Chapter 145 - 97: Impotent Rage, the Defendant Snaps

The meetings held by the court are generally divided into three levels.

These are the collegiate panel, the court affairs meeting, and the judicial adjudication committee.

The first is a meeting for the judges involved in a specific case, the second is a regular administrative meeting, and the judicial adjudication committee...

Is the highest-level, top-tier meeting in the entire court!

All the top brass gather in a small office to discuss a case. A judicial adjudication committee is generally only convened when something major has happened.

The "No. 18 Middle School Case" was naturally a major case, so a judicial adjudication committee was convened at the very beginning, with its members working overtime to discuss it.

But... there was no reason to hold a second one, especially after such a short interval!

Still, Clerk Li chose to simply do his job.

「Not long after...」

An advance notice for a meeting in two days was sent out from the court’s administrative office, reaching the ears of every judge.

And this sudden move naturally aroused suspicion among some.

...

「Five in the afternoon.」

The court’s closing time.

Judge Zhang Bingxin, however, showed no signs of leaving work. He held a stack of documents, which he had double-checked several times with Zhao Xing and the others. Only then did he pick them up, preparing to commission a new forensic evaluation.

Just as he was about to make the request, Vice Dean Qian Hu found Zhang Bingxin, notice in hand.

"Judge Zhang, what’s happened with the case in the Second Tribunal?"

"Why are the reporters outside acting like a pack of madmen, hounding anyone and everyone with questions?"

In the main hall on the first floor of the courthouse.

Qian Hu frowned, questioning Zhang Bingxin as the judge walked toward the exit.

Walking ahead, Zhang Bingxin heard him and stopped. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated, then seemed to want to speak again.

’The reporters have lost their minds.’

Of course, that was just a way to describe their behavior, but it wasn’t far from the truth.

In theory, judges were forbidden from leaking any information regarding cases involving minors. At most, some temporary staff might run their mouths for the thrill of it.

But then again...

The courtroom’s soundproofing wasn’t great, which made all those rules pointless!

That crowd was camped outside the Second Tribunal. Even though they couldn’t be in the gallery, they could still pick up the gist of the case proceedings.

In other words, it was highly likely those people...

...knew what the victim’s legal representative had done regarding the defendant, Liu Jingqi!

"I heard them talking, and something felt off..."

Qian Hu frowned, walking to Zhang Bingxin’s side and asking suspiciously:

"The case in the Second Tribunal... what’s really going on? Didn’t the judicial adjudication committee already give its final sentencing recommendation?"

"You didn’t adopt it!?"

The committee had recommended an 18-year sentence. In theory, that was a very reasonable decision that should have been adopted no matter what.

If you went a little lighter, it would be 15 years. A little heavier, 20 years. Any sentence in that range would be reasonable.

Or could it be...

"Life imprisonment?"

Qian Hu’s brow furrowed deeply.

A 20-year sentence for a 16-year-old defendant was already extremely rare. If the judge’s decision had nothing to do with the committee’s proposal, the only other option was life, but that was a sentence that was almost never handed down.

But...

Zhang Bingxin took a deep breath. He stopped walking and turned to look at the somewhat paunchy middle-aged man beside him.

A bitter look appeared on his face as he said:

"Dean Qian... there was no sentence."

Qian Hu froze. "No sentence?"

Zhang Bingxin nodded and sighed.

"The trial was adjourned... The ’No. 18 Middle School Case’ in the Second Tribunal is now adjourned and put on hold."

Hearing this, Qian Hu’s brows knitted together tightly. He immediately shot back:

"Adjourned!? This case is a hot potato! The committee already made its decision, so why would you adj—"

Criminal homicide cases involving minors were all hot potatoes.

If you sentenced them lightly, public opinion would crucify you.

If you sentenced them heavily... public opinion still wouldn’t let you off the hook. Why? Because "heavy" for a minor could only go so far!

But, sensing the tone in his voice...

"There was no other way."

Zhang Bingxin sounded helpless. He spread his hands, his tone bitter.

"The legal representative launched a surprise attack during the trial."

"He cast doubt on the defendant Liu Jingqi’s age and presented several pieces of irrefutable, key evidence... He hadn’t said a word about it before this, not giving the court a single hint!"

"He threw the entire rhythm of the trial into chaos. It was a total mess! There was no way to continue!!!"

’A surprise attack on her age!?’

Qian Hu’s brow furrowed, and his heart skipped a beat.

What was the core of a case involving a minor? Naturally, it was the very concept of being a minor. In essence, it all came down to age.

If the opposing counsel could make his move from that angle...

...he could land a fatal blow and completely turn the case around!

However...

"That can’t be right. The judicial adjudication committee reviewed Liu Jingqi’s file."

"While there were suspicions that she might be an adult, there was no direct evidence, let alone any irrefutable proof."

"No matter what that legal representative says, the most he could do is bring up how the orphanage determined her age."

Qian Hu grew agitated. His heart raced, his blood began to boil, and he started pacing back and forth.

It wasn’t just the prosecutor who had doubts about Liu Jingqi’s age; the court naturally had them too!

But... just as Huang Shi had once told Xu De...

...there was no evidence!

There was absolutely no evidence to prove that there was a problem with Liu Jingqi’s age. The only suspicion was a ’possibility’ based on subjective conjecture, with nothing to back it up.

If it were a typical case of age falsification, it would be a different story.

Hospitals, birth certificates, household registrations, public records—you could always find clues. There were countless avenues to investigate.

But the defendant was an orphan... and what is an orphan? An orphan is a ’person without information,’ even harder to investigate than an abductee!

"The legal representative couldn’t have possibly found the defendant’s birth mother, right?"

"That’s just not realistic. How could the orphanage have any irrefutable evidence..."

Qian Hu stopped pacing, his voice laced with anxiety.

Zhang Bingxin suddenly spoke up. "He did."