Chapter 140 - 93: The Mad Defendant

"Based on ’real-world experience,’ welfare institutes often adjust ages downward by two to three years in accordance with bone age."

"And Liu Jingqi’s true age happens to match this discrepancy, making her an 18-year-old adult!"

His reasoning was quite sound.

Liu Jingqi was from a welfare institute, and although her records showed she was sixteen, most people knew full well how welfare institutes handled age. Even Zhang Wei sometimes wondered if Liu Jingqi was already an adult.

To say nothing of the more scrupulous judges.

However...

"Objection!"

"Counsel, your previous statement is pure speculation! Furthermore, a welfare institute is not an official government body, so any information it provides regarding personal details has no credibility!"

Zhang Wei blurted this out almost immediately.

However, although he tried to interrupt, Xu De appeared quite magnanimous.

"Your Honor, the identification information we submitted is complete. The court can contact the Bureau of Civil Affairs to investigate," he reminded them.

The evidence clearly listed an ID number, a name, and even an address.

As long as one wanted to check, it would be a piece of cake. As for forgery... that was almost impossible, as the welfare institute didn’t have that kind of capability.

"Go check on it."

On the bench, Judge Lu Guowei whispered an instruction to the court clerk.

The clerk nodded and started dialing a number.

「A short time later.」

The clerk hung up the phone, turned to the three judges, nodded, and said something in a low voice.

Chief Judge Zhang Bingxin’s brow furrowed, and he announced in a solemn voice,

"The evidence has been examined. A resident of Dongguo... does exist with the identity submitted by the counsel."

If even one character in the evidence had been off, it could have been classified as a forgery, but Xu De obviously wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake.

But that raised another question...

"Your Honor, the defense objects!"

At the defendant’s table, Zhang Wei took another deep breath, feeling the weight of a mountain on his shoulders. The pressure was immense. He said in a low, heavy voice,

"The evidence submitted by counsel only proves that a person named Zhang Yueyue exists within Dongguo’s borders."

"It does not prove that this person has any connection to the defendant, Liu Jingqi!"

He was right.

A trial wasn’t a place where you could just find evidence about some random person and pin it on the defendant.

There had to be a link between the identity and the defendant—an objective, ironclad one at that!

’What about what Xu De said about the welfare institute? The welfare institute plus the bone-age discrepancy proves Liu Jingqi is an adult? That’s just speculation, a point of suspicion. It’s not objective evidence!’

"In conclusion,"

"This evidence is inadmissible, lacks credibility, is unnotarized, and is purely subjective conjecture!"

Zhang Wei’s mind raced, and he instantly found the flaw in Xu De’s argument.

"We request that it not be admitted!"

Evidence that was inadmissible, lacked credibility, and was unnotarized...

That was right. The document wasn’t even stamped. It had no credibility. In any other case, the judge probably wouldn’t have even bothered to glance at it.

However, Chief Judge Zhang Bingxin looked over at the counsel’s table, at the lawyer whose expression remained perfectly calm.

He paused for a moment, then spoke.

"Counsel, do you have any objection to the defense’s statement?"

Hearing this, Xu De, at the counsel’s table, nodded. "I do."

"We... have objective evidence to prove it!"

As soon as he said this, everyone in the courtroom grew serious, their brows furrowed as they stared at him.

An accusation backed by proof versus one without... the difference was immense. If Xu De really had it, he might just... be able to substantiate this piece of evidence!

Judge Lu Guowei couldn’t help but urge him on.

"Counsel, please present your evidence."

As he finished speaking, Xu De began.

"First... is evidence issued by official Dongguo departments: the Bureau of Civil Affairs and the local police."

As he spoke, Xu De held up a small red booklet and another report.

Everyone looked at the red booklet, which seemed more and more familiar the longer they stared.

This was...

"A household registration booklet!" Xu De announced, holding up the booklet in his right hand.

Most people probably had one image of a household registration booklet: a brown, coffee-colored notebook.

But in reality, the design of the booklet had evolved over time.

Before 1995, it was a bright red, rubber-covered booklet, similar to a passport. Only after 1995 did it change to the version people remembered.

However...

"This is no different from the subjective, speculative evidence submitted earlier..."

Zhang Wei was just about to speak, but unfortunately, Xu De didn’t give him the chance.

Then, he gestured with the file in his right hand.

