A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Chapter 18: Someone Else!

"Speed ​​bumps!?"

In the civil suit seat, Wang Li looked up in disbelief.

"My mother-in-law's life is just a speed bump in your mouth?!"

Presiding Judge Li Jun frowned.

"Plaintiff in the incidental civil action, please observe court discipline."

Wang Li seemed not to hear, her chest heaving as she stared intently at Zhou Hai.

"You dare say you don't know? Why don't you just say you're blind? A grown person was lying there, and you couldn't see them? I think you're just trying to run away!"

She became increasingly agitated as she spoke, and even tried to stand up from her seat.

Sun Wei, who was standing nearby, immediately reached out and pressed her arm down, lowering her voice.

"Wang Li, sit down."

She knew that having an attack at this time would do her no good.

Crying is okay, but losing control is definitely not.

In court, emotions are only valuable when they are allowed to be expressed. Once those boundaries are crossed, they become evidence in the hands of the opposing party.

But Wang Li clearly didn't think so.

She's been showered with sympathy online for too long these days; every time she cries in the video, people in the comments section speak up for her. But a courtroom isn't the internet, and the judge won't strike someone just because they cry the loudest.

The bailiffs had already walked up to her side.

Li Jun spoke again:

"This court once again warns that no one may speak without permission or disrupt court order. Any further violations will result in the court ordering the offender to leave the courtroom in accordance with the law."

Wang Li's chest heaved violently, her lips still moving, but Sun Wei eventually pressed her back into her seat.

In the live stream, Luo Xiaoxiang's expression became subtle when he saw the synchronized text.

"This reaction... is understandable, but it doesn't help the family."

The comments started to go off-topic.

[Speed ​​bump: You're lying in the garage, and a pot falls from the sky onto you.]

[What kind of hellish joke is this? Are you sure it wasn't intentional?]

I initially supported Wang Li, but then I suddenly realized that I also drive over speed bumps every day...

Luo Xiaoxiang coughed.

"Be serious, this is a criminal trial."

He paused for a moment after he finished speaking.

"However, the defense attorney asked this question with a purpose."

Inside the courtroom.

Wu Liang didn't look at Wang Li, as if her crying and fussing just now had nothing to do with him.

He just looked at Zhou Hai and continued asking questions.

"What was your approximate speed when you left the garage on the day of the incident?"

Zhou Hai thought for a moment.

"I don't know the exact amount."

Prosecutor Zhang Jian raised his eyes.

The answer sounded weak, but Wu Liang nodded.

"If you don't know the specific numbers, can you describe them? Fast or slow?"

"Slow down," Zhou Hai said. "The garage is uphill; we can't go fast."

Did you look down at your phone when you drove out of the garage?

"no."

Did you speak to anyone else in the car?

"I was the only one in the car."

Wu Liang paused for a moment.

"Did you see anyone lying in front of you before the front of the car went over the ramp?"

"no."

"Did you hear any cries for help, shouts, banging on the car, or any other sounds that might alert you that someone is in front of your vehicle?"

"no."

Wu Liang asked the question slowly, and Zhou Hai answered slowly as well.

He didn't defend himself, nor did he make absolute statements like "I'm definitely not wrong."

Sitting behind the defense table as a lawyer's assistant, Zhang Jiajing suddenly understood why Wu Liang had repeatedly made Zhou Hai practice answering key points over the past twenty days.

When ordinary people enter a courtroom, their biggest fear is that they will panic and try to explain themselves. Once they start explaining, they are prone to saying that they have seen things they have never seen before, and that they can guess what they don't know.

Luo Xiaoxiang also noticed this in the live broadcast room.

"Zhou Hai's answer was very restrained."

"This must have been suggested by the defense attorney. He didn't rush to conclusions; he only answered the facts. In a criminal trial, this kind of answer is actually the safest."

The chat was silent for a brief moment.

Those who previously criticized Zhou Hai for faking his death are now struggling to find new ways to criticize him.

Wu Liang turned to the judge's bench.

"Your Honor, regarding whether the defendant Zhou Hai had any foresight, we request to present the first set of defense evidence."

Li Jun looked toward the prosecutor's seat.

Zhang Jian was looking down at the materials.

"Defense attorney, please state the name, source, and purpose of the evidence."

Wu Liang picked up a USB flash drive.

