A single accusation is enough to open a criminal case. It should never be enough to convict.

A case widely reported in Guangdong made this concrete. A teenager accused her father; a first-instance court convicted and sentenced him to life. On appeal, now an adult, she retracted her testimony in court, saying the accusation had been false. Whether and how the appeal court will rule is not my point — I won't comment on that. I want to explain one rule of criminal evidence that protects everyone.

Chinese criminal law calls it the sole-evidence rule: one party's statement, however detailed, cannot by itself convict. A complainant's testimony is one form of evidence, but it cannot be the only basis for a verdict. The threshold for conviction is high — facts clear, evidence reliable and sufficient, reasonable doubt excluded. Fall short, and the presumption of innocence controls.

People often hear this and think it "lets the guilty walk." The opposite is true. If words alone could convict, anyone with a grudge could send you away tomorrow. The presumption of innocence protects the innocent — which, one day, could be you.

If someone you know faces a serious charge, the single most useful thing to do is find a criminal lawyer early and focus on one question: is the chain of evidence closed?

My instinct — shaped by a computer-science background — is to read case materials like a chain: separate what is objective from what is merely "someone said." Beyond testimony, is there corroboration — physical evidence, DNA, documents, electronic records? Those don't lie. When a case rests almost entirely on one person's words and the objective evidence doesn't line up, the chain is broken.

Three questions frame any defense: Is this piece objective or a subjective statement? Does it match the testimony? Remove that statement — what's left?

Facing a charge, at home or across borders? Send me the facts and I'll walk the evidence with you.

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Mike Wu, China-licensed Attorney · Cross-border practice
4 languages (CN/EN/ES/JA)
Site: wzklaw.com/contact.php?source=linkedin · Book consultation: wzklaw.com/contact.php?source=linkedin

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