Chapter 97 - 76: Cross-Examination Can Stun a Witness!?

’Cutting off the tail to survive...’

That’s right, cutting off the tail to survive!

Ever since Xu De submitted the evidence, the case was bound to take a turn for the worse, regardless of whether the judge ruled the evidence admissible or inadmissible.

Why?

Because everyone knew deep down that the evidence was real. Even if it wasn’t admitted, the judge could still go after them!

’How could he go after them? After all, he couldn’t do it without reason or evidence...’

Simple.

He could reject their claim of excessive self-defense!

Zhang Wei had already anticipated this, so...

"We request a lenient and reduced sentence!"

At the defense table.

Zhang Wei cried out.

The moment he spoke...

At the plaintiff’s and prosecutor’s tables, everyone frowned.

’This is bad...’

At the plaintiff’s table, Lin Yue realized what was happening. She shot to her feet, turning to Zhang Bingxin to try and force a change of subject.

"Your Honor!"

"The court has not yet made a definitive ruling on the evidence we submitted. We request to continue with the examination of evidence!"

"The trial concerning the defendant is also not over. It is premature to discuss sentencing!"

She could see what they were trying to do.

They were simply abandoning the parts of the case they had already lost to cling to the defendant’s status as a minor, using that law to secure the lightest possible penalty for Liu Jingqi!

The prosecutor, Huang Shi, realized it too and immediately spoke up.

"I concur!"

On the bench.

Zhang Bingxin looked troubled, feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. For a long moment, he was silent.

’If they proceed with the examination of evidence... the defense clearly has no intention of engaging. It’ll be over in a heartbeat.’

’If they move to sentencing... the case obviously hasn’t reached that point yet.’

’The court’s procedure is simple: arguments, examination of evidence, conviction, and sentencing.’

’A conviction hasn’t even been determined, so how the hell can there be a sentencing!?’

"Your Honor, what the defense meant is that the court should consider Liu Jingqi’s age when determining the conviction, not for immediate sentencing!"

But Zhang Wei sneered inwardly, shifting his line of attack.

’Conviction?’

’Fine, let’s get one!’

He wasn’t the least bit afraid of them, and for one reason only.

The law protecting minors didn’t just apply to sentencing!

Although the law didn’t state it explicitly, when it came to people like Liu Jingqi, the principle was to go for the lesser charge if possible, and then impose a lighter sentence on top of that!

"Your Honor, based on the statements made and evidence submitted by the prosecution and the plaintiff’s counsel..."

Zhang Wei immediately argued:

"There is no evidence to prove that the defendant is guilty of ’robbery,’ ’extortion,’ or ’the crime of insult.’"

"We contend that the defendant, Liu Jingqi, is only guilty of Article 234 of the Criminal Law: ’involuntary manslaughter’!"

"According to the law, the sentence for this crime is three to seven years, and under three years if the circumstances are minor."

"However, Article 17 of the Criminal Law clearly states, ’A person who has reached the age of 14 but is not yet 18 and commits a crime shall receive a lighter or reduced punishment’!"

"The defendant, Liu Jingqi, is sixteen years old, so the relevant laws for those aged 14 to 16 apply to her."

"She must receive a lighter punishment!!!"

His strategy was clear: eliminate the possibility of intentional homicide and get the charge reduced to involuntary manslaughter!

As long as the conviction was for involuntary manslaughter, he could still leverage the law to get a suspended sentence.

Even in a worst-case scenario, the most Liu Jingqi would get was three years in prison!

This wasn’t arrogance; it was simply the reality of the situation.

The phrase "lighter or reduced punishment" in the original text of Article 17 might seem insignificant, but only at sentencing would you realize just how ridiculously powerful those few words were!

To put it this way:

Even for intentional homicide, it was enough to turn what would be a death sentence for an adult into a fifteen-year prison term.

You couldn’t even get a life sentence...

A life sentence was considered an extreme of extreme sentences!!!

And with life sentences these days... after all the possible sentence reductions were stacked up, it might be called ’life imprisonment,’ but what was it in reality?

The actual time served would be shockingly short... so short that most people would think the number was fake.

How short?

A minimum of 10 years!!!

Article 78 of the Criminal Law states, "The actual term of imprisonment served after a sentence reduction... for a person sentenced to life imprisonment, cannot be less than ten years."

In other words, theoretically, even if Liu Jingqi were convicted of a serious felony, she would only need to serve 10 years before getting out, and might even get parole.

Getting a sentence reduced is difficult, but that’s only for adults.

For Liu Jingqi, it wouldn’t be difficult in the slightest!

Not to mention...

The judge wasn’t even guaranteed to convict her of intentional homicide!

"Objection!"

At the plaintiff’s table.

Xu De frowned, his expression turning serious. He spoke up, cutting off the defense’s argument, his voice grave:

"Your Honor, the evidence we submitted is perfectly clear."

"In that evidence, the witness, Lv Guangjun, explicitly stated that the incident occurred when ’Jiang Yu and Qiao Wang held the victim, Yang Jiale, by the legs, while Liu Jingqi intentionally shook her,’ causing her to lose her balance and ultimately fall to her death..."

"In conclusion."

"The actions of the defendants Liu Jingqi, Jiang Yu, and Qiao Wang clearly constitute ’intentional homicide,’ as defined in Article 232 of the Criminal Law!"

’Conviction...’

’I still have to secure the right conviction. I’ve already shredded all of their defense’s evidence.’

’Now, as long as I can get a definitive charge to stick, I’ll have a massive amount of room to maneuver later!’

"We reject that!"

At the defense table.

The lawyer, Sun Bing, retorted the very instant the words were out of Xu De’s mouth.

"The defendant, Liu Jingqi, had no subjective intent to kill. Her statement to the police makes that perfectly clear!"

That may be so.

But...

After the incident with Lv Guangjun’s evidence, the credibility of that so-called statement had naturally dropped.

Then again, until new evidence was presented to refute it, a drop in credibility didn’t matter. It meant the statement was still technically considered credible!

However...

"Objection!"

"The actions of the three defendants, including Liu Jingqi, are clearly intentional homicide. There is no law that stipulates intentional homicide requires a subjective intent to kill!"