Seated in a glass booth, Joshua Dale did not immediately understand what that hand gesture meant and was a little confused as to what was going on. He looked at Gu Yan, uncomprehending and uneasy.
Until Judge Murray Liu spoke. โLawyer Gu, are you sure you wish to opt out of your opening statement?โ
Joshua Dale, โโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโ
He felt his heart, tethered to the waistband of his pants, had snapped and fallen to the ground; someone had even kicked it, and it bounced away. He slowly opened his mouth, but his brain had already imploded.
Opt out of the opening statement?!
Are you kidding me?
He didnโt understand anything profound. He only knew that the court always had a back and forthโyou say five points, I refute five pointsโto have material to continue the debate to its end. But his lawyer ended up giving up one round as soon as he went up?
The people at the back of the courtroom who had, with their documents, come to observe the trial went deafeningly silent for five seconds, then abruptly blazed with discussion.
It wasnโt that it was not permitted to opt out of the opening statement, but in these peopleโs limited experience as courtroom spectators, they had never seen this practice in reality. After all, opting out of one round meant giving up on a chance to convince the jury and the judge.
โSilence!โ Murray Liu banged his gavel.
The courtroom once again returned to silence. Murray Liu peered down at the defence table.
Gu Yan nodded. โYes.โ
Amidst the stunned stares of the whole courtroom, only Yan Suizhi was relaxed and even approving.
Long ago, he had once given his students some advice. He said, โIt is useless to slam your argument point by point on a judge or jury when they themselves have pre-existing bias. Even if your words are impassioned, it may end up being counterproductive. There are some people who already have a preconceived outcome in mind and find it difficult to accept contrary statements. Especially if they arenโt open to persuasion, no matter how much reason you speak, they would refute you line by line in their heads. How do I put itโฆ itโs probably a type of reverse psychology that makes them want to rebel at the drop of a hat.โ
Rather than forcing the other person to accept your conclusion, why not throw out a lead, and let them draw that conclusion on their own?
If it was something that they themselves thought of, would others still need to persuade them into it?
Just like in the present situation; for a judge like Murray Liu, for an unruly place like Wine City, giving up the opening statement was an excellent defence strategy.
It would even stimulate another type of reverse psychology in some peopleโthe less you say, the more I want to hear.
Use retreat as an advance, use defence as an attack.
Even if Gu Yanโs move wasnโt influenced by Yan Suizhiโs words from back then, Professor Yan was still very pleased.
This emperor, regally seated with his swollen leg, spun the electronic pen in his hand, and wrote a confident โAโ on the blank pages he had created.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Cr Xe Tjc ujnf eq atf bqfclcu rajafwfca, atf aglji delmxis qgbmffvfv ab atf cfza gbecv.
Ktf qgbrfmeabg yfujc ab mjii atf mbggfrqbcvlcu klacfrrfr eq bcf ys bcf jmmbgvlcu ab atf agjli bo fnlvfcmf.
Ktf olgra ab ajxf atf klacfrr rajcv kjr cb ragjcufg ab Tjc Velhtl jcv Xe Tjc.
It was a tall and strong man who looked slightly menacing due to the scar on his face.
Joshua Dale stared from the glass booth. Thinking that he was mistaken, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, but the face of the man on the witness stand remained unchanged.
โThe witness, Mr Fix Gore.โ Murray Liu read out the other partyโs name. โ47 years old, ID no. W11992661882.โ
Fix nodded. โThatโs me, Your Honour.โ
โTaking the witness stand means that you will likewise need to be sworn in first,โ Murray Liu slowly asked, โThis court requires you to swear that you will say the truth to the best of your knowledge and nothing but the truth, not withholding anything.โ
Fix nodded again. โI swear.โ
Despite Joshua Daleโs astonishment at Fixโs appearance, Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi werenโt surprised. After all, they had seen the evidence presented by the prosecution at the pre-trial conference. As it turned out, while they were busy gathering new evidence, the prosecution hadnโt been idling about, and they had added several more pieces of evidence against Joshua Dale, including the footage recorded by the dashboard camera in Fixโs taxi.
โLawyer Lu,โ Judge Murray Liu said to the prosecutor, โyou may begin your examination.โ
The prosecutor nodded and turned to Fix. He used this round as a direct examination, thus allowing the witness to present the facts for the prosecution as they answered the questions; the target audience being, of course, the jury.
โFix Gore?โ Lu nodded at him, โAre you the neighbour of the defendant Joshua Dale?โ
Fix, โYes. Iโm neighbours to both Joshua and Kitty, to be exact.โ
Lu pulled up an overhead map on the courtroomโs huge holographic screen and marked out three houses. โThis is Joshua Daleโs house, this is Kitty Bellโs house, and this is where you live; is this correct?โ
โYes, thatโs right.โ
Lu, โHow often do you see Joshua Dale?โ
Fix, โOnce or twice a day.โ
โAre you familiar with him?โ
โYes.โ
โWhatโs your relationship like?โ
โOccasionally lend a hand here and there.โ
โDoes he help you or do you help him?โ
Fix hesitated. โHeโs still young.โ
The underlying meaning was, โI help him more, but after all, heโs still a child.โ
Lu glanced at the jury before continuing. โWere these videos captured on your dashboard camera?โ
As he spoke, he pulled up several videos on the holographic screen which automatically replayed several clips, each with a different date, but all with similar content, either of Joshua Dale climbing over the wall or already crouched on it.
“Is this Kitty Bell’s yard wall?”
