Grassroots lawyers also have their day

Chapter 72 Courtroom Scene

At this moment, the courtroom doors opened, and two policewomen led Gao Yunxiu, who was wearing a detention center vest, into the courtroom. She was then taken to a specially made chair in front of the judge's bench. There was a wooden board on one armrest of the chair. After Gao Yunxiu sat down, the policewomen placed the wooden board on the other armrest and locked it in place.

Gao Yunxiu looked even more haggard than before, which Wang Chuan guessed was due to the immense mental stress she was under. Her eyes were red, and she frequently wiped her nose and tears with her handcuffed hands.

"Defendant's name, gender..." The middle-aged male judge began verifying the defendant's identity, conducting the procedural questions as if it were a routine procedure.

The courtroom was filled with the occasional stern and forceful voice of the middle-aged male judge, and the defendant's tearful replies, creating a sense of oppression.

"The court investigation will now begin. First, the prosecutor will read the indictment." The middle-aged male judge finished speaking and looked at the prosecutor.

"The suspect committed the crime in 2006..." The female prosecutor began reading the indictment. It was clear that the woman was the main speaker in the conversation, while the man kept his head down, seemingly writing something.

"Defendant Gao Yunxiu, do you have any objections to the facts and charges alleged in the indictment?" the middle-aged male judge asked in a steady voice after the prosecutor finished reading the indictment.

"No objection, I know I was wrong, I won't be so impulsive next time... I only beg the judge to consider that this is my first offense and give me a lenient sentence..." Gao Yunxiu said, bursting into tears and sobbing uncontrollably.

Ms. Gao, who was in the audience, covered her mouth with her hand and was also crying softly.

……

"The court investigation is concluded. We will now proceed with the court debate. Before the debate, the court would like to remind both the prosecution and the defense that the debate should primarily focus on determining the charges, sentencing, and other contentious issues. The prosecutor will speak first," the middle-aged male judge said.

"Judge, in accordance with Articles 153, 160, 165, and 169 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, we, appointed by the Mentougou District People's Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality, represent this court as state prosecutors to appear in court to support the public prosecution and to exercise legal supervision over the criminal proceedings in accordance with the law. We now present the following opinions on the evidence and circumstances of this case for the court's consideration…"

...In conclusion, the indictment clearly establishes the facts of the crime committed by the defendant Gao Yunxiu, and the evidence is conclusive and sufficient. The defendant should be found guilty according to law. Given that the defendant has already paid the victim's medical expenses and has shown a good attitude in admitting guilt, the prosecutor recommends a sentence of five months' detention for the defendant Gao Yunxiu...

After the female prosecutor finished reading the indictment, some people in the room were happy, while others were sad!

Seeing the courtroom was somewhat noisy, the middle-aged male judge said loudly, "Please pay attention to court discipline! ... The defendant, Gao Yunxiu, is speaking."

"Judge, I plead guilty. It was all due to my impulsiveness that I caused harm to my aunt. I will definitely repent and turn over a new leaf..." The defendant's statement was clearly prepared in advance, and coupled with his tearful expression, he showed a deep sense of remorse, which was heartbreaking to see.

"The defense lawyer for the defendant, Gao Yunxiu, will speak." After the defendant finished speaking, the middle-aged male judge looked at Fatty Wan and said.

"Judge, we believe that although the defendant caused some harm to the victim, the case arose because the victim built a house on the land that infringed on the defendant's interests, which is recorded in the case file. Moreover, the defendant only resorted to violence when he had no other choice, so the social harm is extremely small..." Fatty Wan passionately stated his defense.

It must be said that although Fatty Wan is not good-looking, his defense speech was very moving. The Gao family members in the audience looked at him with gratitude in their eyes.

All the evidence he used in his defense came from the prosecution's case files. He did this to avoid getting into trouble and to save himself the trouble of verifying the authenticity of the evidence.

Criminal lawyers generally avoid collecting evidence on their own unless absolutely necessary, because if the evidence they provide is deemed false by the people's court, the consequences are far more serious than in civil or commercial litigation.

Even without providing false evidence, a lawyer blinking during a meeting with a criminal suspect can be interpreted as conveying information or colluding to give a testimony. For a specific example, see the famous Li case.

In civil and commercial cases, if a party or their agent provides false evidence, the people's court may impose fines or detention depending on the severity of the circumstances, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law; if the act constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

In most cases, it does not constitute a crime. That is to say, under normal circumstances, the party who provides false evidence will be fined or detained, the lawyer may have their practice suspended, the revocation of the lawyer's license is relatively rare, and the conviction is even rarer.

However, the situation is quite different in criminal cases. It can be said that Article 306 of the Criminal Law, which prohibits defense lawyers and litigation agents from destroying evidence, fabricating evidence, or obstructing testimony, is specifically designed for lawyers.

According to this provision, in criminal proceedings, if a defense attorney or litigation agent destroys or falsifies evidence, assists a party in destroying or falsifying evidence, or threatens or induces a witness to change their testimony against the facts or to commit perjury, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years.

Good heavens! They'll be sentenced to prison! And almost every year, lawyers of all ages are brought down by this regulation!

Therefore, most lawyers will carefully consider their evidence submissions in criminal cases if they are forced to do so. If the authenticity of the evidence is in doubt, they will absolutely not dare to submit it.

If a client insists on submitting evidence, the usual practice of lawyers is to have the client submit it to the court themselves. However, who knows if the evidence submitted by the client is genuine or false? To protect relatives or interested parties from criminal punishment, clients might do anything (there was a case where a client submitted a bloodstained garment to the court as evidence of innocence, but later testing revealed the blood on the garment was actually dog ​​blood, demonstrating the high risks involved in criminal cases).

Many lawyers have been convicted due to issues with evidence, and the risks are clearly stated in the Criminal Law!

Fatty Wan has handled many criminal cases and studied criminal law in school, so he's well aware of the risks. He wouldn't take such a big risk to gather evidence himself. Besides, this case is relatively simple; the whole story is in the case file, so he can just cite it directly!

But what if the descriptions in the case file are false? Don't forget, the case file was provided by the prosecution and investigated by the public security bureau; it wasn't intentionally fabricated by Wan Pangzi. Therefore, even if the court finds problems with the evidence in the case file, Wan Pangzi won't be held responsible. In simpler terms, Wan Pangzi can use this as a reason to escape liability!

(End of this chapter)