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

Chapter 31 Pre-trial Conference: A Three-Party Game

The meeting room of the Tongcheng Intermediate People's Court is twice the size of the courtroom, with an oval table taking up most of the space.

Wu Liang arrived the earliest.

He chose a seat by the window and began taking out documents from his briefcase one by one.

Then I took out my phone and opened Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).

After standing at the door for a while, bailiff Xiao Li finally couldn't help but cough: "Attorney Wu, please put your cell phones on silent in the meeting room."

"Oh," Wu Liang replied with an apologetic smile.

Of course, Wu Liang wasn't idle; he was reading Su Lili's latest updated work.

In the video, Su Lili proudly announced that she had achieved the first strategic victory: her abusive husband had sincerely apologized to her and was now in the midst of a dramatic "wife-chasing-after-the-cremation" drama.

At the end of the video, Su Lili also spoke righteously to her sisters, saying that she would not be defeated by such sweet talk.

The comments section was filled with voices of support.

-【Ahhhhhh, sisters are so awesome!】

- [Lily truly deserves to be called a representative of independent women in the new era!]

Wu Liang almost couldn't help but laugh.

When Zhang Jian pushed the door open and saw Wu Liang sitting with his legs crossed, the slight professional respect he had felt for him vanished instantly.

If he had a choice, he really wouldn't want to run into this guy.

Then Liang Jincheng entered, his face as warm as the last time.

"Attorney Wu, we meet again."

Wu Liang responded with a smile.

Guo Yong, the presiding judge in this case, was the last to arrive.

Guo Yong is in his early fifties, with a square face and an upright demeanor, looking like he stepped out of a legal drama.

He glanced around and then announced the start of the meeting in a deep voice.

"A pre-trial conference was held today in the case of Ni Dayong's intentional homicide. The identities of all parties have been verified and will not be repeated."

"This meeting will primarily address four issues: first, jurisdiction and recusal; second, exchange of evidence and clarification of points of contention; third, applications for the exclusion of illegally obtained evidence; and fourth, the possibility of mediation in incidental civil litigation. Do any parties have objections?"

"No," Zhang Jianxian said.

"No." Liang Jincheng closed the case file.

Wu Liang nodded: "No."

Guo Yong's gaze lingered on his face.

He had seen the video recording of this lawyer's trial in Zhou Hai's case. Back then, he was sitting at the defense table, confronting the prosecution head-on. Today, he seemed like someone who had come to observe the proceedings.

"We will now begin. The prosecutor will give a brief explanation of the facts of the charges and the evidence presented."

Zhang Jian stood up and spoke at a steady pace.

"The defendant, Ni Dayong, male, 49 years old, entered the residence of Ding Hu in the Lvyuan Residential Area of ​​this city at approximately 2:00 PM on August 21, 2018, and used a knife from the victim's home to stab Ding Hu to death. After being apprehended, the defendant confessed to the crime. The evidence on file includes…."

"The prosecution believes that he should be held criminally liable for intentional homicide."

Then he looked at Wu Liang.

"Does the defense counsel have any objections to the aforementioned facts and evidence?"

Wu Liang is twirling a pen.

The black ballpoint pen twirled between his fingers before settling steadily back into his tiger's mouth.

"Prosecutor Zhang," Wu Liang said casually, "it seems the pre-trial conference doesn't discuss conviction and sentencing, does it?"

Zhang Jian choked for a moment.

He just laid out such a long preamble to bring up the controversy surrounding its characterization.

As a result, Wu Liang dismissed him with just one sentence.

Damn it!

Guo Yong took two notes in the dock without saying a word.

Liang Jincheng spoke at the opportune moment.

"Your Honor, the plaintiff in the incidental civil suit, Wang Li, has submitted a written statement before the trial. The deceased, Ding Hu, was Wang Li's spouse. The plaintiff has suffered [a great deal of distress]—"

"Director Liang."

Wu Liang suddenly interrupted.

"Let me remind you. Your client, Wang Li, was lawfully expelled from the courtroom during the Zhou Hai case trial for disrupting court order. This fact has been recorded in the court transcript. If you are making a claim for compensation for emotional distress based on this, you should at least provide an explanation of the basis for the calculation."

Liang Jincheng turned to look at him.

