Chapter 146 - 97: Impotent Rage, the Defendant’s Breakdown

Qian Hu: ?

"What?"

"The opposing counsel brought the defendant’s biological mother to court."

Zhang Bingxin closed his eyes, utterly exhausted.

"Now, the counsel is having the defendant’s biological mother testify to Liu Jingqi’s age, presenting the household registration book and a DNA test report..."

Qian Hu: ?

’He... he found her mother?’

Qian Hu was suddenly at a loss for words, frozen on the spot as if his brain had crashed. In reality, his mind was racing.

After a long moment, Qian Hu spoke hesitantly.

"Are you saying... that the defendant is an orphan... and despite there being no clues and the police being at a complete loss..."

"...the opposing counsel, in order to get her convicted... found her biological parents?"

Zhang Bingxin gently corrected him, "Not parents. Just the mother."

In a daze, Qian Hu opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. His lips moved for a moment before he swallowed whatever he was about to say.

’Finding her family?’

’He searched for the defendant’s family just to get her convicted?’

’And the crucial part is, he actually found them!?’

’Wait... is this even the language of Dongguo anymore? I recognize every word, but when you put them together like this, I can’t seem to understand what it means.’

Qian Hu fell silent.

Seeing this, Zhang Bingxin took a deep breath and said in a low voice,

"Dean Qian, I’m going to verify this first. As for the adjudication committee matter..."

"...I’ll have to trouble you to inform them."

With that, he strode out of the courthouse. For the next two days, he probably wouldn’t even have time to eat.

Setting aside the evidence gathering itself, just considering Liu Jingqi, now stripped of her ’minor’ status, when she faces sentencing...

How should she be sentenced?

And who would dare to give her a heavy sentence!?

In short, this case... it’s a difficult one to judge!

Of course, they were far from the only ones tormented by this case.

...

...

「Meanwhile...」

"Are you kidding me..."

"Are you kidding me!?"

"Damn it... Damn it! Why does a lawyer like that even exist? Why is there such a shameless bastard!"

"Who the hell gave him his license? What right does he have to practice law!"

Lusen City, inside the Zhenghe Law Firm.

In the special case conference room.

The normally quiet law firm was suddenly shattered by a furious roar, accompanied by the sound of smashing. The various lawyers who had been preparing to go home were immediately drawn to the source of the noise.

BANG!

A chair was violently hurled against the wall. The conference room’s blackboard shattered on impact, and the information about Xu De written on it fell to the floor in pieces.

Zhang Wei was raging in the conference room, clearly having lost all reason.

It was obvious he was not in a good mood.

And that was indeed the case. After returning to the firm from court, Zhang Wei had fallen into this state. The entire conference room had become his personal outlet, a place to vent by smashing anything at hand.

"Lawyer Zhang, Lawyer Zhang, please calm down."

"This has nothing to do with us... Even if it were someone else, even one of those top lawyers from Yanjing, they couldn’t have done anything. This kind of sudden development is impossible to predict..."

The lawyer, Sun Bing, stood to the side, hesitating before trying to reason with him.

"Our strategy was, in fact..."

"...not the problem!"

The strategy really wasn’t the problem.

In the first trial, their aggressive defense—arguing for justifiable self-defense or excessive self-defense—was rejected. That meant Liu Jingqi’s conviction was set in stone.

So, with conviction a certainty, you couldn’t just keep banging your head against ironclad evidence, could you?

Therefore, the strategy naturally shifted to a defensive, "turtle shell" approach for the second hearing.

The main goal became sentence reduction!

They had no other path besides seeking a reduced sentence; it was the only thing they could do. But the problem was...

"You tell me, how am I supposed to calm down?"

"Do you have any idea how long our clients will be sentenced for!?"

Jiang Yu and Qiao Wang, as accomplices who didn’t commit major errors, probably wouldn’t get too long a sentence—most likely around 15 to 20 years.

A sentence of 18 years was highly probable.

But...

Liu Jingqi was a different story.

"Twenty-five years!"

Zhang Wei roared. As he spoke, he violently slammed the chair against the table and, without waiting for a response, bellowed again:

"Twenty-five years is the absolute minimum!!!"

Most people probably aren’t familiar with the tiers of judicial sentencing.

In the justice system, prison terms are generally divided into tiers: under 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, with the general upper limit for a fixed-term sentence being 25 years.

The maximum fixed-term sentence for a single crime is 20 years; with concurrent sentencing for multiple crimes, it can be 25 years.

