Chapter 28: Decision |
A not-guilty plea... It was not a plea for a commuted sentence, nor a reduced penalty, but... completely not guilty!
The moment those words fell.
It was as if an invisible hand had gripped the hearts of the over four hundred people present in Courtroom One. Their spirits jolted, their chests heaving violently.
"Not guilty? The defense attorney is actually entering a not-guilty plea!?"
"How is that possible? When life isn''t in immediate danger, killing someone in defense is almost always deemed excessive defense, let alone the fact that Li Erniu wasn''t using overly forceful means to take her away at the time..."
"But the fact remains that the defense attorney is pleading not guilty, and the logic he presented is extremely rigorous."
"If the identity of the aggressor truly gets pinned on Li Erniu... the direction of this case might really be up in the air!"
"..."
In the public gallery, everyone''s minds were greatly shaken.
A not-guilty plea...
This wasn''t a sentence reduction. For a reduced sentence, one merely had to argue with the prosecution and find some information favorable to the defendant to succeed.
But a not-guilty plea was entirely different.
The court would only declare a not-guilty verdict if you completely overturned every single indictment submitted by the prosecution from start to finish!
Overturned! This meant single-handedly refuting information that had been jointly verified by the police, the court, and the prosecutor''s office!!!
Just hearing about it made the immense difficulty apparent, let alone actually pulling it off.
Some veteran lawyers might not dare to attempt a not-guilty defense once in their entire lifetimes!
And this young man in front of her... was he even twenty-five? Yet he dared to pursue a not-guilty defense for Wang Qiang!
"Sister Liu..."
Zhang Xia felt her blood boiling, her breathing growing slightly ragged.
However, the middle-aged reporter beside her had long been staring intently at the trial, showing absolutely no intention of paying attention to her.
"Don''t speak."
"Keep watching!"
Zhang Xia nodded, her focused gaze returning to the scene.
...
Back at the trial.
"Prosecution, do you have any objections!?"
It was as if Xu De had activated an invincible mode in a video game. His sharp eyes pierced through the space, shooting directly at the prosecutors on the prosecution side.
"This..."
Wang Wei was left utterly speechless. The opposing attorney''s angle was incredibly tricky.
By using the fact that Li Erniu had held onto Wang Mei, Xu De deduced that the abduction was not over and that Wang Mei was still in danger.
This, in turn, negated the indictment''s claim that Wang Qiang had killed out of emotional agitation, providing a legitimate self-defense justification.
Wang Wei could only cast his gaze toward Hu Guang.
Hu Guang, meanwhile, furrowed his brows. His mind was constantly integrating all the clues and engaging in deep contemplation!
As for Chen Wei and Li Youcai...
"What? That ungrateful wretch was taken away by the police, so why is my son still considered guilty!?"
Once Liu Cui figured out the meaning behind Xu De''s words, she immediately jumped in furious agitation.
She had personally seen Wang Mei being taken away.
The person was gone, had gotten into the car, and was even protected by seven armed police officers. She had long left that woodshed.
How could this still be considered imprisonment!?
"Chen Wei, Lawyer Chen, say something!"
Li Youcai, sitting to the side, was also growing anxious. He cast his gaze at the victim''s legal representative, Chen Wei, and urged him in a quiet, frantic voice.
Two hundred and twenty thousand!
If they won this case, they could make the other party compensate them two hundred and twenty thousand!
Setting aside whether the other party could afford to pay, they would society-wide catch a massive sum of money!
Seeing that the case had previously been a sure win, and the money was about to fall into their hands... why did the direction of the case suddenly change?
What did he mean by saying that even though Wang Mei was rescued, she was still in a state of imprisonment!?
"Hurry up and say something!" Li Youcai fumed in extreme anger.
But Chen Wei, sitting on the side of the prosecution, seemed as if he hadn''t heard a thing, showing absolutely no reaction.
Did he really not hear?
No.
At the representative''s seat.
Chen Wei''s face was flushed a liver-like purplish-red. The veins on his forehead throbbed continuously. His bloodshot eyes looked as if they wanted to chew Xu De to pieces, and his hands were clenched so tightly into fists that his nails dug deeply into his flesh.
Could he speak?
He could.
But did he dare to speak!?
That lawyer at the defense table actually dared to play logical traps during a court trial...
It must be known that even though he himself was called a shyster, he still had to obediently use evidence when facing people like Zhang Bingxin and Hu Guang. Yet, the other party stubbornly dared to use leading questions during the trial... That wasn''t just bold; it was downright audacious!
The most crucial point was...
He didn''t dare to say a word.
That''s right, Chen Wei was somewhat afraid to open his mouth right now. After all, he had just said a few words earlier, but it was exactly those few words that had completely and unwittingly played right into the other party''s hands...
God knows if the other party had more pitfalls waiting for him!
Therefore.
Listening to the urging and cursing from Li Youcai and Liu Cui behind him at this moment, Chen Wei could only play the ostrich and pretend not to hear.
''That damn Sun Hao, you teamed up with someone to screw me over!''
Chen Wei cursed vehemently in his heart.
''I am not done with you over this!!!''
But no matter what he thought in his heart, he ultimately did not open his mouth.
It was very sudden. The trial, which had originally been a scene of bitter arguing, now grew eerily quiet, gradually permeating with an atmosphere of stalemate.
At the judges'' bench.
"Hu Guang has nothing to say. Is he... agreeing with the defense''s statement?"
"No, I''m more inclined to believe that the defense''s argument was too sudden, leaving him unable to find an angle for rebuttal in the short term."