Fix nodded. โYes.โ
โHow did your taxi obtain these videos?โ
โItโs not actually my taxi. I drive it for the owner, only during the mealtimes at midday and in the evening. He would pull up to the mouth of this section of the alley and change shifts with me.โ Fix said, โThat section of the alley is difficult to make a turnabout, so I would always take a detour from this road and turn out the other end. I often stop for a while in that empty lot in front of Joshuaโs and Kittyโs houses to finish my meal or have a cigarette to clear my head before driving out.โ
Lu thought for a moment then asked, โHow long have you been doing this?โ
โLess than a year, probably.โ
โSo these videos are all taken within the year, around lunch and dinnertime?โ
Fix pondered for a moment. โI suppose so.โ
This implied that aside from these, there ought to be much more.
Lu continued to ask for a few more details related to the videos.
Fix answered each and every one of them.
And then, Lu suddenly said, โHow is Joshua Daleโs relationship with Chester Bell, Kitty Bellโs grandnephew?โ
Fix said, โNot that great.โ
โHave you ever seen them argue?โ
โActually, Iโve even broken apart a fight.โ Fix thought about it, and he said, โThese two boys donโt really gel well together in the same space. They would always clash whenever they see each other, but individually, theyโre good kids.โ
โDid Chester Bell ever get into a dispute with Joshua Dale over climbing his yard wall?โ
Fix, โI havenโt seen it, but I think Joshua would have avoided the time periods when Chester was home.โ
โSo what youโre saying is that Joshua Dale has a good understanding of Kitty Bell and her grandnephewโs routine?โ
Gu Yan suddenly raised a finger in the air, saying mildly, โObjection.โ
Leading questions couldnโt be asked during the examinations. Once they were, the other party had the right to object, and the judge should rule that the objection was valid and stop the witness from answering such questions.
However, Murray Liuโs ass was crooked. โObjection overruled.โ
Gu Yanโs face was calm. He didnโt even bat an eyelid.
Seated behind, the electronic pen in Yan Suizhiโs hand was spun once again and caught between his fingers. He was equally unsurprised by this ruling; after all, this wasnโt the first time that Old Bastard Murray had done such a thing.
โDid you see Joshua when he was recorded going over the wall on the night of the 23rd?โ Lu asked.
โNo, I wasnโt in the car at the time,โ said Fix, โI had picked up the car and parked it in its usual spot, then went back to my house to finish my half-eaten dinner. I didnโt see it happen. The footage was taken by the dashcam itself after the car was locked.โ
Lu, โWhy did the footage suddenly stop after ten minutes of recording?โ
Fix said, โIt ran out of power.โ
Lu asked an assorted mix of scattered questions, enough for the jury to distill a few pieces of information from all of Fixโs answersโthat Joshua was familiar enough with the Bell familyโs routine to time the crime to precision, that Joshua and Chester were on bad terms, and that on the night of the 23rd, Joshua had climbed over the wall into Kitty Bellโs yard during the likely time frame of the crime.
In general, a lawyer could anticipate a witnessโ response to his questions. A good lawyer could keep the witnessโ answer exactly within the range of effect he wished to achieve, not a little less, and not a little more.
โIโm done with the examination.โ Lu took in the assorted reactions of the jury, nodding at Judge Murray Liu.
Murray Liu turned to Gu Yan. โLawyer Gu, you may begin cross-examining the witness.โ
But Gu Yan, conversely, raised his hand, saying indifferently, โI have no questions.โ
Murray Liu, โโฆโ
Everyone in court, โโฆโ
Joshua Dale, โโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโ
I must have hired a fake lawyer, right? Is this goddamn lawsuit even fightableโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆ
I am liking this so much ๐
Thanks for the chapter
Now the whole courtroom resembles a circus ๐ . Everyone expressions like ๐ฅบ๐ฅบ, GY expression ๐ฅด while the teacher Yan expression ๐.
Joshua Dale, โโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโI must have hired a fake lawyer, right? ๐
Thank you for the chapter๐๐๐๐๐๐
i’m so worried, gu yan what are you doing?! ๐ญwith the unfairness of the judge i think that if joshua got a guilty verdict they could file for a mistrial. can’t believe he would allow leading questions ๐ก
there’s a saying: “don’t ask a question you don’t know the answer to.” you don’t want surprises during your questioning
anyway thank you so much for the chapter! now that we are getting into the trial i’m so excited. kinda suspicious of fix, but i have no clue how this will play out
thanks for the chapter <3
(โงW โฆ) hope they’re able to turn it around! Ahhhhh so exciting!!
Thank you for the chapter!!!
I hate the fact that people whom should we trust when it comes to legal judgments are biased and are harboring preconceived ideas, affecting their rationality and decisions. But alas, we are humans and are very vulnerable.
What I love here in this part is how GY and YSZ used/mentioned psychology in relevance with the biased aspect. It shows how one can manipulate the situation towards the course they want to take by deciphering the human psyche. Outstanding!
I am intrigued ๐ฅ
excited to see how gu yan would reverse the seemingly hopeless situation!
Dean Yan approved Lawyer Gu.
Thank you for your hardwork!
Poor Joshua.
the mimicry that they are making out of this reminds me of the first court hearing in Vincenzo…all the strategising and tricks that look ridiculous in the eyes of others but actually serves a purpose. GO GU YAN!
That man is lying obviously
I call mistrial with prejudice. Let mah boi free
Thanks for the chapter ๐
so we all agree that judge lin can go fuck himself? okayokay nice to know.
shouldn’t justice be blind or whatever?
anyways gu yan really betting on the “bitch this a kid look at all these fuckers being smart n shit” route. we all love a man who knows what he’s doing. i (n prof yan prolly) just hope he knows what he is doing.
thank u!
Reading this chap makes me hear a lot of familiar things when theres nothing
Not professional causally marking student Gu’s performance, forgetting that their roles was switched XD
Professor Yan* idk what happened there!