What about 30 years?

There is no 30-year sentence. Once you reach that point, it’s life imprisonment. And above life imprisonment are the two forms of the death penalty.

"Do you have any idea what it means for twenty-five years to be the minimum!?"

Zhang Wei could no longer stay calm, spittle flying from his mouth as he yelled.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the name ’Xu De’ still written on a piece of the shattered blackboard on the floor. The sight sent him into an uncontrollable rage, and he kicked it.

All of Liu Jingqi’s crimes, added together and given lenient treatment...

...would still result in a minimum of 25 years.

Even a slightly lighter sentence would be life imprisonment!

And what if the sentencing was just a little more normal, a little more just? Two death sentences would be waiting for her!

One for immediate execution, the other a suspended death sentence. Neither was an acceptable outcome...

You have to understand.

When Zhang Wei took this case, the client was a minor!

A client who’s a minor is practically a guaranteed win. The judge would, at most, hand down a 10-year sentence. After parole, she could be out in five...

But then the case was completely turned on its head and became a likely death penalty case!?

Five years versus the death penalty...

How could anyone possibly accept that?

Not to mention this was "Gold Medal Lawyer" Zhang Wei. A 10-year case for his client had turned into a death penalty case under his watch... Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was the prosecutor.

"The most pressing matter now is still to pursue a sentence reduction."

Sun Bing tried to soothe him while also pointing out what they needed to do now.

Right now, there were only two paths to a reduced sentence.

One, Liu Jingqi could show a better attitude. While they could try that, it was too late now.

Two... obtain a letter of understanding!

"I just looked into He Miao, the state guardian from the Civil Affairs Bureau. Her personality leans toward realism."

"So, it’s highly likely that matters concerning a letter of understanding can be renegotiated..."

Sun Bing said, pulling out the file on He Miao’s personal information.

They had looked into her once before but hadn’t investigated thoroughly.

But looking at it now... if they could get her to help them, then this case wasn’t completely without hope.

However...

"What about that shyster!?"

Zhang Wei was gradually calming down, but he still spoke through gritted teeth.

"That shyster, is he going to let us negotiate with the victim’s family that easily!?"

The state guardian did indeed have significant authority.

But that didn’t mean Xu De had none!

If he disagreed... he had ways to stop them.

He might even take the opportunity to mock and ridicule them...

"So we do nothing?"

Sun Bing sighed and said gravely,

"Lawyer Zhang, we... have no other choice. We have to bow our heads."

Hearing this, Zhang Wei opened his mouth, but couldn’t say a word. He was silent for a long while.

Finally, he sighed, as if his spine had been ripped out, and said weakly,

"Then... contact her by phone."

Hearing that, Sun Bing also breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been quite afraid that Zhang Wei, in his rage over the case, would adopt a ’rather die than yield’ stance.

As for why Sun Bing wasn’t as furious...

It was, of course, because this case wasn’t her responsibility.

Zhang Wei was in charge of the case. The primary responsibility for losing would fall on him!

At first, Sun Bing had been a little resentful that Zhang Wei had landed such a "good case," but now, she wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. She just wanted him to deal with it quickly.

’Are you kidding me?’

’A track record of taking a client’s ten-year sentence and turning it into a death penalty? Whoever wants that can have it, because I sure don’t!’

Sun Bing quickly took out her phone. After a moment’s thought, she dialed the mobile number of He Miao, the state guardian from the Civil Affairs Bureau.

BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...

The sound of the dialing tone echoed in the conference room.

By the doorway, several other lawyers held their breath, watching quietly.

After a few breaths, in the tense silence...

BEEP!

The sound of the call connecting rang in their ears.

"Hello?"

A woman’s voice came through.

Sun Bing quickly said, "Hello, Guardian He. We’re from the Zhenghe Law Firm, the defense lawyers for the defendant."

"We’re contacting you today mainly to... discuss the matter of a letter of understanding for the case."

"What do you think? Would you be willing to discuss it?"

Discussing a letter of understanding...

Although He Miao was a realist.

That was based on the premise that the family’s demands could not be met.

Back when the defense had the upper hand, Zhang Wei and his team had come to the table feeling secure in their position. If He Miao had disagreed then, she could only watch as Yang Huan was frustrated.

So, right now...

She might not actually agree.

If she didn’t agree, then... they would truly be out of options.

At this thought, everyone’s breathing grew heavier, and their hearts jumped into their throats.

After a long moment, a voice suddenly came from the phone.