"Heh, a breakthrough point isn''t something you can find in just a little while..."
"The trial has reached a stalemate. It''s different from what we expected. What should we do?"
"..."
Judges Liu Jianguo and Sun Dong conversed for a moment, eventually turning their gazes to Zhang Bingxin.
Zhang Bingxin pondered slightly and prepared to speak.
He picked up the gavel.
Bang!
The sound rang out, and Zhang Bingxin had just opened his mouth.
"Now..."
Unexpectedly, he had only uttered two words when a voice suddenly interrupted him.
"Presiding Judge, the defense still has more to say!"
At the defense table, seeing that the momentum was set, Xu De didn''t hesitate at all. He immediately furrowed his brows and interrupted Zhang Bingxin with a deep voice.
Zhang Bingxin paused, feeling a sudden hitch in his throat, but he swallowed his words back and retracted the gavel.
"The defense may speak."
Hearing this.
Xu De nodded. He rummaged through the table and eventually held up a document.
Zhang Bingxin furrowed his brows and squinted at it, but couldn''t recognize what it was, so he immediately asked, "What is that?"
Xu De stated, "This is the evidence submitted to the court six days ago by the victim''s legal representative, Lawyer Chen Wei!"
On the prosecution side.
Upon hearing his own name, Chen Wei raised his head as if experiencing a stress reaction. He looked at Xu De with an unpredictable expression, his face rather ugly.
What did he mean by evidence he had submitted?
Damn it, couldn''t he find his own evidence? Why was it that as soon as court opened, he used either the prosecutor''s evidence or his!
And... what kind of evidence was this?
Chen Wei furrowed his brow.
Xu De continued, "It shows the psychological evaluation conducted by the police on the trafficking victim, Wang Mei, which assessed her as: normal!"
Normal...
Wang Mei did have some psychological issues, but that was before she was rescued.
In the instant of her successful rescue, it was as if she had been fed a miracle drug—her mental state fully recovered, leaving only psychological trauma behind!
Only...
Why was he bringing this up?
Just as everyone was pondering this, the next sentence echoed in their ears.
"Respected Presiding Judge and jurors."
"We continue to insist that while the defendant, Wang Qiang, meets the criteria for legitimate self-defense, his actions also align with Greenwood City''s standards for ''acting bravely for a just cause''!"
Xu De suddenly brought up the old matter, pulling out the ''acting bravely for a just cause'' argument once again.
Except, this time, the logic was even more rigorous!
"Civil litigator Chen Wei once said that protection between father and daughter is a statutory obligation."
"But..."
"According to Articles 17, 18, and 39 of the Civil Code: an adult who is 18 years of age or older and mentally sound is a person with full capacity for civil conduct. The parents'' statutory guardianship automatically terminates without the need for a court ruling!"
"During the time of the incident, the victim, Wang Mei, met the aforementioned criteria."
"In summary, my client, Wang Qiang, stepped forward bravely under circumstances where he had no obligation to do so, entirely fulfilling the local explicit regulations regarding acting bravely for a just cause!"
Xu De still couldn''t forget about acting bravely for a just cause.
Furthermore...
"Moreover, after the death of the deceased, Li Erniu, my client, Wang Qiang, was not arrested."
"It was a self-surrender!"
Xu De''s words were astonishing. As the phrase fell.
Even Hu Guang, who had remained calm despite the impending overturn of the indictment, opened his eyes wide, his mouth slightly agape as he frowned at him.
Self-surrender?
Xu De did not explain. Since he had gained the right to speak, he naturally wasn''t going to waste this opportunity. He needed to create every favorable condition for the defendant.
Therefore...
"At the same time, I must once again question the prosecution."
"Prosecution, on what grounds do you determine that the deceased, Li Erniu, was killed by my client, Wang Qiang?"
Xu De''s face was stern. He uttered a series of seemingly absurd statements without a change in expression.
His loud voice resounded in the ears of everyone at the prosecution table.
"Is it the confession provided by the police? Or evidence left at the scene? Or perhaps the statements of eyewitnesses..."
"None of them!"
"During the incident, there was absolutely no evidence to prove that my client, Wang Qiang, without being coerced or controlled, actively thrust the knife into the deceased''s abdomen!"
"The only evidence available can merely prove that the deceased, Li Erniu, caused his own death through an intentional homicide attempt!"
The scene had been exceptionally chaotic at the time of the incident.
With dozens of people crowding together, nothing could be seen clearly. The police could only make judgments based on the fingerprints on the knife handle.
But here lay the problem...
Under such chaotic circumstances, it was hard to say whether someone had grabbed Wang Qiang''s arm, forcing the knife in his hand to stab Li Erniu!
Therefore, without ironclad evidence...
What if someone had wanted to borrow Wang Qiang''s hand to eliminate Li Erniu?
What if someone had intentionally pulled Li Erniu forward while making Wang Qiang kill him?
"Respected Presiding Judge, jurors."
"The prosecution''s charges lack sufficient evidence, the indictment does not align with the facts, and the deceased attempted intentional homicide..."
"Meanwhile, the defendant has demonstrated a series of good behaviors such as legitimate self-defense, acting bravely for a just cause, and self-surrender. In summary, the defense believes..."
Xu De took a deep breath. This continuous artillery fire left his mouth dry, yet he showed no intention of stopping.
Legitimate self-defense, self-surrender, lack of hard evidence, and acting bravely for a just cause...
Multiple lines of defense coalesced into Xu De''s final sentence.
"The defendant is not guilty!"
"I request the Presiding Judge to make the final decision!"
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