public account released a message on February 4 that before February 10, Xuwen to Haikou car tickets have been sold out, if you have not made an appointment in advance, please do not drive to Xuwen Port rashly.

Hu Lei, a lawyer at Sichuan Dingqi Law Firm, believes that while discussing the incident itself, the chaos of the traffic organization in Xuwengang should also attract public attention, and the local traffic management department and the police should strengthen the maintenance of order and the improvement of hardware facilities at the complex lane mix of roads in the port. Every year during the Spring Festival, a large number of vehicles gather in the port and are prone to conflicts, including major disputes caused by small frictions.