Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Luo Jialan could no longer cry. She lowered her head and sobbed quietly. Her shoulders trembled, and people couldn’t help feeling sorry for her.
Auntie Xing and Auntie You, who were sitting in the gallery, felt their hearts ache when they saw that scene. Gu Nianzhi was such a bully. Look, she made miss Huo burst into tears from anger!
Gu Nianzhi glanced at Luo Jialan, and she calmly continued, “After the death of the defendant Luo Jialan’s mother, Luo Xinxue, the Huo family had no other female household members to take care of Song Jinning. Two years later, the defendant, Luo Jialan, volunteered to take care of her.”
In reality, the Huo family still had members of the Zhang family at the time, but Huo Guanchen couldn’t have sent his wife to the Zhang family for care. In comparison, Luo Jialan, who was 18 at the time, was the best choice.
Bai Jinyi was Song Jinning’s psychiatrist at the time, and she recommended Luo Jialan to take over the responsibility of taking care of Song Jinning.
Luo Jialan was studying at Yale University in the United States at the time. Because of that, she returned from the United States and no longer stayed there. Instead, she completed her studies through online courses, making it easier for her to take care of Song Jinning.
However, she didn’t have to take care of Song Jinning 24/7 like Auntie Xing and Auntie You did.
Just like her mother, Luo Xinxue, she was only responsible for managing the housekeepers who took care of Song Jinning, such as Auntie Xing and Auntie You.
Therefore, she could still take classes and when she didn’t have classes, come back to supervise the housekeepers.
Auntie Xing and Auntie You were the housekeepers that Luo Jialan personally hired for Song Jinning after she took over.
The housekeepers who had taken care of Song Jinning before weren’t Auntie Xing and Auntie You.
Luo Jialan’s heart skipped a beat when she heard this, and she stopped sobbing.
” … It’s normal for a niece to take care of a sick aunt, but the Huo family would never have thought that this niece who kept calling her ‘aunt’ had ulterior motives. In order to seize the Huo family’s assets, she hid her true identity and plotted to murder Song Jinning.”
Cai Shengnan perked up and smiled. Her eyes flashed with derisiveness as she looked at Gu Nianzhi meaningfully. She raised her hand and said, “Objection. The prosecution used imagination as evidence to slander my client. My client didn’t have the motive or conduct to show that she attempted to murder Ms. Song Jinning. I have a witness to testify.”
When she said that, it was time to cross-examine the witnesses on both sides.
The judge nodded and said with an impassive expression, “Your objection is sustained. Counsel, please pay attention to your statement, and don’t overdo it with personal feelings.”
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips and slowly sat down.
The judge saw that Gu Nianzhi didn’t object, so he rapped his gavel and said, “The prosecution and defense will now cross-examine their respective witnesses. Ask the witnesses to come up and verify their identities, swear an oath, and then go to the next room to wait for the summons.”
Today was the first day of the trial, and the prosecution had only brought one witness, Huo Guanchen.
The defendant had brought two witnesses, Auntie Xing and Auntie You.
After they had left the Huo family home, they had been monitored by the Special Operations Forces, but Cai Shengnan had found them and persuaded them to be Luo Jialan’s witnesses. After careful consideration, they had agreed.
As they spoke, a few staff members came over with forms and documents to verify the identities of Huo Guanchen, Auntie Xing, and Auntie You.
It was also necessary to verify their fingerprints, irises, and DNA to prevent the appearance of a fake witness.
Moreover, the lawyers of both the prosecution and the defense had to approve the test results before they could officially testify in court.
The results of the DNA test would be delayed by a few days, but the results of the fingerprints and irises could be obtained immediately.
Gu Nianzhi and Cai Shengnan looked at each other’s witness identification documents and signed each other’s forms to indicate that they approved the witness’ identity.
After the witness’s identity was verified, the court staff led them to a room next to the court to wait for the summons.
They were under special supervision there and couldn’t talk to each other or look at their phones or computers. They could only sit around and read the legal magazines and law books that had been placed in the room beforehand.
After the witnesses left, the judge once again confirmed the the prosecution’s and defense’ intentions.
Gu Nianzhi said, “We insist on charging Luo Jialan with intentional homicide. Nothing has changed.”
Cai Shengnan also said, “I plead not guilty on behalf of my client. Nothing has changed ”
They had the intention of continuing the case.
The judge raised his hand and said, “Then the prosecution will begin calling witnesses.”
This was also the usual practice of the court.
First, the prosecution, the plaintiff, would state its allegations, then list the evidence, and finally use reason to string the evidence together into a convincing chain of evidence to prove its allegations.
Then the defense would act to refute the prosecution’s allegations.
Whether it was civil or criminal proceedings, it was important to recognize the burden of proof, which was who was making the claim, and who was giving the evidence.
For example, if you want to charge someone with murder, you have to prove that they did it, not have them prove that they didn’t do it.
If you say that your neighbor did it, whether you say it in public in front of a reporter or in private in a Wechat group, you have to prove that your neighbor did it instead of you simply opening your mouth and your neighbor having to prove that he didn’t kill anyone.
The onlookers couldn’t assume that this person was telling the truth just because her video wasn’t mosaic and had been deleted after it had spread all over the internet.
That wasn’t possible; that wasn’t how the law worked.
Accusing someone of murder was such a serious crime, but they couldn’t come up with any concrete evidence. They didn’t even have any valid clues. All they could say was, “I think… ” , “I heard… ” , “I think… ” , that wasn’t an accusation, that was a rumor, that was slander, and she had to bear legal responsibility.