"Your Honor, this is a case-filing receipt from the local police in Lianshan County, Yan’an City, Your Province, a place over two thousand kilometers from this court. It concerns the person in this household registration booklet."

"The person named ’Zhang Yueyue’ in this file went missing from Lianshan County twelve years ago, in January of 1990. To this day, she is still classified as a missing person and has not been found."

"And the defendant, Liu Jingqi, happened to be taken in by the Jiaqin Welfare Institute in February of 1990."

"The time between these two events is extremely short!"

"And after our own investigation, we happened to find the photograph of the missing person, ’Zhang Yueyue,’ that was affixed to the household registration booklet!"

As he spoke, Xu De gave his wrist a slight flick, and two photographs slid out from a flap in the folder in his right hand.

The two photographs were slightly different in their background and format, but the person in them was completely unchanged.

"Your Honor, this photograph is of Zhang Yueyue from twelve years ago."

"And this one is from a group photo taken eleven years ago, six months after the Jiaqin Welfare Institute took in Liu Jingqi. We cropped her out of it."

When he finished, Xu De held the two photos up for everyone to see.

Unfortunately, the photos were smaller than a thumb, and even if the audience had the vision of fighter pilots, they definitely couldn’t see them clearly.

But of course, there was a way to see them clearly.

The clerk stood up, took the two photos, walked over to the overhead projector, and after a moment of adjustment...

CLICK!

Two enlarged photographs appeared on the projector screen.

Side by side, each larger than a basketball, they made everyone stare intently. In the next moment, their pupils contracted to pinpoints.

What was the difference between these two photos?

In terms of the person photographed, there was absolutely no difference!

That’s right.

No difference!

Although the photos were blurry and the quality was poor, the subject’s facial features and body type were nearly identical. It was like they were copied and pasted!

But this raised a question.

The one on the left was taken in Haidong Province, but the one on the right was in Lusen City...

The girl on the left went missing in January; the one on the right was adopted in February...

Two thousand kilometers apart, nearly the same age, identical looks, the first one disappears and the second one appears right after...

The suspicion... was absurdly high!

At that moment, at the defendant’s table, Liu Jingqi’s face was ashen. Her hands were clenched so tightly that her nails dug deep into her flesh, and a storm of emotions churned in her chest.

Beside her, the other defendants, Jiang Yu and Qiao Wang, stared blankly at this ’ironclad evidence’ of suspicion.

After a long moment, looks of terror spread across their faces.

’We’re defendants too, and we’re also from the welfare institute... Don’t tell me... Don’t tell me Xu De is going to cross-examine us like this too?’

They looked at Xu De in terror, a wave of weakness washing over them.

At the defense table, Zhang Wei glanced at the ashen-faced Liu Jingqi, feeling a frustrating sense of being utterly outmaneuvered.

If she hadn’t pleaded guilty earlier... he could have directly attacked the prosecutor’s charges and deflected the conflict. But now, after being questioned in open court about her ’guilty’ plea... his only escape route had been completely cut off.

’He’s a downright animal!’

"Objection!"

Zhang Wei spoke again, racking his brain so hard it felt like it was overheating.

"Counsel, this is suspicion. These are points of suspicion."

"It is not factual evidence that can physically prove a connection between the two!"

"Based on the above alone, you cannot prove that the missing person, Zhang Yueyue, and the defendant, Liu Jingqi, are the same person! If you continue with such personal conjecture, we reserve the right to pursue criminal charges against you!"

Looking the same could be a coincidence. The timing of the disappearance and appearance being so close could also be a coincidence.

These were all points of suspicion, not physical evidence.

However...

"Yes, the lawyer at the defense table is absolutely right!"

Suddenly, Xu De looked at Zhang Wei with a face full of admiration, showing no anger at being contradicted. He even spoke up to agree.

This move left everyone wondering what he was doing, but Zhang Wei felt a deep sense of unease.

Before anyone could ask, Xu De blurted out his next words:

"Which is why..."

"I brought the defendant Liu Jingqi’s birth mother to the court."

As he finished speaking, without the slightest hesitation, Xu De turned to the judge’s bench.

"Your Honor..."

"I request to call a witness to testify in person regarding the matter of Liu Jingqi’s identity!"

’Her... mother?’

Judge Zhang Bingxin was floored.

The public prosecutor was baffled.

The entire defense table stared in disbelief.