You Brought Up Depression? What Good Does That Do?!

Chapter 27: You Brought Up Depression? What Good Does That Do?!

The plaintiff was suing her for fraud. If she lost...

Ye Fei did not dare imagine the consequences.

Not only would she lose the case and miss out on her legal fees, but she would also land herself in trouble.

No. She absolutely could not keep arguing this point.

Once Ye Fei calmed down, she quickly steered the discussion in another direction.

"Lawyer Su, regarding your statement, even if your evidence was obtained legally, on what grounds can you use it to conclude that my client committed fraud?"

"Fraud is defined as an offense against the ownership of public or private property."

"The objective element is the use of fraudulent methods to obtain public or private property."

"The subjective element is the direct or deliberate intent to unlawfully possess public or private property."

"In this case, the plaintiff, Zhang Tongwei, and my client, Xie Jing, are husband and wife. Moreover, the assets my client seeks to divide are marital property. Which part of that constitutes fraud?"

"Can jointly owned marital assets even be called private property?"

"Furthermore, the marriage between my client and the plaintiff is an established fact. How does fraud enter into it?"

"If that is what Lawyer Su believes, then I have nothing more to say."

After finishing, Ye Fei looked toward Su Bai.

That was the difficulty with marriage fraud. Once the other party had married you, it was impossible to establish that the marriage itself was fraudulent.

But...

Who said fraud was the same as marriage fraud?

He had brought a fraud claim. He had never said it was marriage fraud.

Su Bai had never intended to establish Xie Jing's fraud in court by arguing that the marriage itself was fraudulent.

There was a serious flaw in Ye Fei's logic!

That was not how you steered an argument!

This was what happened when you failed to study criminal law properly!

She had walked straight into his trap!

"Ahem."

Su Bai cleared his throat twice and looked at Ye Fei. "Has counsel for the defendant finished speaking?"

"I have concluded my statement. Please answer my questions, Lawyer Su."

The corners of Su Bai's mouth lifted slightly as he pulled out a document. "Attorney Ye, I'm afraid you've misunderstood me."

Ye Fei thought, I misunderstood...?

Before Ye Fei could react, Su Bai continued:

"Our allegation is that Xie Jing colluded with her retained counsel-that is, you, Attorney Ye-to defraud my client."

"Attorney Ye was correct about the elements of fraud. Objectively, it involves deception and concealment; subjectively, it requires direct intent."

"In this case, Xie Jing entered into an established marriage with my client, and that marriage is legally recognized. We have never denied that, nor have we denied the existence of marital property."

"What we have consistently emphasized is that Xie Jing and Attorney Ye engaged in fraudulent conduct against my client."

"First, regarding the issue of marital property, the defendant seeks to divide my client's real estate based on the evidence she submitted. The court has not ruled on that request, so legally, the property remains my client's private asset."

"Let us first examine the evidence we submitted."

"The evidence shows that Attorney Ye enticed and instructed her followers with the aim of helping them divide marital assets. Xie Jing is one of Attorney Ye's followers. That is an established fact, correct?"

"Furthermore, the evidence submitted by the defendant in support of dividing the assets shows that Xie Jing's basis for seeking a share of my client's private property is a written guarantee he signed. Her claim against him relies on the contents of that guarantee."

"Among Attorney Ye's methods of enticement and inducement was this advice: get your husband to sign a written guarantee. No matter how you do it, as long as he writes a guarantee or something concerning a gift, you can obtain a share of his premarital private property."

"Does that not amount to seeking a share of my client's premarital private property through improper means?"

"The defendant's current claim likewise demands a share of my client's premarital assets. This demonstrates that her subjective intent was to take possession of my client's private property!"

"Is that not fraud?"

"Presiding Judge, I request permission for my client to supplement this statement."

Bang, bang, bang.

The Presiding Judge struck his gavel.

"Request granted. The plaintiff may provide a supplementary statement."

At the plaintiff's table, Zhang Tongwei was already prepared to recount just how miserable his married life had been.

Just then, Su Bai quietly reminded him:

"Stay composed. No swearing, and we've got this."

Zhang Tongwei nodded solemnly.

"Presiding Judge, when the defendant, Xie Jing, demanded that I write guarantees and gift declarations, I was extremely reluctant."

"But... but she forced me to do it to get what she wanted!"

"She even said that if I refused, she wouldn't feel secure and would divorce me!"

"But did she really lack a sense of security?"

"I earn twenty thousand a month, and I spent nineteen thousand nine hundred of it on her. And what did she do? Not only did she verbally abuse me, but she also spent all the money on dressing herself up and gave her parents huge amounts of spending money."

"She also lied to me, saying she wanted me to rent out a home I'd owned before our marriage to her coworker. Instead, she let her younger brother live there for free. Now she wants to defraud me of my premarital assets."

"Presiding Judge, in this marriage, the woman has been the only one benefiting..."

"..."

Zhang Tongwei wanted to continue, but Su Bai tugged at the hem of his jacket to stop him.

He had already said enough.

If he kept going, it might backfire.

At the bench.

Yang Yu frowned slightly, then looked toward the defendant's table.

"Do the defendant and her counsel have anything to say regarding the plaintiff's allegations?"

At the defendant's table.

Hearing Su Bai lay out his argument so convincingly, Xie Jing began to panic.

"Attorney Ye, what should I say?"

Ye Fei was not completely ignorant of criminal law, but her understanding was shallow, and she had no effective rebuttal.

But she had a trump card!

Depression!

"My client suffers from depression and may have handled her marriage at the time

"poorly, but the main cause of that was her husband. We request that the plaintiff's counsel's argument be rejected."

Depression?

So you became depressed because you couldn't get the property?

Su Bai ignored Ye Fei's claim and countered, "

"Was this depression caused by my client?

"What caused it?

"Does it have any direct or indirect connection to our allegation that your side defrauded my client?"

Depression might help when dividing assets.

But I'm accusing you of fraud!

What, did failing to pull off the fraud make you depressed?!

Faced with Su Bai's three successive questions, Ye Fei panicked.

How had this really turned into a criminal case? She only knew how to handle marriage cases!

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(End of chapter)