Chapter 34 - 29: Turning the Tables

Not guilty... Xu De was mounting a not guilty defense.

Could he really do it?

’There’s no way to know for now, but... how can you know if you don’t even try!?’

Xu De never believed in fate. He only believed in himself. As long as you try, there’s a chance, there’s hope!

The trafficking was still in progress + self-defense + turning himself in + insufficient hard evidence...

Several sharp angles, enough to tear open a sliver of hope in this bleak case!

"No one personally witnessed Wang Qiang actively killing Li Erniu..."

In the gallery.

Zhang Xia repeated Xu De’s words in their mind, and the more they thought about it, the clearer it became.

’That’s right.’

The scene of the crime was too chaotic. Even the armed police couldn’t control the situation. At the same time, none of the seven officers saw Wang Qiang kill anyone before the chaos ended...

’So, if Wang Qiang wasn’t fully conscious and was being jostled by the crowd...’

’...then anyone at the scene could be suspected of using Wang Qiang to commit the murder!’

’What’s that? You say Wang Qiang’s fingerprints are on the murder weapon?’

’In that situation, you don’t even need to be the one holding the knife!’

’Let me put it this way.’

’You’ve arm-wrestled with someone before, right? Locked in a struggle?’

’And if, while you’re struggling... someone suddenly pokes the back of your hand with a single finger... what happens?’

’The stalemate is broken! That tiny bit of added force will make you uncontrollably slam your opponent’s arm down!!!’

At the crime scene, the struggle over the knife between the deceased and the defendant was just like that.

After thinking this through, the crowd realized something even more terrifying about the angle the defense had proposed...

"If this point is valid, then it’s completely unsolvable!"

"The only way to prove it is to investigate the witnesses from the scene."

"But here’s the thing, everyone at the scene is a potential suspect, which means you can’t fully trust any witness testimony!"

"But the only evidence from the scene *is* witness testimony, and that testimony can’t be trusted..."

"..."

The courtroom floor immediately erupted in discussion, faces filled with shock.

Even at the very back of the courtroom gallery.

Some cameramen who had only come to record video couldn’t help but peek out from behind their cameras to look at the judge’s bench.

The defense had presented an unprovable, circular argument.

Even...

Just by saying those words, without Xu De having to prove anything himself, he had instantly reduced the credibility of the prosecution’s testimonial and witness evidence by seventy percent!

Without those, what else could the prosecution use as corroborating evidence?

So...

"Don’t tell me... the prosecution is about to lose the upper hand?"

Someone suddenly spoke up.

Immediately, it felt as if everyone’s heart skipped a beat. They quickly looked up, their eyes glued to the trial.

’Holy cow, when have they ever seen a spectacle like this... Can you believe it? The defense attorney is actually dominating the prosecutor!?’

...

On the prosecution’s side.

At the legal representative’s table for the victim.

’Sun Hao... I swear, we are mortal enemies now!’

Chen Wei was still cursing inwardly. His hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles white. The veins on his head bulged so much it looked like they might burst.

To be honest, Chen Wei was not in a good state of mind.

He was almost certain now that he had been played by Sun Hao and Xu De working together!

On the phone back then, Sun Hao had clearly said that as long as he had enough witness statements, he could take down the other party. After all, the people providing the statements were villagers from Li Family Village, and they would be psychologically inclined to cover for their own.

Back then, he had believed that nonsense and only prepared the witness statements.

But he never, ever expected...

After the trial started, Xu De, with a single, casual sentence, had rendered the only evidence he had prepared completely useless!!!

In contrast to Chen Wei’s mental imbalance...

...the other prosecutors, while their emotions wavered, were not about to lose control.

Beside him.

"This... this... how could anyone possibly produce that kind of evidence!"

After hearing the defense’s angle, Wang Wei had a look of utter shock on his face. He sat in his chair for a long moment, not knowing how to rebut.

The rookie prosecutor, Zhang Qing, was simply stunned in his seat, staring blankly at Xu De with an expression of someone whose mind had just been blown.

Hu Guang, however, was frowning, his right hand on the table as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking about how to find new evidence.

As he thought, he glanced at the case files on the table.

’After that series of combos from the other side... all this stuff the prosecutor’s office collected is basically useless. We’ll have to find something new.’

’I misjudged him. This young lawyer... is a tough nut to crack.’

