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

Chapter 19 Unpredictable!

"The person who truly and consistently grasped the deceased's dangerous behavior patterns was someone else entirely!"

After Wu Liang finished speaking, the first courtroom fell silent.

Sun Wei's expression changed slightly; she seemed to know what Wu Liang was about to do.

This man wasn't trying to defend Zhou Hai; he wanted to drag Wang Li to the same trial table!

Judge Li Jun looked at Wu Liang, his voice steady.

"Defense attorney, please watch your wording. The subject of this case is whether the defendant, Zhou Hai, has committed a crime."

"clear."

Wu Liang nodded, showing no embarrassment at being reminded, and instead casually flipped to the next document.

"Therefore, all our subsequent opinions will revolve around whether Zhou Hai had the foresight to make such a prediction."

The court clerk handed the evidence to the judge.

The sound of pages turning filled the courtroom as records were displayed one by one.

On September 3, 2017, Liu Guifang was sleeping at the entrance of Building 9 in the Lvyuan residential area. The property management asked her to leave and notified her family.

On January 22, 2018, Liu Guifang was found sleeping on the side of the main road in the community. Community staff arrived to mediate, and her family promised to take better care of her.

On April 8, 2018, Liu Guifang was sleeping near the roadway again. Police officers responded to the scene and clearly warned her of the risk of being hit or run over by vehicles.

……

Studio.

Wait, so many times?

[Didn't the plaintiff say in the video that no one had warned them?]

[The fact that the property management, community, and police have all been involved makes things a bit different.]

A glint flashed in Luo Xiaoxiang's glasses, as if he had realized something.

Inside the courtroom.

Sun Wei stood up.

"Presiding Judge, the representative of the incidental civil action may now present their opinion. The defense is attempting to shift the defendant's driving responsibility to the victim's family. Wang Li was not the driver, nor is she the subject of criminal liability in this case, and the relevant evidence lacks a direct connection to whether Zhou Hai committed a crime."

She speaks very quickly, but her pronunciation remains steady and clear.

Wang Li seemed to have finally found something to hold onto, and spoke with trembling hands.

"Who can control my mother-in-law? If she wants to go out, am I supposed to tie her up?"

"Wang Li".

Sun Wei turned her head and quickly whispered to stop her, a hint of unease flashing in her eyes.

Sister, please don't follow the other side's lead!

But the words have already been spoken.

Wu Liang smiled and turned to the judge's bench.

"Attorney Sun and Ms. Wang are right."

It's that same sentence again.

In the prosecutor's seat, Zhang Jian frowned.

Generally speaking, it's a good thing when a defense attorney acknowledges the opposing viewpoint.

But Zhang Jian suddenly realized that in the face of this unscrupulous opponent, nothing could be explained by common sense.

Wu Liang's tone even carried a hint of sincerity.

"Wang Li is certainly not the driver, nor could she possibly keep an eye on Liu Guifang 24 hours a day. If an elderly person wants to go out in the middle of the night, the family can't just weld the door shut."

Wang Li was stunned when she heard this, never expecting Wu Liang to speak up for her.

Wu Liang continued:

"An elderly person, sleeping under a tree, at the entrance of their apartment building, or next to a garage—who can watch over them every single moment?"

He sighed softly as he said this.

"It's beyond our control."

"There's really nothing we can do about it."

Wang Li's lips moved, and she was about to blurt out, "That's how it is."

Sun Wei immediately placed her hand on her arm.

Don't answer.

Don't agree with him.

"So here's the question."

Wu Liang said loudly and clearly.

"Even family members who have lived together for a long time and have received repeated calls from the property management, community mediation, and reminders from the police cannot be expected to foresee that Liu Guifang would lie down in the middle of the garage exit on the morning of the incident."

"Why should a driver who leaves for work at 6:30 in the morning be expected to anticipate this?!"

A collective gasp filled the courtroom, and the three jurors on the bench looked up almost simultaneously.

