Chapter 46: The Recess Stage, the Advantage Is on Our Side
At the judicial bench.
At the present stage of the hearing.
Lin Youping reviewed the materials and already formed a certain judgment in his mind regarding the outcome of the hearing.
'Bang bang!'
"The prosecution has no further opinions. The court will now enter recess for half an hour, and the hearing will resume after half an hour."
The gavel fell.
The presiding judge and the two adjudicators stood and left their seats.
The hearing entered the recess stage.
At the hearing site, Su Bai let out a long breath.
After waiting half an hour, when the recess ended, it was highly likely that the final defense would be conducted.
This also meant that after half an hour the final defense of the hearing would arrive.
Once the final defense and courtroom statements were completed, the result might be announced in court.
A death penalty case!
It was truly exhausting!
Su Bai took a bottle of mineral water from his briefcase, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and as he felt the water flow smoothly down his throat, his whole body relaxed considerably.
Li Xuezhen was organizing materials at the side, and her gaze occasionally fell upon Su Bai.
At present, the advantage was on their side.
If this hearing were won.
Then she would become an intern lawyer who had achieved three consecutive litigation victories during her internship.
It felt extremely satisfying.
At the appellee's seat.
Another lawyer and Lu Wei were communicating with each other.
"Lawyer Lu, at the current stage of the hearing the situation is very unfavorable for our side."
Lu Wei took a deep breath and calmed himself before rubbing his brow, and the expression on his square face tightened.
"I know this. The opposing lawyer is like a litigation trickster and has led me into a trap."
"If there are no unexpected developments, at present it appears that the likely judgment will be excessive defense."
"Only the specific extent of the sentence is not yet clear."
Regarding this outcome.
To be honest, Lu Wei could not accept it.
Within his own conceptual framework and understanding of procedural justice, he could not accept it.
However.
His inability to accept it did not affect the normal judicial outcome of the court.
Fortunately, at present he still had one final opportunity.
The defense after the hearing resumed and the courtroom statement as the final stage of presentation were key points in determining whether the judges could be persuaded, and if the statement were properly delivered there might still be a slight opportunity.
"The final opportunity…"
Lu Wei silently repeated this to himself.
Outside the courtroom, during the recess period, the live broadcast of the hearing was temporarily suspended.
In Luo Daxiang's livestream room, many netizens began to speculate about the result of this trial.
'Damn! The court has recessed! But the way the appellant's side confronted the prosecution was truly satisfying! It was extremely exciting! I even saw Lawyer Lu's face almost change color at that time!'
'Indeed, the appellant's lawyer led the prosecution lawyer into a trap and then delivered a final decisive move! Truly exciting!'
'It was indeed satisfying and extremely enjoyable! Very good! If Professor Luo had not turned off the reward function, I would not have been able to resist sending a reward!'
'Hahaha, impressive, impressive!'
'Professor Luo, the court has recessed! Please review the case!'
'Yes, Professor Luo, please review it. We want to know who will ultimately win!'
'I am certain it will be the appellant's side. I bet one mao. I cannot afford more. Life is difficult.'
'I bet one and a half mao!' [Mao is an informal unit of Chinese currency equal to 0.1 yuan (10 fen), similar to saying 'dime'.]
'Hahaha, I bet five fen!'
Seeing the comment section in the livestream gradually deviate from the topic, Luo Daxiang smiled and joked.
"Alright, stop betting. If you gamble in my livestream room, are you trying to send me into detention? That would not be lawful."
After the joke.
Luo Daxiang continued speaking.
"Since we are now in the recess stage, let us review the entire hearing process once again."
"What was discussed earlier in the hearing does not need to be repeated."
"The mutual arguments in the middle stage have also already been seen by everyone, so there is no need to repeat them."
"In the end, there is actually not much more to say, correct?"
Luo Daxiang smiled as he made this remark and then continued.
"I know that everyone wants to see whether this case can be won."
"The most important issue is whether it can be determined as legitimate defense, but I am not very certain about this."
"Based on the current stage of the hearing, the possibility of excessive defense is relatively high. As for legitimate defense, it is not impossible, but the probability is very small. As for the specific reasons, everyone already understands them, so I will not elaborate further."
For this hearing to have reached this stage.
Su Bai's performance was already very impressive.
At present, it at least proved that he had not misjudged the situation and that choosing Baijun law Firm had been correct.
If the determination were excessive defense, Qi Feng would at most receive a fixed term of imprisonment, which compared with the death penalty already constituted a victory.
However.
As for whether it could reach the level of legitimate defense.
Luo Daxiang still held a faint expectation in his heart.
Inside the deliberation room of the collegial panel.
Lin Youping, Fang Mei, and Zhu Xiong, the three members of the collegial panel, discussed the Qi Feng case.
Lin Youping organized the evidence and litigation materials submitted by both the appellant and the prosecution, slightly raised his head, and looked toward Fang Mei and Zhu Xiong sitting opposite him.
"What views do you both have regarding this case?"
As one of the adjudicators who had worked at the Beidu High Court for many years and could be regarded as a qualified and experienced judicial officer, Zhu Xiong expressed his opinion regarding this case.
"Based on the statement and the evidence submitted by the appellant, that is the Qi Feng side."
"This case should be determined as excessive defense."
"However, regarding the extent of the mitigation of punishment, Qi Feng did after all cause significant casualties, and this point requires certain consideration."
Fang Mei expressed agreement at the side.
"Yes. There is indeed no objection regarding excessive defense."
But then she changed her tone.
"However, it is not impossible to determine this case as legitimate defense."
"How so? In this case Qi Feng clearly exceeded the necessary limits and caused the deaths of two people. Determining it as legitimate defense would be somewhat inappropriate, would it not?"
Zhu Xiong slightly frowned.
Fang Mei continued to supplement her view.
"It is somewhat inappropriate, but according to the provisions regarding legitimate defense, the two opposing individuals were in the process of committing violent acts, and from the perspective of subjective factors it indeed occurred during the process of defense, only that the issue of the limit is indeed very difficult to determine."
"Moreover, we are discussing the matter together. I am merely presenting my viewpoint for consideration."
Zhu Xiong slightly nodded and looked toward Lin Youping.
The presiding judge was Lin Youping, and he was also the Vice President of the Beidu High Court.
Their discussion only provided suggestions, while the authority to determine the sentence in fact lay with Lin Youping.
The specific determination still depended on Lin Youping's inclination.
After hearing the discussion between Fang Mei and Zhu Xiong, Lin Youping slightly nodded.
"You both have reached agreement that Qi Feng did not commit intentional injury, correct?"
"The principal point of dispute still lies in the issue of sentencing, specifically between legitimate defense and excessive defense."
"But in essence, the deeper issue still lies between legitimate defense and excessive defense."
"These two points."
Lin Youping placed his hands on his legs and stood up.
"Regarding these two points, let us hear what the appellant's lawyer has to say."
After Lin Youping had formed a general assessment in his mind.
Zhu Xiong and Fang Mei both nodded and did not say anything further.
For viewpoints that could not be easily resolved through discussion, first hearing what the defense lawyer had to say was also a good method of resolution.
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