Hu Guang let out a breath and gave Xu De a deep look.

He finally turned his gaze to the judge’s bench.

As for the direction of the case...

...it would ultimately depend on the three people up there!

Of course, the hearts of those three were also far from calm; ripples of disturbance had clearly been created.

On the judge’s bench.

"Where did the defendant hire this lawyer?"

Sun Dong couldn’t hold it in any longer. His brow tightly furrowed, he asked urgently:

"His angles are so sharp... and there’s more than one of them. Is this someone Wang Qiang could afford to hire!?"

To be fair, Sun Dong had been a judge in Lusen City for nearly ten years.

Yet he had never heard of a lawyer of this caliber in Lusen City!

Setting aside everything else, if the defendant had been a rich man... that performance in court just now was worth at least a million!

And Wang Qiang?

A man who had spent ten years searching for his family, who usually couldn’t even bear to spend money on steamed buns and salted vegetables—a man from the very bottom of society. Where would he get the money to find a lawyer like this?

"Stop asking. It’s legal aid."

Judge Liu Jianguo just felt a headache coming on.

"Legal aid..." Sun Dong’s temples throbbed, and he reached up to rub them.

’Aren’t legal aid lawyers supposed to be a bunch of unprofessional hacks who just go through the motions to get by? How did a titan like this get mixed in with them...’

"Let’s just focus on how to handle the case for now." Liu Jianguo shook his head, pulling the conversation back on track.

"The angle that lawyer provided is extremely tricky. His claims... they must be investigated and verified. Otherwise, even if we close the case, the court of second instance will just send it back for a retrial."

But unfortunately.

Serious topics always brought silence. The three of them couldn’t say a word.

A scene like this was rare.

Why?

Because in criminal cases, the court has an unwritten rule.

And that is, ’Let the defense argue as they will; I’ll sentence as I see fit!’

Usually, no matter how hard a defense attorney tried, they couldn’t shake the judge’s resolve. The judge might have even decided on the sentence before the trial began, so the proceedings would go smoothly, without such silences.

However... that was only when the defense attorney wasn’t tough enough.

If anything they said could spark a debate in a second trial, the judge had to be on high alert!

Could Xu De’s words do that?

Oh, absolutely. If the first trial were to end hastily, bringing these arguments to a second trial would be like setting off a nuclear bomb in a crowd...

Therefore...

The case had to be handled with the utmost caution.

After a long while, Zhang Bingxin finally spoke.

"To the defense, do you have anything to add?"

His brow was furrowed, and he interlaced his fingers—a small tell that he was being serious.

At the defense table.

Seated in his chair, Xu De shook his head slightly. "Presiding Judge, the defense has finished its statement and has nothing further to add."

Zhang Bingxin then looked to the prosecution.

"To the prosecution and the legal representative of the victim, do you have any objections to the defendant’s aforementioned statements?"

The prosecutors were silent for a moment. Finally, Hu Guang spoke up.

"We... reserve our opinion."

Although Chen Wei was incredibly unwilling, as the one who had made a major blunder in court, he also knew that being stubborn now would only drag the case into a deeper abyss.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his inner rage.

"We reserve our opinion."

"Very well."

Zhang Bingxin nodded.

To be honest, the court had initially planned to conclude the trial of Wang Qiang in this first hearing, assuming no unexpected incidents occurred.

After all, the case was so straightforward.

But the unexpected had happened...

The other side, with just one person, had argued the entire prosecution into silence!

So...

BANG!

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin, dressed in his judicial robes, raised his hand, brought the gavel high, and struck it down. The crisp sound echoed through the sealed courtroom.

The next second.

Zhang Bingxin’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears.

"Given that key facts of this case remain in dispute and require further investigation, I now declare..."

"Court is adjourned!"

’A... Adjourned?’

’Wang Qiang wasn’t crushed by the prosecution’s overwhelming advantage, but instead, the court was forced to adjourn?’

’In other words... the defense attorney held his ground. He single-handedly withstood multiple rounds of bombardment and even turned the tables!’

Suddenly.

The four hundred or so people in the gallery were all jolted.

At the same time.

On the judge’s bench.

Feeling mentally exhausted, Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin gave Xu De a complicated look, then shook his head and stood up, his judicial robes filling out.

"The date for the resumption of the trial and the verdict will be announced later."