Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 531 Admission
Chonghui glanced at Nan Zhuren, then quickly turned his head back to avoid being seen as disrupting court order.

He understood what Nan Zhuren meant: "You think that this nodding is not only to gain the judge's trust, but also to convince yourself?"

Talking to professionals is more efficient.

Nan Zhuren said, "That's right."

When lying, people experience an instinctive sense of unease, requiring additional actions to soothe themselves; at the same time, because fabricating lies takes up more brain space than recalling them, an individual's control over their body also decreases.

This psychological phenomenon manifests in behavior as liars, in addition to language, unconsciously expressing their credibility through body language, leading to an excessive compensation and inappropriate nodding gestures.

The prosecutor began questioning the other defendants, but Nan Zhuren and Chonghui's gaze returned to the leader.

Do you think he's lying?

"It's hard to say. From my angle, I can only see a tiny bit of his expression."

Nan Zhuren recalled: "But when he described the crime, it seemed like a segmented, descriptive account, but there were indeed many places where he shifted responsibility and downplayed his own role."

Chonghui nodded in agreement.

Before they could confirm with each other where such "ingenious ideas" existed in the leader's statement, the trial had already moved on to the next stage.

After the prosecutor finished questioning the defendant, he spoke with the plaintiff's lawyer, Mr. Zhan, and confirmed that there was nothing to add at the moment. Then, the defendant's lawyer, or "defense counsel," questioned the defendant.

Yes, the defendant's lawyer questioned the defendant. The purpose of this step is clear: to get straight to the point and highlight any points where the defendant's sentence could be mitigated.

The suspicions that Nan Zhuren and Chonghui had just raised were also verified in this step.

……

Then I saw the defendant's lawyer ask the leader, "Wang Zhenhai, are you in charge of technical work in your team?"

"No." The leader nodded vigorously. "This kind of technology is too new; I don't understand it either. I just provide equipment from my old company..."

The defendant's lawyer advised: "Only answer yes or no, and pay attention to court order."

The leader was taken aback, then took a breath: "Yes."

"You focused on veterans on the advice of other employees, right?"

"Yes."

Did you direct the initial information gathering work?

"Yes."

"But you didn't do the specific target selection, did you?"

"Yes."

The defense attorney calmly flipped through the prepared documents in front of him: "Besides money, do you have any other targets for fraud?"

The leader shook his head vigorously: "No."

After asking this question, the defense attorney turned to the presiding judge and said, "I have finished asking my questions."

Nan Zhuren and Chonghui fully understood the defense's reasoning.

The charge of fraud is a foregone conclusion, and there is no way to plead not guilty. Therefore, the sentence should be as lenient as possible while the defendant pleads guilty and accepts punishment.

The first few questions were about apportioning the corresponding responsibilities, while the last question was related to the "subjective malice" aspect.

This means that the person is only "seeking wealth" and that any other side effects are unintentional mistakes.

This defense approach will obviously clash with that of Nan Zhuren and Bai Qinghua—especially Bai Qinghua. After all, Bai Qinghua is here today as an expert witness, specifically to prove that the criminals had the intention of inflicting "subjective psychological torture."

Thinking of this, Chonghui looked at Bai Qinghua. The professor remained relaxed in his posture and demeanor, his expression unchanged from the beginning. Apart from the focused attention he showed while listening attentively, his face did not reveal anything else despite the surfacing of potential hostility. A teacher is indeed a teacher; so composed.

Moreover, Chonghui is certain that the defense lawyer's strategy goes beyond what is currently being discussed; there are many other defendants present, and many more stages to come.

Because it was a gang crime, there were multiple defendants in court. In this situation, each defendant would be questioned in turn through a process of "defendant's statement - prosecutor's questioning of the defendant - defense attorney's questioning of the defendant".

The session was very long, and people in the audience started to drift off and yawn from time to time.

Chonghui listened very attentively.

The other personnel were mostly technical backbones, and the defense lawyers' arguments for them were largely similar. The principle remained the same: division of responsibility. The technical staff were only responsible for technical and operational tasks, not planning; furthermore, they were supposedly "only interested in money" and did not intend to cause any harm.

……

"I don't have a problem anymore."

After the questioning of the last defendant concluded, the defense attorney gestured to the presiding judge.

The questioning of the defendant has now concluded.

The presiding judge looked to his right: "Does the victim have anything to add?"

The other people in the defendant's dock looked at the young man with the watch. The young man glanced at Attorney Zhan, but without receiving a signal, he shook his head at the presiding judge.

The presiding judge then asked, "Do the victim and the plaintiff have anything to add?"

Attorney Zhan blinked and nudged the young man with the watch with his elbow, snapping him out of his daze. He then said, "Nothing to add."

Each person in the dock then said this in turn.

Nan Zhuren and Chonghui, sitting in the audience, exchanged a glance.

A lawyer hired at a high price cannot possibly fail to explain the trial process, nor can they fail to let their employer know that "every question from the presiding judge will have an oral answer."

It's only possible that these victims, or at least this young man wearing the watch, didn't care much.

Looking at the suspect with a buzz cut sitting in the dock, everyone inexplicably felt that the suspect was of higher character.

The presiding judge remained unfazed. He had seen all sorts of defendants, as well as all sorts of plaintiffs and victims.

"Now, please present the evidence according to the prosecutor's charges and summon the relevant witnesses," the presiding judge said.

The prosecutor opened his own files and read aloud the evidence he had submitted beforehand.

"I. Internal chat logs between suspect Wang Zhenhai and his gang..."

The evidence presented so far is the most crucial part for conviction, including transaction records, chat logs, and so on.

Some of these written pieces of evidence require witness interpretation, while others do not.

Soon we arrived at Nan Zhuren's section.

Psychological counseling records are the kind that require "explanation".

"Summon witness Nan Zhuren for questioning," the presiding judge said.

The bailiff in front opened the small door on the railing, and Nan Zhuren stood up in response, instantly attracting the attention of everyone present.

He strode to the witness stand.

The prosecutor's questioning remained concise: "Witness Nan Zhuren, please state your professional relationship with the victim Nan Zhihao."

(End of this chapter)