I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 617 It's better for me to punish than for God to punish!
Xia He also received a court summons, but Fang Qingye didn't let her go, as that would only remind her of that painful experience.

He is prepared to appear in court with his lawyer, Smith.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Fang Qingye drove to the New York Criminal Court in Queens. As soon as she parked her car in the parking lot, she saw Smith rushing over in his car.

Smith, still wearing his gray suit and carrying his briefcase, looked relaxed: "Mr. Fang, I went to the New York District Attorney's Office during this time and reviewed the entire case file. After careful study, it is still very favorable to us. According to my estimate, the suspect should be sentenced to at least two years in prison."

"Didn't you say that the other party could be exempted from liability through the Mlatan rules and the uncontrollable rules?" Fang Qingye teased.

Smith's face immediately turned awkward.

“It’s possible, but of course it’s a low-probability event! A low-probability event!” the two said as they entered the courtroom.

This was a very ordinary traffic accident case, so very few people came to listen to the proceedings. There were a few who appeared to be relatives and friends of the suspect, Felix, and they looked at Fang Qingye and his group with ill intent.

Besides Smith, there was no one else on Fang Qingye's side.

Xia He didn't have many friends in New York and didn't want to inform her former colleagues at the Queens branch of Oriental Bank.

However, to Fang Qingye's surprise, she encountered the elderly couple who lived across from Xia He's former apartment.

Alice and John.

Fang Qingye had met the couple before she moved out of the apartment in New York, and Xia He had told her that they had taken good care of her while she lived there. Seeing the elderly couple listening to the proceedings, she quickly went over to greet them.

Alice knew that this young Asian man was Xia He's friend, probably her lover, so she smiled and said:

“Mr. Fang, Lotus is a good person, he will surely be rewarded! God will definitely punish that evil person! Don’t worry.”

As he spoke, he made the sign of the cross on his chest.

"Thank you, thank you." Fang Qingye was very touched.

The trial began at nine o'clock. Phillips appeared in court for trial, with the prosecutor and his defense lawyer sitting on either side. He glanced at the audience and quickly spotted Fang Qingye sitting in front of him.

This was the first time he had met Fang Qingye. He didn't know her, but seeing her black eyes, yellow skin, and cold gaze, he could guess that she was closely related to Xia He, the Chinese woman who had been hit by his car.

Thinking of this, he actually smiled at Fang Qingye.

"Damn it! How dare he provoke us!" Smith, who was standing next to Phillips, noticed the look in his eyes and immediately whispered, "You can laugh now, but you'll be crying later!"

Fang Qingye remained silent, calmly observing Felix.

The trial begins.

According to local New York court procedures, the first step is to present evidence.

A young prosecutor presented the judge and jury with the police's liability report, traffic footage from the vicinity of the accident site, and other materials.

Finally, the prosecutor stated, "Your Honor, Jury, pursuant to Section 14, Section 5 of the New York State Criminal Code, the suspect is guilty of reckless driving causing grievous bodily harm, constituting third-degree assault. We recommend that the court impose a severe sentence!"

“Prosecutor, my client did indeed cause bodily harm to the other party, a fact my client does not deny. On behalf of my client, I would like to express my apologies to the injured party.” The defense attorney was a white man named Daniel.

“But we do not accept the prosecutor’s claim of reckless driving causing serious injury, because my client suffers from a mental illness and was experiencing an episode at the time. This is the forensic psychiatric evaluation report from Bellevue Hospital!” Daniel picked up a document.

“According to the Mlatan rule, if a person loses the ability to recognize the nature of their conduct due to mental illness, or is unable to recognize the wrongfulness of their conduct, they may be exempt from criminal liability. Therefore, I request the court to exempt my client from liability!” He then handed the documents to the judge.

Holy crap! They're actually conducting forensic psychiatric evaluations, using the Mlatan rules!
Fang Qingye and Smith looked at each other in bewilderment.

However, Smith quickly regained his composure and reassured Fang Qingye: "Mr. Fang, please rest assured, the Mlatan rules have a very strict scope of application, and according to statistics, the pass rate is no more than 5%."

But Fang Qingye had a bad feeling.

The smile on the other party's face and his confident look made Fang Qingye realize that things were not as simple as Smith had said.

Sure enough, after a brief deliberation by the judge and jury, the judge announced:
"Given that the suspect, Phillips, suffers from a mental illness and was experiencing an episode at the time, which falls within the scope of the Mlatan Rules, I hereby declare Phillips not criminally liable and acquitted in court!"

This thing was actually used?!
Smith was stunned.

The prosecutor hesitated for a moment before saying, "I object! I want to appeal!"

"Keep quiet! Court adjourned!" The judge ignored the prosecutor, stood up, and turned to leave.

Phillips was released in court and hugged his family and friends before glancing at Fang Qingye, who was sitting in her seat.

He strode over, a smile on his face: "You must be Ms. Xia's friend?"

Before Fang Qingye could speak, Smith quickly stepped in front of her, saying, "I'm Ms. Xia's lawyer! What do you want to say to me?"

Smith ignored him and continued to look at Fang Qingye.

At this moment, Fang Qingye said, "Yes, it is. What's wrong?"

"I wonder if 5 yuan in compensation will be enough? Probably not. Then we'll have to be careful with it, haha," Phillips said, laughing loudly.

Fang Qingye didn't speak, she just stared at him coldly.

"What good is it for you to look at me? Be careful, I might have another episode and run you over!" After saying that, he laughed loudly and turned to leave.

“Phillips, you have intimidated Mr. Fang, and we are going to sue you!” Smith shouted.

Upon hearing this, Phillips simply made an "OK" sign with his hand and walked towards the door without looking back.

"This is outrageous! They don't even respect the law!" Smith said to Fang Qingye, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Mr. Fang, don't be sad. The prosecutor is preparing to appeal, and I will definitely cooperate in collecting evidence that is favorable to you. You must trust American law!"

American law?!
Fang Qingye smiled and said nothing.

At this moment, Mr. and Mrs. Alice also came over, full of sympathy.

"Mr. Fang, don't be sad. Although he escaped legal punishment, he cannot escape the condemnation of his conscience and God's punishment!"

"God's punishment for him?" Fang Qingye sneered.

"I don't believe in God, I only believe in myself! I'd rather punish myself than God punish me!" With that, she strode out.

After leaving the courtroom, Fang Qingye took out her phone and dialed a number to call Wei Xinghua.

"Dr. Wei, this is Fang Qingye. From this moment on, I want you to short Panshi Agriculture's stock at all costs, and make it go straight to zero!"

(End of this chapter)