'Public opinion didn't sway trial'

Experts say third sentencing for rapist was in accordance with law

BEIJING - Legal experts on Tuesday defended China's death penalty rules and said a high-profile case in which a murderer was re-sentenced to death was not influenced by public opinion.

In 2009, Li Changkui, 29, a farmer from a village in Southwest China's Yunnan province, raped and murdered a 19-year-old girl before killing her 3-year-old brother. The high people's court of Yunnan province sentenced him to death on Monday.