An Act of Courage

Protecting the police?

How could Wang Qiang, all five-foot-three and skin and bones, have been protecting the officers at the scene?

As soon as Xu De finished speaking,

"Wait, counsel for the defense."

In a rare move,

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin interrupted Xu De from the bench.

In principle, neither side was supposed to be interrupted while presenting its case, but he had chosen to do so anyway.

Zhang Bingxin felt as though he had gotten old and his hearing was failing him.

He stared at Xu De, then asked hesitantly, as if to make sure he had heard right:

"You mean... what the defendant did at the scene was to protect someone? Not his daughter, but the police?"

At the Defendant's Bench,

Xu De paused his presentation. He looked at Zhang Bingxin and answered without a trace of hesitation:

"Yes and no. I haven't finished, but in essence, yes."

"We maintain that the defendant, Wang Qiang, acted courageously in defense of others. He did not commit the crime of intentional homicide alleged in the prosecution's indictment!"

Zhang Bingxin pressed him:

"So your position is that the defendant was protecting seven police officers, one of whom was armed with a gun?"

Xu De replied calmly once more:

"Yes, Presiding Judge."

Zhang Bingxin: ?

For a moment, Zhang Bingxin was stunned.

He was not alone. The other two judges on the bench, Liu Jianguo and Sun Dong, were equally dumbfounded.

The Prosecution Bench was no different. Several prosecutors exchanged glances for a long while, while Chen Wei frowned, unable to tell what Xu De was up to.

After a long pause,

Zhang Bingxin looked at Xu De. His brow furrowed slightly, and his manner grew noticeably more serious.

"Counsel for the defense, please continue."

"Very well."

Xu De nodded. After a brief pause, he picked up where he had left off:

"Honorable Presiding Judge, members of the panel."

"According to the case information, the defendant, Wang Qiang, went to Li Family Village on October 2, resulting in Li Erniu's death."

"But this incident cannot be viewed solely in terms of Wang Qiang and Li Erniu!"

"Prosecution, who else was at the scene when the incident occurred, besides the victim and the defendant?"

The instant he finished,

a crisp tap of the gavel rang out.

Bang!

Zhang Bingxin picked up the Gavel and tapped it lightly on the desk.

"We will now proceed to the examination stage. Prosecution, please answer the question."

At the Prosecution Bench,

"What the hell is this lawyer doing?" Prosecutor Wang Wei frowned and turned toward Hu Guang, unable to make sense of the defense's argument.

An act of courage?

Forget the reporters and spectators in the gallery—even those of them from the intermediate Procuratorate had nearly failed to follow him!

Wang Wei had lived more than forty years.

This was the first time he had heard someone claim that getting into a heated confrontation, striking first, and then killing a man could count as an act of courage!

Did this lawyer even know what he was saying?

"Let's hear him out first."

Prosecutor Hu Guang frowned as he said it. Then he looked at Xu De and answered loudly:

"There were six groups in all."

"The police, the trafficking victims, the defendant, the victim, the victim's family, and the villagers of Li Family Village."

At that,

Xu De nodded from the Defendant's Bench and continued:

"Correct. Six groups in all. Let's set that aside for now."

"Then let me ask the prosecution another question: under what circumstances does a person commit the intentional homicide alleged in your indictment?"

An ordinary person might have found that difficult to explain precisely.

But no one here was an ordinary person!

Hu Guang answered:

"Article 14 of the Criminal Code states: 'A person who knows that his actions will produce consequences harmful to society, and who intends or allows those consequences to occur, thereby committing a crime, has committed an intentional crime!'"

"This includes direct intent, indirect intent, and knowingly allowing the result to occur."

With that,

Hu Guang raised the document in his hand and pointed to the text on it.

"In this case, the defendant, Wang Qiang, knew full well that his own deliberate actions would cause the confrontation to erupt and result in injury or death, yet he did not stop."

"This led to the victim Li Erniu's death."

"Therefore, the defendant, Wang Qiang, meets the criteria under Article 14 for intentional homicide with indirect intent!"

Intentional homicide came in different forms. Hating someone and stabbing him to death was not the only kind.

For example: "I know someone might die because of this, but I don't care. If he dies, he dies. I neither want it to happen nor intend to stop it, and I'll accept it if it does." That counted as intentional homicide too.

Wang Qiang's actions could fit either direct or indirect intent. Based on the statements and evidence, Hu Guang believed it was the latter.

"Defense, do you have anything further to say?"

Hu Guang clasped his hands on the desk, leaned forward, and frowned at Xu De.

At that,

Xu De took his opening. He drew a deep breath and said:

"Prosecution, what you have just said..."

"Is completely at odds with the facts!"

At odds with the facts?

That was no casual accusation. To a prosecutor, it was practically a personal attack!

Anger had only just appeared on Hu Guang's face

when Xu De pressed on, giving him no chance to speak.

Xu De turned to everyone in the courtroom and declared:

"According to the prosecution, the trafficking dispute agitated Wang Qiang and made him hostile, after which he struck first and killed Li Erniu."

"But..."

"According to the evidence, the person who struck first was clearly the deceased, Li Erniu!"

His words landed.

Everyone was briefly stunned. The next moment, bewilderment spread across their faces, and murmurs rose again from the gallery.

"That can't be right. I sympathize with the defendant, but... according to the police, didn't the victim just get into the vehicle and tug at the defendant's family member?"

"He didn't do anything extreme or even provoke him verbally..."

"Wait... why can't I follow this lawyer anymore?"

"..."

Someone in the gallery scratched his head. He stared at Xu De and thought it over for a long time, but still could not figure out what he meant.

And it was not just the spectators.

Even Hu Guang, Wang Wei, and the others facing Xu De across the courtroom were frowning, unable to tell what he was up to.

"Judging by his reasoning, this lawyer is no clueless rookie. So..."

"What does he mean by all this? What is he trying to accomplish?"

Hu Guang stared at Xu De as if he could see into his mind.

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin was stunned for a while too. At last, he asked hesitantly:

"Counsel for the defense, please explain what you just said."

Xu De nodded, and a faint smile finally appeared on his face.

Then,

everyone in the First Courtroom—all four hundred or so of them—heard him launch into a rapid series of questions.

"Before the death occurred, what was the situation between the other people at the scene—the six groups I asked about earlier?"

"The police, the trafficking victims, the victim's family, and the villagers of Li Family Village..."

"How were these four groups positioned against one another?"

Xu De did not wait for anyone to answer. The words burst from his mouth.

"They were in a standoff!"

"More than forty people, including the two family members present at this Trial Hearing, were armed with weapons and forcibly surrounded seven police officers and the trafficking victims. That was an illegal, criminal act that seriously threatened their safety!"

"And our defendant..."

"Under those circumstances, stepped forward to protect the police officers and stood against every one of those lawbreakers!"

The First Courtroom, the largest courtroom in Greenwood City, fell utterly silent.

More than four hundred people stared openmouthed at the impassioned lawyer before them.

"In summary, under Article 2 of the Greenwood City Regulations on Rewards and Protections for People Who Act Courageously..."

Xu De declared:

"Our defendant was, in fact, acting courageously to protect others!"

Prosecutor Hu Guang: ?

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin: ?

Everyone in the gallery: ?

When he finished, the entire courtroom remained silent.