Chapter 100: Chapter 100 Honestly, We Are All Defendants
...
「Two days later.」
「Zhang Wei Law Firm.」
After taking on Liang Shuqi’s case, Zhang Wei had gone to the detention center. He visited his client, explained the defense process, and detailed some matters requiring attention, particularly cautioning him not to act recklessly in court.
At the same time, to have the sentencing attributed to negligent poisoning, he consulted a large amount of material. He listed several pages of potential questions the opposing lawyer might raise during cross-examination and prepared answers in advance.
Generally speaking, in criminal cases, the opposing lawyer is the public prosecutor, representing the public security organ. The public security organ lists various pieces of criminal evidence, accusing the defendant of their crime. As the defendant’s defense attorney, Zhang Wei needed to refute this evidence. His goal was to gain the recognition of the judge and the jury, and to have the charge set as negligent poisoning. This way, it was highly possible to argue for a three-year sentence.
The evidence brought by the prosecution, however, would obviously characterize Liang Shuqi’s criminal actions as intentional poisoning. "Intentional" refers to subjectively knowing that an act could lead to adverse consequences, yet still carrying it out. It’s like carrying a small pack of explosives onto a train; although one might have no intention to blow up the train and cause no harm, this act itself would constitute the crime of causing an explosion. Subjectively, it is still deemed intentional, not an act of negligence. This is because such an act is carried out on one’s own volition, and any normal person would know that bringing explosives onto a train is dangerous.
It was the same with Liang Shuqi’s spitting case. He knew he had a cold and that if the other party ate the takeout, they could very possibly catch his cold too, yet he still proceeded with his behavior. Therefore, the difficulty of his defense this time was not low at all.
Furthermore, he also listed many points of contention against the evidence presented by the public prosecutor. For example, he questioned whether the presence of an infectious disease pathogen in the sputum was truly capable of transmitting a cold and endangering the health of others. He argued that Liang Shuqi’s action was merely to take revenge and disgust the other party, not to deliberately spread the cold pathogen, so it should not count as intentional poisoning, and so on.
Courtroom defense is about finding loopholes in the opponent’s evidence and challenging them to perfection, so as to avoid wrongful convictions. That’s why even the most heinous murderers need someone to defend them; this is justice in the eyes of the law.
"Finally got it done."
「At the law firm, six in the evening.」
Zhang Wei closed his laptop and stretched. After spending more than two days, he had finally completed the initial defense preparations for the case. Next up was to scrutinize these issues multiple times, striving to convince the judge and jury.
As he prepared to leave work, he suddenly noticed dozens of people gathered outside the door of his law firm, all curiously peering inside.
"Excuse me... is Lawyer Zhang Wei here?" one of the youngsters asked tentatively as he walked in.
Zhang Wei looked at the several dozen people outside. He couldn’t help but frown and asked, "I am Zhang Wei. What can I do for you?"
His law firm... it had always been deserted. Almost no one visited for consultation. It wasn’t until he took on several cases related to Qin Mu that his reputation in Jin City started to improve. From time to time, people would proactively visit to discuss their cases. But today... to have dozens of people show up at once was a first for him, and they were stealthily peeking inside, almost as if they had some ulterior motive.
"Cough, well, we are from out of town, and we’ve heard about your reputation in Jin City, so we would like you to be our defense attorney," the young man said, giving a dry laugh and directly stating his purpose.
Zhang Wei was taken aback for a moment. He hadn’t fully grasped the situation and said, "I’m sorry, but I currently focus on defense litigation. I don’t take cases for plaintiffs."
In his view, so many people seeking him out together were surely plaintiffs with grievances. They wanted to sue the party that had committed illegal infringements.
However, the young man gave a wry smile. "My name is Han Suiyue," he introduced himself. "To be honest, we are all defendants."
In the days prior, they had, one by one, received summons from the Jin City Court and had come to Jin City to respond to the charges. After a series of twists and turns, they met other "brothers in misfortune." The court staff also reminded them that theirs was a joint lawsuit and they needed to find a lawyer. Subsequently, they began searching within Jin City for a reliable lawyer and eventually arrived at Zhang Wei Law Firm.
"You are all defendants?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Wei’s eyes widened. It was the first time he had encountered such a scenario. This crowd of dozens of people... could it be they had all been sued?
"We’ve all been sued for defamation, and the court hearing is scheduled in four days. The court instructed us to find a litigation lawyer as soon as possible..." Han Suiyue heaved a sigh and continued.
"All?" Zhang Wei’s eyes widened even further, and he couldn’t help but swallow hard. Which meant... all these people, each one of them was being sued. These were individual lawsuits.
After a long pause, he looked at the dozens of people and asked in a grave tone, "Are you by any chance... being sued by someone named Qin Mu?"
If the case was accepted in Jin City, the only person that callous, in his experience, could only be Qin Mu.
Han Suiyue’s expression brightened, and he nodded vigorously. "It’s no wonder you’re a famous lawyer in Jin City; you have a keen eye. The person suing us is indeed named Qin Mu."
Then, he recounted the reasons they were being sued. "We simply made some normal comments. That delivery boy was already pitiable enough; we just wanted to prompt kind-hearted people to treat delivery workers better. Who would have thought that we would suddenly get sued? If we had known the consequences would be so severe, we would have never dared to criticize anyone..." Han Suiyue said with a bitter smile.
He took out a summons. The dozens of other people behind him also produced their summons, handing them to Zhang Wei. Before long, Zhang Wei had received a thick stack of fifty-six summons! Each summons clearly stated the reason for being summoned to court: each individual was being sued for defamation by "Plaintiff Qin Mu."
Looking at the thick stack of summons, Zhang Wei’s lips twitched. He gave a thumbs up. "You guys really have guts, daring to blast Qin Mu like that online." His face was filled with admiration.
Although he didn’t personally know Qin Mu, he felt as though they had a spiritual connection. He had built his current reputation and achievements largely thanks to handling several cases that Qin Mu had filed. For that very reason, he understood Qin Mu’s character all too well. If there was a chance to send someone to prison, he wouldn’t compromise. Yang Minghui and his family, Lin Zhen, and Gao Feng... that’s how they had ended up behind bars.
"Lawyer Zhang Wei, I’ve heard that you have deep expertise in reducing sentences. Could you please help us?"
"Yes, Lawyer Zhang Wei," another added, "we’ve come all this way to respond to this lawsuit. We can’t just end up in jail after losing in court."
"Please give us some advice. Is there a way to seek a private settlement with the other party to get them to withdraw the lawsuit?"
"Money is not an issue; we are willing to pay compensation..."
In the law firm, the fifty-six individuals who had gathered were all looking at Zhang Wei eagerly, their faces filled with desperation.