Chapter 89 - 73: Iron-clad Evidence

Changing generals on the eve of battle and flip-flopping on policy have always been considered major taboos.

The former applies to the military, while the latter pertains to governance.

And in a court of law...

Changing one’s testimony before a hearing is a major taboo!

"Your Honor, on the 2nd, the witness Lv Guangjun answered all of our questions with denials."

"And yet now, his story is completely different!"

"The witness has lost all credibility. We move to have him disqualified from this case!"

Xu De replied.

It was common knowledge that changing one’s testimony damages credibility.

In the Li Family Village case, for instance, the witness he had found, Li Li, had faced this very same line of questioning in court.

Similarly,

Xu De hadn’t given up on his questioning then, and now...

Zhang Wei was also unwilling to give up!

"Your Honor, a full fifteen days have passed since the 2nd. The witness has had more than enough time to recollect his memories!"

Zhang Wei immediately looked toward Zhang Bingxin and declared loudly,

"Changing one’s statement before a hearing is perfectly normal!"

It was certainly plausible that someone might suddenly recall something after a fifteen-day gap.

But...

The problem was that the information Xu De had "heard"...was perhaps a ’little different’ from what Zhang Wei and Lv Guangjun assumed.

"Objection!"

"Your Honor, it is the opposite of what defense counsel has claimed."

"The testimony our side recorded on the 2nd was not a case of him forgetting details of the case. On the contrary..."

As he spoke,

Xu De narrowed his eyes, a profoundly meaningful smile touching his lips.

"His statement was too detailed!!!"

In the statement from the 2nd, Lv Guangjun’s account had been detailed in the extreme. By comparison, his testimony today was as if he’d suddenly developed Alzheimer’s and forgotten a great deal!

Therefore...

"It’s normal to recall a few things over the course of fifteen days, but..."

"...to forget ninety percent of the case details in those same fifteen days—I ask you, Mr. Prosecutor, Your Honor, members of the judiciary,"

"Is that normal!?"

Xu De’s gaze was piercing, like a blade aimed straight at Lv Guangjun.

’Accepting bribes, the cover-up, and now this perjury...’

’All of it proved he was a scoundrel through and through!’

On the bench,

the expressions of the three judges changed.

’The tone in his voice... he clearly has something to back this up. What he’s saying is almost certainly true, but...’

’where’s the evidence?’

’You haven’t submitted any new evidence in the last fifteen days!’

Zhang Bingxin immediately asked,

"Counsel, do you have any evidence to corroborate your aforementioned claims!?"

"I do!"

Xu De responded instantly.

He had evidence!?

Suddenly,

it wasn’t just the defense and the judges who were shocked—even the prosecutor at his side was completely stunned.

’He has evidence? How could we not know about it!?’

’They were supposed to be on the same side, a community of shared interests. There shouldn’t have been any secrets between them.’

’Besides... he hadn’t submitted anything. So where did this...’

’No, wait!’

A look of astonishment crossed Huang Shi’s face as if he had just remembered something. He stared at Xu De in shock.

And sure enough,

the next second,

Xu De pulled out...a videotape!

"Your Honor, this videotape contains a recording of our entire interaction with the witness, Lv Guangjun, which took place in a public setting on December 2nd!"

"We now move to present this evidence for examination before the court!!!"

Presenting evidence in court...

Those four words had another meaning.

And that was...

"Trial by ambush!!!"

Zhang Wei’s pupils contracted. He nearly leaped out of his seat, and his expression immediately darkened.

’Trial by ambush...’

’Damn it all. A criminal homicide, involving a minor, and two lives lost. And the circumstances of the case are so unique...’

’In a trial like this, that lawyer actually dared to pull a trial by ambush!’

’But that raised another question...’

’What kind of evidence was so important that he’d save it for the grand finale? So important that he’d risk it being thrown out!’

Zhang Wei, Sun Bing, and the others stared intently at the videotape held aloft. Their fists were clenched so tightly their nails dug into their palms, and their faces were as grim as could be.

"Damn it... what the hell did Lv Guangjun tell him..."

Compared to their reaction,

the feelings on the prosecution’s side were incredibly complex.

Huang Shi’s face was a furious, mottled red. He stared at the lawyer beside him, who had just pulled this massive stunt without a word of warning. He wanted to say something but was rendered speechless.

’Trial by ambush?’

’It’s not that I didn’t suspect it before the hearing... but he actually went and did it!’

’Looks like Hu Guang was right to warn me.’

’This lawyer... if you don’t keep an eye on him, he’ll pull some crazy stunt out of nowhere!’

At this point, however, he didn’t care that much. Having some evidence was better than having none, after all.

"Counsel, this piece of evidence... was it not submitted during the evidence disclosure period!?"

On the bench, just as expected, the faces of Zhang Bingxin and the other two judges were grim.

This was especially true for Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin.

He couldn’t help but tighten his grip on the gavel.

Xu De replied without a change in expression, "Your Honor, we originally intended to submit it, but we were forced to abandon that plan when we couldn’t find the original copy."

"And now?" Zhang Bingxin asked.

"We found it five minutes before the hearing began. I had no idea it was in my briefcase the whole time."

Xu De sighed, the picture of regret.

"Although fifteen days were wasted, thankfully, this videotape has finally made it to trial."

"Your Honor."

"I move to present it for examination!"

The words had barely left his mouth when voices erupted from the defense’s side.

"Objection!"

Several lawyers shouted in unison. Their expressions varied, but their words were all quite similar.

"This is trial by ambush! Counsel is showing contempt for this court and disrupting judicial procedure! We move to have this evidence dismissed!"

Xu De’s voice rose several pitches.

"This evidence is critical to the direction of the entire case!"

A trial by ambush might be dismissed.

But what Xu De wanted to tell anyone who thought so was this...

’If your ambush evidence gets thrown out, it’s purely because that evidence is trivial and has no decisive impact on the case. It has nothing to do with the ambush itself!’