The first defendant in the attack on a street sleeper in Tongzhou Street Park rewatched the CCTV video during the investigation and said he “cannot recognize himself”
Eight police officers who were stationed in Sham Shui Po were accused of assaulting street sleepers, smashing their belongings, and falsely accusing drug possession cases during two raids on Tung Chau Street Park in February 2020. The case entered the sixth stage at the District Court on Tuesday (16th). day trial.
The doctor who treated Ruan Wenshan, the victim of the attack, testified that on the day of the incident, Ruan went to the emergency room accompanied by police officers to seek medical treatment. After examination, it was found that his right chest ribs were fractured but there were no bruises. Forensic witnesses believed that if there were no bruises on the ribs, or if the injuries were caused by trauma, there would be a flat surface to cushion the force, but the data were insufficient to provide an accurate opinion.
On the same day, the court played a video clip of the first defendant, male police officer Guo Zhansheng, who received a warning. In the video, he was asked to re-watch two CCTV clips of the incident. He said twice, “Sir, I don’t want to watch it again.” , said that because he did not recognize the characters passing by in the film, he also said that he “didn’t recognize himself” and “didn’t notice” whether he saw the other defendants. The case continues on Wednesday.
The eight defendants (top left to right) Guo Zhansheng, Han Tingguang, Liang Feipeng, and Pang Junshi; (bottom left to right) Lin Huajia, Mo Zhicheng, Yin Baishi, and Chen Shouye. Lin was the sergeant at the time of the incident, and the other seven were police officers. (File picture)
The prosecution and defense signed and agreed to the facts
Confirmation 8: Defendant suspended due to this case
The case was heard by Judge Zhang Jieyi. The prosecution is represented by Senior Prosecutor Tang Mingchong and Acting Senior Prosecutor Li Luoyu. At the beginning of the trial, the prosecution read out a second copy of the agreed facts, stating that “the eight defendants were still police officers at the time of the trial and have been suspended from duty due to this case.”
3.5 hours after police action
Ruan was accompanied by the police to seek medical examination and it was found that there were no fractures and no bruises.
According to the opening statement, the victim, Ruan Wenshan, was attacked on February 4, 2020. On that day, eight police officers went to the park to carry out anti-drug operations at about 6 p.m. The prosecution called two doctors on Tuesday to describe their observations and understanding of Nguyen’s injuries.
Li Bingcong, a consultant doctor at the Accident and Emergency Department of Caritas Hospital, testified and confirmed that he was on duty in the Accident and Emergency Department at about 9:35 that night and diagnosed and treated Ruan Wenshan.
The medical report written by Li stated that Ruan went to see a doctor accompanied by a police officer that day. After a physical examination, it was found that Ruan’s lower right chest wall was tender and there were staples on his scalp to treat a scalp laceration on January 5 of the same year; After X-ray examination, it was confirmed that the tenth rib on Ruan’s right chest was fractured, which was consistent with the aforementioned tenderness. But no bruises were found at the time.
Doctor Witness: When Ruan Wenshan sought medical treatment
Zeng Ti was beaten by the police
Prosecutor Deng Mingcong asked Li whether Ruan Wenshan told him the cause of the injury? Li replied, “Yes, he claimed that he was beaten by, eh… being beaten by others, including beating with his hands and kicking… He claimed that he was beaten by the police.” This conversation was recorded on the whiteboard of his consultation.
Deng asked, why was the conversation not included in the medical report? Li responded that because he would only write down certain things in the report, such as the extent of the injuries, “I couldn’t see who attacked him. I believe these will be left for other appropriate people to do (follow up).” Deng asked, was this practice a guideline issued by Caritas? Li pointed out that there are no relevant guidelines, “This is my own consistent approach.”
Forensic witness: Broken ribs but no bruises
Or because there is a flat surface to disperse the force
Expert witness Lin Weiguo, a senior doctor at the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Department of Health, said that generally speaking, rib fractures are caused by blunt force concentrated in one place, such as punches and kicks, which are usually accompanied by obvious external bruises. If the ribs are fractured but there are no external bruises, it may be that there is a larger flat surface to cushion the blunt force trauma and the force is dispersed.
Lin Xu pointed out that in this case, because the information did not mention whether Ruan Wenshan’s fracture had begun to heal, he could not provide accurate opinions on the cause of the fracture, how long the injury lasted, etc.
The prosecution asked, according to its experience, how long does it usually take for obvious bruises to appear after an attack? Lin said the time it takes for a bruise to appear depends on a variety of factors, but it usually appears immediately, or within a few hours to a day.
During cross-examination, the representative of the first defendant Guo Zhansheng pointed out that if the fracture was caused by a concentrated force attack but no bruises appeared, was it unusual? Lin agrees. Lin later stated that the opinions he provided were limited by the available information, “that is, I cannot make excessive speculations.”
Under investigation, he was asked whether he participated in the arrest with his team members.
The first defendant: “I don’t want to answer right now.”
The prosecution later played the footage of the cautionary video interview recorded by the first defendant Guo Zhansheng on the evening of May 8, 2020. In the film, the investigating police officer mentioned that when arresting Guo, Guo once warned, “I have never committed any relevant crime.” Later, Guo confirmed that he did not need a lawyer to accompany him and started recording.
During the meeting, Guo confessed that his education level was up to an advanced diploma and he was stationed in the Sham Shui Po Police District before his suspension. When asked whether he was on duty on February 4 of the same year, Guo Xian said, “I have no memory because the incident happened so long ago.” After the police handed over his diary, Guo confirmed that he was on duty that day and carried out anti-drug operations at Tung Chau Street Park in Sham Shui Po District. He “inspected the park to see if anyone had committed drug-related crimes.”
When asked if anything special happened at that time, Guo replied, “Nothing happened. I only know that my team members arrested several men and seized drugs.” He did not know the specific number of arrests. “I remember there were more than one”. When asked whether he and his team members participated in the arrest operation, Guo replied, “I don’t want to answer at the moment.”
Rewatch CCTV films
Two words: “Sir, I don’t want to watch it anymore.”
Later, with Guo’s consent, the investigating police officers broadcast two CCTV clips obtained from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at the time of the incident. About a minute after the first clip was played, Guo said, “Sir, I don’t want to watch it anymore.” The investigating police officer later proposed to show another clip, and Guo agreed, saying, “I agree, I want to watch it.” About 20 seconds later, Guo said again, “Sir, I don’t want to watch it anymore.”
This time the police officer asked, “What is the reason that makes you not want to watch it again?” Guo replied, “Because there are different characters passing by in the clip, but those characters are unknown.” When asked if he was present in the film, Guo said, “I couldn’t recognize myself.” The police asked one by one if they had seen other defendants involved in the case, and Guo Yijie said, “I didn’t notice it.”
8 police officers charged with obstruction of justice and 10 other crimes
Sheriff
The 6 male and 2 female defendants are male police officer 22369 Guo Zhansheng (31 years old), 18048 Han Tingguang (29 years old), 20916 Liang Feipeng (29 years old), female police officer 24902 Pang Junshi (29 years old), and male police chief 34520 Lin Huajia (44 years old) , 22120 Mo Zhicheng (25 years old), female police officer 17987 Yin Baishi (25 years old), and male police officer 22544 Chen Shouye (27 years old).
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Eight people were individually or jointly charged with grievous bodily harm, criminal damage, misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice. (see table below)
Attack on homeless man in Tung Chau Street Park: Charges faced by 8 police officers
DCCC123/2021
2024-01-16 13:34:00
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