I forgot to take notes.

The pile of materials that was originally about Wang Li turned into Zhou Hai's defense materials when Wu Liang changed the subject.

After a brief pause, the live stream chat exploded with comments.

Holy crap?!

The defense lawyer wasn't just attacking Wang Li, but rather foreseeing the possibility of her downfall!

Was he deliberately agreeing with her just now?

Luo Xiaoxiang sat in front of the camera, a look of realization dawning on his face.

After a few seconds, he whispered:

"This lawyer, Mr. Wu... is quite interesting."

judgment seat.

Li Jun looked again at the police dispatch record, and then at the phrase "should have foreseen" in the indictment.

This lawyer wasn't just being clever; he was forcing the court to confront a problem.

The same fact cannot be described as "uncontrollable" in Wang Li's case, but as "foreseeable" in Zhou Hai's case.

Zhang Jianli immediately stood up.

The prosecutor reacted faster and with more restraint than Sun Wei.

"Your Honor, the prosecutor may now present their opinion. The defense has confused the family's duty of care with the driver's duty of care. Whether Wang Li fulfilled her caregiving responsibilities is not within the scope of this criminal trial. The defendant, Zhou Hai, drove a motor vehicle through the garage exit and should bear a safety duty commensurate with his driving behavior."

His speech was neither swayed by Wu Liang nor did he cover for Wang Li.

Zhang Jian knew very well that once the discussion turned to whether Wang Li was responsible, the trial would shift from whether Zhou Hai had committed a crime to a moral battle.

That's not something prosecutors should do, and it's easier to fall into the comfort zone of criminal defense lawyers.

Wu Liang nodded.

"The prosecutor is right."

Zhang Jiajing almost couldn't hold back her emotions.

Again.

"The duty of family care cannot replace the duty of care while driving."

Wu Liang turned to the audience, his expression playful.

"I never said that Wang Li should drive for Zhou Hai."

Someone couldn't help but laugh.

Li Jun gently brought down the hammer, and the sound immediately disappeared.

Wu Liang put away his frivolous manner and continued:

"But the point of contention in this case is not the abstract duty of care while driving."

"It's not about whether drivers should watch the road or not, nor is it about whether drivers should slow down at the garage exit."

"There is no controversy about these points."

He walked back to the defense table and picked up the scene simulation diagram.

"There is only one real point of contention."

"Should Zhou Hai have foreseen that after the car passed the top of the hill, in the small blind spot that was obscured, there would be an old man wrapped in a dark blanket lying there?"

He put the drawing down.

"This is a specific risk that cannot be summarized simply by saying 'Drive carefully'."

Sun Wei immediately stood up, her face flushed with anger:

"Your Honor! The defense is distorting the facts! Wang Li couldn't control Liu Guifang's every outing, but Zhou Hai could control the vehicle, slow down, stop, and observe while driving!"

"Can."

Wu Liang responded quickly, not caring at all that his speech had been interrupted.

"If Zhou Hai knew there were people ahead, he could certainly have stopped the car."

"If someone had told him that Liu Guifang was lying right in the middle of the garage exit right now, and he had still driven forward, then there would have been no point in arguing today."

As he said this, his voice suddenly lowered, and he shook his head regretfully.

"Unfortunately, there are no 'what ifs'."

"There was only one old woman whom everyone knew would sleep anywhere, but no one knew where she would sleep."

Wu Liang did not give Zhang Jian or Sun Wei a chance to respond this time.

He turned to the judge's bench and went straight to the heart of the debate, his voice firm and resolute.

"Your Honor, if the prosecution wants to prove Zhou Hai's guilt, it must prove that he should have foreseen it."

"And all the evidence so far proves that the people who have received risk warnings repeatedly and in detail over a long period of time are the family members, not Zhou Hai."

"If even Liu Guifang's family couldn't have foreseen that she would end up in front of the wheels of a car in this way, then Zhou Hai certainly couldn't have foreseen it!"