Why cross it anyway?
Faced with Su Bai's statements and questions, Mo Xiao's composure wavered slightly.
But...
He quickly regained it.
He quietly watched the presiding judge's seat.
As the public prosecutor, he was naturally aware that, in this case, a conviction for picking quarrels and provoking trouble generally depended on which way the presiding judge leaned.
It could go either way.
He needed to remain vigilant against the other side's attempts to disrupt his thinking.
At the very least, he could not walk into a trap.
At the presiding judge's seat.
After hearing Su Bai's statement, Bai An frowned slightly, then nodded silently.
He then turned toward the respondent's seats, where the Prosecution sat.
"The Prosecution may now state its position."
"Yes, Your Honor."
Mo Xiao nodded slightly, then organized the documents before him and began:
"Based on the appellant's statements..."
"We have made a brief summary."
"First, the appellant's position is that the defendant, Zhang Laidong, did not forcibly demand money."
"But!"
"The fact that he collected fees stands, doesn't it?"
"Can the appellant produce concrete evidence proving that the defendant, Zhang Laidong, never forcibly demanded money?"
"Judging from the appellant's statements..."
"At present, the appellant can only prove that, when collecting fees, Zhang Laidong did not demand payment from some people. However, according to the investigation, along with Zhang Laidong's account books and records, he collected around thirty thousand yuan in bridge tolls."
"Thirty thousand yuan, at two yuan per crossing..."
"Comes to nearly fifteen thousand crossings."
"Yet the appellant's evidence consists merely of investigations involving a few people, or a few dozen people. That is insufficient to extend the findings to every crossing."
"Besides..."
"According to the appellant's counsel, the fees collected amounted to less than one-third of the construction costs. But they were still profit-oriented.