"Evidence 1: The public surveillance video at the exit of the underground parking garage of Lvyuan Community, which was obtained by the public security authorities from the community's property management monitoring room, and we have applied for a copy in accordance with the law."

"Evidence 2: Simulated video footage from the same location, time period, and vehicle type, taken between 6:20 and 6:40 a.m. one week after the incident. The video was taken by the defense attorney and assistant, with property security guards present."

"The purpose of this evidence is to demonstrate that there are objective blind spots at the crime scene, and that the victim's location and the color of the covering were difficult to detect from the driver's normal perspective."

Zhang Jianli immediately stood up.

"Your Honor, the prosecutor has no objection to the source of Evidence 1. They need to comment on the authenticity and relevance of Evidence 2. This video was filmed by the defense themselves; the weather, lighting, vehicle condition, and the victim's physical state at the time of the incident cannot be fully reproduced, and it cannot be directly equated with the crime scene."

These words were spoken very prudently, without any emotion or hint of disdain.

Zhang Jian's point was clear: the simulated video could be viewed, but the court should not be led astray by the video.

Sun Wei also stood up.

"Your Honor, the supplementary opinion from the civil litigation representative: The defense's self-simulated scene should be strictly limited in its scope of evidence and cannot be used to infer that the defendant could not have seen the victim at the time."

Li Jun nodded.

"Defense counsel's opinion?"

Wu Liang smiled.

"agree."

Upon hearing this, several people in the courtroom were stunned for a moment.

Zhang Jian's eyebrows twitched slightly. His prepared second round of opinions hadn't even been uttered when he was stopped halfway by this "agreement".

Wu Liangdao:

"We have never claimed that this simulated video can perfectly reproduce the events of the incident. It only proves one thing."

"No normal driver could foresee this risk."

He looked up at the judge's bench.

"If the prosecution wants to charge Zhou Hai with negligent homicide, it must prove that he should have foreseen it and was able to foresee it."

"If a risk is unforeseeable to a normal person under the circumstances, then it falls within the scope of evaluation of Article 16 of the Criminal Law."

He raised his voice slightly as he said this.

"If an act objectively causes harm, but is not intentional or negligent, and is caused by irresistible or unforeseen reasons, it is not considered a crime."

Zhang Jiajing's eyes lit up.

coming.

From that sentence onward, the case truly entered Wu Liang's rhythm.

Li Jun pondered for a moment.

"Permission granted for playback. Please assist, clerk."

The large screen lights up.

The first segment is public surveillance footage from the morning of the day the incident occurred.

The image is slightly dark.

At the exit of the underground parking garage in the Green Garden residential complex, Zhou Hai's silver-gray sedan slowly climbed the slope, its headlights sweeping across the edge of the ramp.

Then, the vehicle bumped slightly.

There was no sudden braking.

There was no acceleration.

It drove off at an utterly ordinary speed.

Because if no one knew that there was a person lying there, this scene would just be one of countless morning rush hours, a man driving to work.

The second segment is a simulated video shot by Wu Liang.

The camera was shot from the driver's seat.

The front of the car is going uphill, and the hood is raised.

After the top of the slope, part of the ground ahead was obscured.

By the time the figure covered by the dark blanket came into view, the front of the car was already very close to it.

With the morning light, the blanket almost stuck to the floor.

Someone in the audience subconsciously frowned.

"It seems that we really can't see it."

"If I were driving... oh dear, I don't even want to think about it."

"I think what he said actually makes a lot of sense."

"..."

In the dock, Wu Liang did not rush to speak.

He waited until the video finished playing before turning back to face the judge's bench.

"Your Honor, regarding the fact that the deceased Liu Guifang had been sleeping on the public roads and around the garage of the residential area for a long time, we request to present a second set of evidence."

"This includes records of property management's persuasion, community mediation, police dispatch records, and registration forms for property management notifying family members to come to the scene."

Li Jun asked:

"What is the purpose of this proof?"

Wu Liang spoke calmly.

"It has been proven that Liu Guifang has long exhibited abnormal sleeping behavior. The property management, community, and police have contacted her family members multiple times, reminding them to strengthen their care."

Upon hearing this, Wang Li, who was sitting opposite, was startled.

Wu Liang didn't look at her, and his tone gradually rose.

"This also proves that the person who truly and consistently mastered the deceased's dangerous behavior patterns was someone else entirely!"