Man convicted for diluting wife's blood sample to evade drunk driving

A man who stole a doctor's lab coat to dilute his wife's blood sample at the hospital to help her evade punishment for drunk driving was convicted of aiding the destruction of evidence and sentenced to four months' detention and six months' probation, according to a court ruling in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong Province, on Wednesday.

The judgment is now in effect. The case disclosed by the court revealed that the man's wife, surnamed Huang, was caught by a traffic police while driving a minivan under the influence of alcohol in August 2023. Huang was then taken to the hospital for a blood test before returning home.

The man, surnamed Zhu, came to the hospital on the same day and stole a white coat and gloves from a room to disguise himself as a medic. Zhu found Huang's blood sample test tube from the storage area, then poured water into the test tube to dilute the blood sample, and put it back in its original location.

Staff at the identification center discovered abnormalities in Huang's blood sample and called the police after observing Zhu's actions on surveillance footage. Zhu's actions resulted in Huang's blood samples being unable to be used as evidence, and subsequently the public security organs utilized spare blood samples for re-identification.

The court held that the defendant Zhu ignored the law, and his doing has constituted the aiding and abetting the destruction of evidence, and shall be punished according to law. However, in view of the fact that the defendant Zhu has confessed and meets the conditions for the application of probation, he may be subject to probation in accordance with the law.

Zhu disrupted the normal order of litigation procedure. His action would have made the offender escape legal penalty, and he ought to be punished by the law, according to the court.