Wang Li's expulsion is a fact, and the judge recorded it in court, which directly affects her credibility as a victim's family member.

Before he could respond, Wu Liang pulled a document from his briefcase and pushed it onto the table.

"In addition, these are the phone records of Ding Hu before his death that we just obtained, as well as a transcript of the audio recording. The original audio recording has been transferred along with the case file."

"The content involves Ding Hu's continuous unlawful infringement on the defendant Ni Dayong for fifteen years, which is inconvenient to elaborate on here. We argue that this evidence has a significant impact on the conviction and sentencing, and we request the collegial panel to pay attention to it."

He pushed the document to the clerk and leaned back in his chair.

Zhang Jian frowned.

What's going on? They've already reached the pre-trial conference, and Wu Liang still managed to slip in a new piece of evidence?

Liang Jincheng's emotions did not fluctuate much.

Regarding the civil compensation portion...

"I haven't finished speaking yet." Wu Liang interrupted again, and this time even the usually amiable Liang Jincheng showed a hint of displeasure.

"Evidence of Ding Hu's long-term unlawful infringement is valuable not only in the criminal case but also directly affects the determination of the degree of fault of both parties in the incidental civil litigation. According to my country's current Tort Liability Law, if the injured party is at fault for the occurrence of the damage, the tortfeasor's liability may be reduced. If the injured party's fault is the direct cause of the damage—"

"Attorney Wu," Guo Yong finally spoke up to stop him, "the degree of fault and the division of responsibility fall within the scope of the substantive trial and will not be discussed in the pre-trial conference."

"Also, do not interrupt the representatives' speeches again. This is a warning."

"Understood." Wu Liang immediately fell silent. "We only pointed out the relevance during the evidence exchange phase for the collegial panel's reference."

Liang Jincheng gave Wu Liang a deep look, then ignored him and reported his civil compensation claim to the presiding judge.

The amount of compensation for emotional distress this time was not as high as in the previous Zhou Hai case, but in the end...

"...Regarding the plaintiff Wang Li's legitimate claim and the defendant's ability to pay compensation, we request the court to mediate the dispute."

No mediation.

Wu Liang's voice rang out for the third time, this time waiting until Liang Jincheng had finished speaking.

"The defendant, Ni Dayong, has no assets available for execution. His spouse is a person without civil capacity, and they have a minor daughter who is still in school. The amount of compensation claimed by the plaintiff in the incidental civil lawsuit far exceeds the defendant's actual ability to pay. We have no intention of conducting mediation knowing that the defendant cannot fulfill his obligations, as this would be a waste of time."

The air in the meeting room suddenly became quiet, and even the clerk's fingers stopped on the keyboard.

Guo Yong finished writing the last stroke and closed the notebook.

"The mediation proceedings in the incidental civil suit will be terminated upon one party's explicit refusal. The civil and criminal parts of this case will be tried together and will not be mediated separately. If there are no other procedural matters, the pre-trial conference is now adjourned."

"Evidence may be submitted by each party within five days after the meeting. Submissions after this period will not be accepted."

Guo Yong stood up.

Everyone stood up.

Zhang Jian closed the case file with three times more force than usual.

In the corridor, Wu Liang's phone rang.

He looked at the caller ID on the screen and answered the call.

"Team Leader Zhao."

Zhao Anmin's voice pierced through the room: "Is the pre-trial conference over?"

"Just dispersed."

"How is it?"

"It's alright." Wu Liang glanced at Zhang Jian and Liang Jincheng's teams who were walking out one after another behind him. "The prosecution wasn't too happy, the plaintiff wasn't too happy either, and the judge was very fair."

"So you seem quite happy?"

"good."

Zhao Anmin exclaimed that he had never seen anything like it before; in his more than 20 years as a criminal investigator, this was the first time he had encountered such an eccentric lawyer.

"Get to the point. Sun Jin went to Shen Xuejun's contact twice but couldn't get anything out of him. That old fox is all talk and no action, he's as spineless as a mule, he won't tell the truth. The team has decided to go again tomorrow."

Wu Liang waited for him to continue.

"You should go too."

"Captain Zhao, are you sending me to extract information?" Wu Liang raised an eyebrow.

"No," Zhao Anmin said seriously, "We asked you to provide professional legal advice. What you asked during the process was your personal decision."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

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