Shanghai Bar Association announces Yang Jia has hired Xie Youming and Xie Jin as defense attorneys; Xie Youming's identity sparks conflict of interest concerns

On July 19, 2008, the Shanghai Bar Association publicly stated that Yang Jia had officially hired Xie Youming and Xie Jin as his defense attorneys for the first instance trial. Xie Youming is also a legal advisor to the Zhabei District government, and the crime scene was the Zhabei District Public Security Bureau. The legal community and netizens questioned whether this violated legal regulations and constituted a conflict of interest.