Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Lawyer Zhang, why don’t you make a rebuttal?
During these past few days in the detention center, besides communicating with Zhang Wei, Gao Feng had also been racking his brains for a way to get himself exonerated. Zhang Wei, despite appearing highly professional, had consistently emphasized sentence reduction, not exoneration.
So, he had his close friend Zhuang Huarong search for exoneration methods on his behalf, consulting numerous lawyers online. They all stated that actions committed while drunk, devoid of reason and consciousness, did not constitute subjective intent.
"Many lawyers on Baidu say that because I was drunk and had lost my rationality and consciousness, I don’t have to bear criminal responsibility. My actions were due to drunken negligence and lacked subjective intent."
"That day, I drank two whole cases of liquor by myself. I genuinely drank until I blacked out; I didn’t know anything at all..." Gao Feng continued his plea to the judge.
This was all information Zhuang Huarong had found for him, advice given by online lawyers. For this, he even had his friend Zhuang Huarong pay several hundred yuan in advance for their consultation fees. Combining this with the legal knowledge he had acquired over the past few days, the more he thought about it, the more he felt these online lawyers were right—much more competent than Zhang Wei.
The crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means requires subjective intent. And he had been completely out of it from drinking... So where was the subjective intent? Therefore, he simply hadn’t committed the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means. If that charge didn’t stick, then the court could only convict him of throwing objects from a height. That offense, at most, would mean paying some money. He wouldn’t have to go to jail at all!
Meanwhile, as Gao Feng made his statement, Zhang Wei’s expression, seated at the defense counsel’s table, turned incredibly grim. He was trembling with anger.
He had never anticipated that after Gao Feng followed his instructions for a sentence-reduction defense, he would suddenly pull this stunt! He even brought up those ’online lawyers’! Every time Gao Feng said ’Baidu says,’ it felt like a slap in the face to him.
This point about drunkenness... he had considered it when he first learned about the case. It could only serve as grounds for a reduced sentence. But now Gao Feng was using it to argue for complete exoneration! He wouldn’t trust a real, live lawyer standing right in front of him, but he actually believed those online lawyers! Those so-called lawyers online—how many of them even had a law license? How many had actually argued a case in court? They were all just charlatans with superficial knowledge, out to scam gullible netizens. But Gao Feng, desperate to save himself, had clutched at straws and chosen to believe these answers from Baidu.
BANG—
Not long after, the judge at the bench banged the gavel. "The defendant has concluded his plea. The prosecution may now present its arguments in response to the defendant’s statement."
At the prosecutor’s table, Qin Mu watched Gao Feng’s performance with some surprise. Gao Feng’s initial remarks had been methodical, aimed at securing a reduced sentence. But in the latter half, he had suddenly tried to argue for complete exoneration, even throwing out drunkenness as an excuse.
Fortunately, he had read a good number of law books recently, and a quick mental review brought to mind the relevant articles in the Criminal Law concerning crimes committed while intoxicated.
Article 14 of the Criminal Law stipulates: Intentional crime refers to knowingly committing an act that will result in socially harmful consequences, and either desiring or recklessly disregarding such an outcome, thereby constituting a crime. Even acts committed while intoxicated, in a state of blurred consciousness and diminished rationality, still incur full criminal responsibility because the individual caused their own intoxication and its associated risks and side effects.
However, there is one situation where intoxication does not incur criminal responsibility: pathological intoxication. Drunkenness is divided into two types. One is physiological intoxication, which is drinking to the point of unconsciousness or blurred consciousness under normal circumstances. The other is pathological intoxication, which involves an extreme and disproportionate excitement, often with aggressive and violent tendencies, after consuming even a small amount of alcohol. Strictly speaking, this is considered a medical condition. A very small number of people have this condition. After just a few sips, they can become abnormally excited and irritable. All actions committed by such individuals while intoxicated are treated similarly to those committed by someone with a mental illness; they do not bear corresponding criminal responsibility.
Thus, Gao Feng’s recent argument, while seemingly plausible, actually had no legal basis. Beside Qin Mu, Wang Dachui clearly realized this too and rose to speak. He began a sharp, targeted rebuttal: "Your Honor, the prosecution believes the defendant himself created the dangerous state of his intoxication. The defendant previously stated he was drinking voluntarily due to a breakup, not under coercion from others."
"Furthermore, the objects were thrown from a height right after dinner, a time when foot traffic in the residential complex is heavy. Even if the defendant claims he wasn’t aware of this, he still committed the act, demonstrating subjective intent."
"Moreover, the defendant repeatedly concealed the truth afterward and refused to cooperate with the investigation, as multiple parties, including the police station, property management, and residents, can testify."
Wang Dachui then systematically refuted Gao Feng’s statements from a professional legal standpoint. His primary targets were, naturally, Gao Feng’s attempts to evade responsibility, his brazen bid for acquittal in court, and his complete lack of any remorse or willingness to plead guilty. Such conduct would undoubtedly influence the judgment of the judge and jurors. Sometimes, a subtle shift in the judge’s or jurors’ perception could alter a sentence by a year, or even several.
At the defendant’s bench, Gao Feng’s expression changed drastically as he listened to Wang Dachui’s rebuttal, and he grew anxious once more. The online lawyers had clearly said that if he just brought up the intoxication point, the verdict would be a sure thing. But who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, the opposition would refute him, and crucially, touch upon areas beyond his knowledge. He had no idea how to respond; the online lawyers hadn’t taught him this part. His only recourse was to turn and look to Zhang Wei for help.
Zhang Wei, his face livid, shot Gao Feng a glare. Nevertheless, he stood up and began to defend their position, arguing based on their earlier points for a reduced sentence. As for the issue of intoxication, he didn’t utter a single word about it.
"Lawyer Zhang, it’s the intoxication! If you just refute their point on that, I can be acquitted! Why aren’t you rebutting it?!" Gao Feng, having listened for some time, couldn’t resist whispering a reminder.
Zhang Wei, who was in the middle of his argument, felt his mouth twitch. He ignored Gao Feng, feeling utterly weary.
Refute the other side? What a joke! While intoxication might negate subjective awareness and rationality, the person is still fully criminally liable because they created the dangerous situation themselves! Arguing that point in court would be tantamount to throwing the case! The ridiculous part was that Gao Feng, in his desperate bid for survival, had taken what those online lawyers taught him and used it directly in court. It had completely thrown off his strategy! One of the crucial conditions for a reduced sentence—a sincere admission of guilt—was now almost certainly out of reach.
BANG—
Finally, after the hearing had lasted for two hours, the judge banged the gavel again and announced, "The court will now take a recess. We will reconvene in fifteen minutes."
The judge and the other adjudicators then walked into a conference room at the back, evidently to analyze and organize the details of the case.
「During the recess,」 Gao Feng looked at Zhang Wei, his expression filled with reproach and disappointment.
"Lawyer Zhang, didn’t I just remind you? You were supposed to argue based on that point the online lawyers taught me! Why didn’t you say anything about it?"
As he spoke, Gao Feng sighed, increasingly feeling he had hired the wrong lawyer. If he had known, he might as well have just found any lawyer online; they would have been far more reliable than Zhang Wei.