故意杀人罪的手段残忍及其死刑裁量——以刑事指导案例为对象的研究

故意杀人罪在死刑适用案件中占有较大比重，其死刑裁量对于减少和控制死刑具有重要意义。而手段残忍是司法实践中故意杀人罪死刑裁量的重要因素，并且独立于故意杀人罪的情节严重、情节恶劣以及后果严重等评价性用语。通过对十个被司法机关认定为故意杀人手段残忍的典型案例的探讨，可以认为故意杀人罪的手段残忍是指，在杀人过程中，故意折磨被害人，致使被害人死亡之前处于肉体与精神的痛苦状态。司法实践中存在着将故意杀人罪的手段残忍与情节严重、情节恶劣以及后果严重等评价性用语相混淆的现象，致使故意杀人罪的手段残忍内容宽泛，沦为一句法律套语。故意杀人罪的死刑裁量应当主要从案件性质、犯罪情节、犯罪后果、主观恶性和人身危险性等四个方面进行考量。

Cruelness of Method in the Crime of Intentional Homicide and its Sentencing of Death Penalty

The crime of intentional homicide is a felony in Chinese Criminal Code and is a crime most frequently imposed by death penalty. Therefore, the sentencing of the death penalty for the crime of intentional homicide is very significant for the reduction and control of the death penalty. By taking an empirical method, this paper chooses ten cases which were found by the courts to be intentional homicide with cruel methods from The General Comment on the Rationale of Decisions of Criminal Guiding Cases by People''s Court and makes an analysis on the judicial assessment of the cruelness of method in the crime of intentional homicide.This paper argues that, the so-called cruelness of method in the crime of intentional homicide means that the killer intentionally excruciates the victim during the process of homicide, which causes physical and mental suffering to the victim before the death. This paper also argues that, the demarcation line between the cruelness of method and such evaluative words as the gravity of circumstances, the vileness of circumstances as well as the seriousness of result has been blurred in our judicial practice, which has led to the generalization of the cruelness of method in the crime of intentional homicide and even become a legal stereotype. Thus this paper tries to specify and classify the cruelness of method in the crime of intentional homicide. This paper finally makes a systematic analysis on the sentencing of the death penalty in the crime of intentional homicide from the following aspects, i. e., the nature of the case, the circumstances of the offense, the result of the offense, and the subjective evil and personal dangerousness.