Gu Nianzhi had been unable to get the police and the prosecutor’s office to file a case. It was because they felt that her evidence was insufficient to form a complete chain of evidence.
When the prosecutor’s office brought a criminal case to the court, they had to bear the burden of proof.
Song Jinning and Luo Jialan’s case was more complicated. As the plaintiff’s lawyer, Gu Nianzhi had to cooperate with the prosecutor’s office and prove to them that the murder case was valid.
After the prosecutor’s office had approved her case, the evidence she had presented to the prosecutor’s office would be treated as evidence approved by the prosecutor’s office and submitted to the court.
The court would only file a case and set a date for the trial after further verification.
After going around in circles for so long, Gu Nianzhi had finally obtained a key piece of evidence regarding Luo Jialan from Bai Jinyi. The most important part of Gu Nianzhi’s accusation was finally put on the line and approved by the prosecutor’s office and the Court respectively.
Gu Nianzhi had just been called “overly emotional” by the judge in her statement. After sitting down, she reflected on herself and she had indeed been a little agitated.
It was because Gu Nianzhi had been the first to realize that Song Jinning had been severely mentally abused. The shock had been too great at the time, and her personal feelings had inevitably been mixed in.
Yes, she had to be careful.
Gu Nianzhi stood up and nodded to the judge more calmly. “Your honor, I’d like to call our first witness, General Huo Guanchen. He is the ex-husband of the plaintiff, Ms. Song Jinning.”
The judge looked down at Huo Guanchen’s information and said, “Please call the witness to the stand.”
The court staff went to the next room and called Huo Guanchen over.
He wasn’t wearing a military uniform. Instead, he was wearing a dark black suit with a blue tie. His hair was neatly combed, but his temples were grey.
Fine lines could be seen at the corners of his eyes. It was obvious that he was old.
In fact, he was already over fifty years old.
However, Song Jinning was still beautiful. She appeared to be thirty years old at most, which was the most beautiful age for a woman.
She was still full of youthful vigor in her maturity, but she also had a little more maturity in her youth, which made their beauty even more irresistible.
If people hadn’t known beforehand and saw the both of them in the courtroom, no one would have guessed that Huo Guanchen was only two years older than Song Jinning. They had been married for many years, and they had a son who was about to turn 30.
Huo Guanchen stood calmly on the witness stand and swore, ” … I swear that I’m telling the truth, and that I’m only telling the truth.”
The judge nodded and raised his hand towards Gu Nianzhi. “The plaintiff’s lawyer, you may begin your questioning.”
Gu Nianzhi bowed to the judge and walked out from behind the plaintiff’s stand. She walked up to Huo Guanchen and sized him up.
“Please state your identity.”
Huo Guanchen said calmly, “My name is Huo Guanchen, General of the military. I’m Mrs. Song Jinning’s ex-husband. We’ve been married for many years, and our son is already an adult.”
Gu Nianzhi’s lips curled into a faint smile. She asked, “Mr. Huo Guanchen, please tell me why Mrs. Song Jinning was so severely injured that she went insane.”
Cai Shengnan immediately raised her hand. “Objection! This question has nothing to do with the case.”
Gu Nianzhi looked at the judge. “Your honor, this question has a lot to do with the case. I’ll prove it.”
The judge looked at her for a moment and nodded reluctantly. “Counsel for the prosecution, try to be as concise as possible. Don’t ask questions that have nothing to do with the case.”
Gu Nianzhi took a deep breath and said, “Yes, your honor.”
She turned to Huo Guanchen. “Mr. Huo Guanchen, please tell us the reason for Song Jinning’s serious injury and the treatment that followed.”
Huo Guanchen looked at Song Jinning deeply and said, “That was 17 years ago. Song Jinning and her father, academician Song Haichuan, had an accident during their experiment. Both her father and my brother died in that accident.”
Gu Nianzhi immediately cut him off. “May I ask, Mr. Huo, who is your brother?”
Cai Shengnan narrowed her eyes.
So that was why Gu Nianzhi had been so insistent on asking Song Jinning why she had been injured.
She raised her hand again decisively. “Objection. Counsel for the prosecution has wasted too much time interrogating too many people who have nothing to do with this case.”
Before the judge could decide, Gu Nianzhi immediately retorted, “Lawyer Cai, there is a cause and effect for intentional homicide. We aren’t accusing Luo Jialan of killing someone on the spur of the moment.”
“We’re accusing her of deliberate intentional homicide. Of course, it’s necessary to explain the cause and effect to the judge and everyone in the court.”
“You’ve repeatedly interrupted our proof of Luo Jialan’s intent to kill. What exactly are your intentions? May I ask if you’re intentionally obstructing justice?”
Gu Nianzhi turned to the judge. “Your honor, I’d like to request that the defendant’s lawyer limit the number of times she says ‘objection. ‘ She has seriously interfered with the questioning between me and my witnesses, and is suspected of obstructing justice.”
The judge was also displeased with Cai Shengnan’s repeated objections.
However, he didn’t side with Gu Nianzhi. Instead, he said to Cai Shengnan, “Lawyer Cai, if you have a different opinion, you can cross-examine the witness. You don’t have to interrupt the prosecution’s lawyer’s questioning again and again.”
Cai Shengnan was pleased with herself. She said with a serious expression, “Yes, your honor, but I still have to insist that the prosecution’s lawyer is being too emotional. It will seriously affect everyone’s judgment.”
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help chuckling. “Lawyer Cai, are you worried that his honor’s legal literacy isn’t enough and will be misled by my emotions?”
Cai Shengnan’s eyes widened. That was a blatant attempt to sow discord!
That was too underhanded!