Meng Long Li, the 25-year-old MSU alumnus charged with the assault of MSU student Yan Li with a plastic water pitcher the evening of Jan. 31, 2014, was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery June 4. He faces up to four years in prison.
The case was one of the more interesting ones to happen in East Lansing as of late. It took nearly a year to bring to trial, involved an alleged Chinese student gang known as “Chengguan,” and even took a retrial to reach a verdict after a jury in February was unable to come to a decision. What follows is a complete recap of the case.
What started it all
On Nov. 23, 2013, MSU students Meng Long Li and Yan Li were involved in a scuffle at Hong’s Cafe, a Chinese restaurant located near the corner of Lake Lansing and Hagadorn.
Flash-forward to the night of Jan. 31, 2014 and Meng Long Li and Yan Li meet again in Limit Pool & Karaoke Club in Meridian Township. Yan Li alleged he saw Meng Long Li and, being afraid of some sort of retaliation, fled back to his private karaoke room. Meng Long Li confirmed he did confront Yan Li that night but said it was to find out why Yan Li was asking around for his phone number. He felt Yan Li was trying to “stir something up” from the earlier November scuffle.
Yan Li said it was Meng Long Li, along with MSU student Shan Gao, who followed him back into his private karaoke room and beat him over the head with a plastic water pitcher. Yan Li received 3 sutures and 10 staples in the back of his head from the assault.
Meng Long Li, on the other hand, said that while he did go into Yan Li’s karaoke room, it was to stop any sort of fight from taking place. Meng Long Li would later testify in court he mentioned to a friend that Yan Li was looking for his phone number, and it’s that which got some of the alleged members of Chengguan Meng Long Li was with that night to get worked up and go into the room and commit the crime.
Early the next morning, Meng Long Li heard a knock on the door of his dorm room in Owen Hall and was brought in by the Meridian Police for questioning. Despite not having any scratches, cuts or blood on his clothes from the assault, Meng Long Li was arrested.
Trial begins
Based on the pending assault charges to both Gao and the since-graduated Meng Long Li, the first trial began on Jan. 26.
Ingham County assistant prosecutor Kimberly Hesse alleged the defendants were part of a gang of Chinese students that call themselves Chengguan, the alleged members of which were present in both the November and January scuffles.
She alleged the group picks fights among the Chinese student population at MSU to assert their dominance. In China, Chengguan is a lower level police authority. Their main duty is to clean the streets and write parking tickets, but some witnesses in the case testified that they have a bad reputation for taking advantage of the poor.
On the other hand, defense attorney Chris Bergstrom and defendant Meng Long Li denied any sort of gang affiliation and stood by their statements that it is a case of misidentification.
In the trial, both defendants Meng Long Li and Gao confirmed the assault took place, but denied gang affiliations and involvement in the assault. On Feb. 5, a jury found Gao not guilty, while a hung jury was declared in the trial against Meng Long Li. Within days, news outlets reported the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office will pursue a retrial against Meng Long Li.
Plea deal offered to Meng Long Li
Prior to Meng Long Li’s retrial set to begin on May 26, he was offered a plea deal on April 7. The deal would have reduced his charges to a one-year misdemeanor of aggravated assault, as opposed to the maximum 10-year felony he was facing at the time. Three weeks later, on April 28, Meng Long Li rejected the offer.
Retrial
On May 26, the retrial began. Witness testimonies on both sides spanned several days and finally ended on June 3. Closing arguments were given on June 4, and later that afternoon the jury found Meng Long Li guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery. The 25-year-old MSU alumnus who was headed to graduate school at Columbia University now faces up to four years in prison. His sentencing is set for July 15.
