Do lunatics have privileges not only in life, but also in litigation?
After all, this fellow has really created one miraculous case after another since he started his career...
Miss Xiao Yan remained silent as well. She actually wanted to attend the hearing, but unfortunately, the case involved a minor and the court session was not open to the public.
In the criminal court of Guangming District Court, Tang Fangjing had already arrived early to start preparing. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel✦fire.net
He first submitted the necessary documents before the trial and then reviewed his prepared defense strategy.
You must despise the enemy strategically but take them seriously tactically. Although this case really wasn't too difficult.
Old Tang had also studied a lot of the judgments of today's Judgment Chief.
It wasn't for the sake of the lawsuit, but rather to teach the public prosecutor a lesson. He hadn't properly fought a criminal case in a long time, and he was really excited about today.
However, one still needs to study the temperament of the judge; if the judge doesn't want you to talk too much, then no matter how brilliant you are, you must keep quiet.
Fortunately, research on past court sessions indicated that this judge wasn't that kind of person, so there should be no problem.
Old Liu, acting as the agent, pulled out a medical report and said, "Here's the report you asked me to make. Will it be useful?"
"We'll know soon enough whether it's useful or not," Tang Fangjing said with a smile.
Before long, he saw several familiar figures appear on the opposite side.
Upon closer inspection, weren't these the parents of those students? Oh yes, they were participating in the trial as civil plaintiffs attached to the case.
It was just a bit strange, the way those people looked at him and Old Liu seemed off, as if they were waiting to see some kind of joke unfold.
Did they really think he, Old Tang, would lose today? Where did they get that confidence?
While Tang Fangjing was silently scoffing, the public prosecutor arrived, and so did the Judgment Chief.
Accompanied by the clerk's call to stand, the Judgment Chief and the Judge walked in.
Liu Yan was brought in and seated in the accused's dock.
Then followed the routine procedures: verification of the accused's identity, the alleged crimes, as well as the composition of the collegial panel, whether a recusal was requested, and so on...
Soon the trial moved into the investigative stage, where the public prosecutor Deng Hui began reading the indictment.
After the reading, the Judgment Chief started to question Liu Yan.
"Defendant, do the facts alleged in the indictment by the public prosecutor exist? Is the charged crime established? Are you pleading guilty?"
Liu Yan turned to look at Tang Fangjing; she was so nervous in such a situation that she could barely speak.
But the judge's routine questioning is inevitable; this is not a civil case, after all.
Eventually, Liu Yan remembered what Tang Fangjing had taught her and began to answer one by one.
"The alleged facts do exist, but the charge does not stand. My actions at that time were in legitimate self-defense... I am not pleading guilty."
Liu Yan's response had essentially laid out Tang Fangjing's defense strategy for the day. It was simple: you fight your battle, I'll fight mine!
Whether the act of intentional injury existed was undoubted—there was clear video evidence and witnesses. It was very clear and straightforward.
If there were no elements of legitimate self-defense, this case could be directly processed through summary criminal proceedings in the detention center, as the facts were too clear.
So Tang Fangjing was not planning to expend any effort in this area. What's the use of diligently finding a procedural breakthrough? Faulty evidence collection processes do not mean the evidence is completely unusable.
Therefore, it didn't matter that the other side made arbitrary accusations of intentional injury.
Tang Fangjing would defend solely from the perspective of legitimate self-defense—this was the "you fight your battle, I'll fight mine."
The public prosecutor started questioning, and Tang Fangjing focused his attention.
Let the opposing side ask whatever they wanted regarding the intention to injure. Tang Fangjing only cared about one thing: the action of Li Zixin and the others, demanding Liu Yan to undress, and then pulling at her clothes afterward, causing them to rip.
Of course, this was also a trap; he had no intention of defending on the grounds of excessive self-defense.
Just the act of pulling on the clothes was not enough to constitute that the two men were attempting or preparing to rape...
This was purely a hole dug for the public prosecutor.
"Defendant, did Li Zixin show the spring knife before you picked it up?"
"Defendant, when Li Zixin and the six others were beating you up, did they use anything else?"
The questions asked by the public prosecutor were, as we say, knowingly redundant. There's no need to comment on this practice since it's the public prosecutor's duty to prove that the accused committed the crime.
None of the earlier questions had surprised Old Tang, but then the public prosecutor suddenly asked a question out of the blue.
"Defendant, when Li Zixin and others were tearing at your clothes, did they make any sexually invasive movements?"
Huh? Liu Yan was stunned. She didn't know how to respond, but Old Tang had already objected: "Objection, the public prosecutor is engaging in leading questioning!"
Leading questioning is another method that's been criticized countless times in criminal court, but it's still used by some.
The Judgment Chief spoke up: "Objection sustained, the public prosecutor must not engage in leading questioning."
Deng Hui frowned slightly but then said, "The public prosecutor has finished questioning."
Old Tang smiled; the other side had indeed fallen into the trap, thinking he planned to defend on the grounds of excessive self-defense.
He would naturally perform that defense, but it was not the core issue.
"We will now proceed to the evidence examination stage; I invite the public prosecutor to present evidence regarding the alleged criminal facts."
Deng Hui glanced at Tang Fangjing across the room and then began to present evidence.