Chapter 81 - 70: The Defense’s Six-Dimensional Diagram Strategy

"We ask the court to sentence the defendants in accordance with the law!"

After speaking, Huang Shi sat down without another word, his eyes fixed on the defendants’ dock.

The indictment detailed the division of responsibility among the three defendants, distinguishing the principal offender from the accomplices. Furthermore, it didn’t just pertain to the events of the 17th.

The three defendants, led by Liu Jingqi, had been throwing their weight around at No. 18 Middle School for a long time.

And the so-called charges of robbery, intentional injury, and so on were based on the evidence uncovered during the investigation.

As for whether any of this was true...

At the defendants’ table, the two other girls, Qiao Wang and Jiang Yu, were breathing a little too quickly, their hands clenched tightly. Their guilt was plain to see, and they were clearly nervous.

But Liu Jingqi, the principal offender, was not only unafraid, she actually rolled her eyes.

Then, she went back to picking at her fingers, completely ignoring the charges that had just been read.

Witnessing this, it wasn’t just Huang Shi who was angered; even the three judges on the bench furrowed their brows slightly.

"Defendant, this is a courtroom!"

Judge Lu Guowei, somewhat incensed, issued a direct warning.

"You will show the proper attitude!"

Hearing this, Liu Jingqi made a show of straightening her back, but her attitude remained utterly disrespectful.

Zhang Bingxin, however, had no mind to dwell on this. He pondered for a moment.

He turned to Huang Shi and continued his questioning.

"Counsel for the prosecution, do you have anything further to add?"

Huang Shi shook his head. "We have concluded the reading of the indictment."

At that, Zhang Bingxin nodded. He glanced at the calm and silent Xu De, briefly lost in thought.

Then, his gaze swept past Xu De and landed directly on the defendants’ dock.

"The defense."

"In the face of the prosecution’s charges, do you wish to raise an objection?"

Was there an objection?

Of course there was.

"First."

"The defense strongly disagrees with the prosecution on the matter of whether a crime was committed by our clients!"

The lawyer, Zhang Wei, took a deep breath, stood up, and began to set the trial’s tempo according to his plan.

After a moment of thought, he began:

"Your Honor, according to the prosecution, the defendants have engaged in multiple acts of intentional injury, bullying, and the like over the past three years."

"But... in our review of the police investigation, we have not seen sufficient evidence to support these allegations."

Zhang Wei shook his head, his tone firm. His speech was measured, not too fast and not too slow, but his meaning was perfectly clear.

The defense... was rejecting the prosecution’s charges!

At the prosecution’s table, Xu De and the two people with him were composed, showing no extreme emotion.

The prosecutors, however, had a different reaction. Although they’d anticipated this, Huang Shi’s expression turned grim, and even Zhang Qing and Wang Mang frowned.

"We have not seen any objective facts from the police search that directly prove the defendants committed a crime!"

"Likewise..."

Zhang Wei turned back to Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin and continued.

"Neither the prosecution nor the plaintiff submitted any relevant leads to the court during the discovery period."

"In summary."

"The defense objects to the prosecution’s charges of ’intentional injury,’ ’robbery,’ ’insult,’ and others against our clients, Liu Jingqi, Jiang Yu, and Qiao Wang."

After he finished, the three judges on the bench fell into thought.

They then turned to look at the prosecution.

"Counsel, do you have a response?"

"Yes!"

Huang Shi had been champing at the bit. Now that the judge had given him the floor, he spoke up at once.

"Your Honors, the prosecution refutes the defense’s claims!"

"The Lusen City Criminal Investigation Division submitted a piece of evidence to both the prosecutor’s office and the court."

"This evidence fully corroborates that the defendant engaged in illegal and violent long-term bullying against her classmates on more than one occasion!"

"Specifically: testimonies against the defendant, Liu Jingqi, from multiple independent witnesses at No. 18 Middle School."

After Liu Jingqi’s arrest at the scene, the police immediately conducted interviews with teachers and students at the school to prevent them from coordinating their stories.

Ordinary testimony might not be that damaging.

But...

"This isn’t just testimony... it’s a logically sound and mutually reinforcing chain of evidence!"

Huang Shi stood up, holding a file in his hand.

The file clearly contained the evidence he had just mentioned.

"A total of eight people were interviewed—students as well as teachers. They had not met before giving their statements."

"However, their accounts of the defendant’s actions were highly similar. The timelines, the physical evidence, and even the school’s surveillance footage all corroborate one another and align with reality!"

For example, Witness A says that Liu Jingqi split his head open.

On its own, that testimony doesn’t carry much weight. But what if he also produced the debridement record from the health clinic for that day, and surveillance footage showed Liu Jingqi heading toward the location Witness A mentioned at the very time of the attack?

Then, it becomes a highly credible chain of evidence.

And there were more...

"There are eight such people in total!"

Huang Shi’s voice was sharp, his gaze locked on Liu Jingqi.

’Even though she’s only sixteen and I can’t ask for her life, I’ll make her pay the highest possible price within the bounds of the law!’

At this thought, Huang Shi’s voice rose a few notches.

"Furthermore, the testimonies of these eight individuals cross-corroborate each other! The police have verified this—there are a total of 27 pieces of corroborating evidence!"

"We ask that the court take careful note of this."

With that, Huang Shi sat back down.

The three judges on the bench began to carefully read the evidence, whispering to one another from time to time.

The courtroom suddenly fell silent.

At the defendants’ table, Liu Jingqi’s gaze toward Huang Shi grew hostile, her brow tightly furrowed.

Of course, what infuriated her even more was... ’How dare eight people testify against me!’