Chapter 83 - 71: Intense

A witness, Lv Guangjun?

The prosecution team’s brows furrowed.

They knew Lv Guangjun. He was the deceased’s homeroom teacher...

As her teacher at school, his testimony would carry a great deal of credibility and authority.

Furthermore...

"My client also has evidence that the deceased, Yang Jiale, repeatedly and explicitly showed malicious intent toward the defendant!"

The lawyer, Zhang Wei, continued to speak, clearly well-prepared.

’Malice?’

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin frowned slightly.

Generally, bullying cases involved one-sided intentional harm. If such actions resulted in the victim’s death, it would most likely be classified as intentional homicide or intentional injury resulting in death.

But if...

...the victim had displayed extreme malice beforehand and had fought back during the incident...

...then the course of events might contain a sliver of uncertainty.

"Your Honor, this is a notebook belonging to the deceased, Yang Jiale, verified by the police."

"In this notebook, Yang Jiale expressed her intense malice toward the defendant in writing!"

As he spoke, Zhang Wei stood and held the notebook high.

It was a common notebook, the kind you could buy for fifty cents at any bookstore. But when Zhang Wei slowly flipped open a few of its pages...

DIE... DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!

The word "Die," written over and over in red ink, was scrawled so densely it filled several pages!

The handwriting varied in size—crooked and messy, with no regard for lines or spacing.

But the strokes were pressed deep into the paper, the script utterly savage. Just by looking at the writing, one could feel the sheer hatred of the person who had vented their feelings onto the page.

"Your Honor, this was written by Yang Jiale herself. The defendant, Liu Jingqi’s, name is also written in it explicitly."

"It’s clear that the deceased, Yang Jiale, at least in her heart, wished for the defendant’s death before she died. This demonstrates clear subjective malice!"

Zhang Wei handed the notebook to the court clerk.

Then, as the three judges examined it with furrowed brows, he spoke again:

"And on the day of the incident, the 17th."

"This emotion was ignited, and the conflict between them erupted completely."

"During a playful altercation initiated by my client, the deceased, Yang Jiale, lost control of her emotions and began to fight back."

"Her resistance was excessive, and the personal safety of the three defendants was subjected to serious, violent harm."

"Subsequently, my client was forced to counter-attack to protect her own safety, which ultimately led to this incident and the accidental death of the deceased, Yang Jiale."

"Unfortunately, the deceased’s family member, Zhao Li, witnessed this scene, which triggered a medical episode, and she died on the spot."

The moment he finished speaking...

...the entire courtroom fell silent for a moment.

The prosecution team stared at the defense in disbelief, their eyes filled with profound shock.

’Why?’

’Because, judging from his statement, what Zhang Wei’s team meant was...’

"In summary, in accordance with Article 20 of the Criminal Law, the defendant..."

Zhang Wei took a deep breath and declared loudly,

"...was acting in self-defense!"

"Of course, the methods used may have been somewhat excessive."

’Self-defense?’

’He means that while Liu Jingqi was bullying Yang Jiale, she provoked Yang Jiale into fighting back.’

’And that resistance made Liu Jingqi feel her life was in danger? So her counter-attack that resulted in death was self-defense, or perhaps excessive self-defense?!’

"Objection! Objection! The prosecution strongly objects!!!"

Huang Shi, unable to contain his fury, slammed his hand on the table.

His powerful sense of justice compelled him to his feet. He pointed a finger at the defense table and roared:

"The victim, Yang Jiale, did not initiate the provocation!"

"According to our investigation at the school and the surveillance footage, it was the three defendants who first targeted and assaulted Yang Jiale!"

"Even if Yang Jiale fought back during the incident, according to the law, she was exercising her right to self-defense!"

Yang Jiale hadn’t initiated any provocation or brawl.

All the evidence pointed to the defendants being the initial aggressors.

But therein lay the problem.

"Mr. Prosecutor, please compose yourself!"

"Nowhere in the laws of Dongguo does it state that the person who strikes first is stripped of the right to self-defense!"

The moment Huang Shi finished speaking, another lawyer at the defense table, Sun Bing, immediately retorted.

She was a forty-three-year-old woman, the other ’gold-medal’ lawyer on the team. She now rose to her feet, fixed the prosecution with a cold glare, and spoke with impeccable logic.

"Excessive self-defense does not require the other party to have struck the first blow!"

"Article 20 of the Criminal Law refers to an ’ongoing unlawful infringement’!"

"It never specifies who has to strike first!"

’That was true.’

’Even if the other party strikes first, and you fight back, if they then kill you, they could still claim it was self-defense.’

’There is no requirement that defense must be purely passive!’

"My client initially approached the deceased with the intention of ’joking’ or ’playing around.’ Even if her actions were excessive, they never endangered the deceased’s life!"

Sun Bing continued, launching another fierce volley.

"And what of the deceased’s actions?"

As she spoke, the defense submitted another piece of evidence.

"Your Honor, this is the police’s on-site report from the time of the incident. It contains an analysis of the weapon and a description of the defendant’s physical condition."

She then submitted several photographs and a forensic report on a rod.

The photographs were of Liu Jingqi, focused on her neck.

There was a scratch mark... one that was bleeding slightly.

According to the on-site investigation,

this scratch was caused by a wooden stick!

"The oils secreted from the palm of the deceased, Yang Jiale, were detected on the stick, confirming that she was the one who caused this nearly fatal injury."

"Your Honor, I ask you to imagine."

"If this hadn’t been a swing, but a thrust!"

"Then..."

Sun Bing shifted her gaze from the judge to Huang Shi.