The court statement phase.
Lin Youping struck the gavel and said, "Arguments concerning the relevant determinations and factual grounds in this trial have now concluded."
"Do any parties have any further objections?"
Su Bai: "No objection."
Cai Wanqiang: "No objection."
"..."
After receiving no objections from any party, Lin Youping spoke again:
"Since no party has any objections, we will now proceed to court statements."
"The prosecution may begin its court statement."
All the determinations on the various issues had now been completed.
The court statement phase.
This meant the trial had reached its final, crucial moment.
The key point of these court statements was this:
How should Zhou Li's sentence be determined in light of the relevant consequences of his excessive self-defense?
Cai Wanqiang did not dwell on the fact that this trial could not uphold the first-instance judgment.
Losing the case meant that the court's findings differed from the facts as determined by the prosecution.
After this trial, he only needed to discuss with his colleagues whether a protest or an application for a retrial was necessary.
But he still had to fulfill his responsibility when it came to determining the sentence.
With that in mind, Cai Wanqiang began his court statement.
"Presiding Judge, our statement is as follows:"
"We will not discuss the specific course of events in this case here. We only wish to discuss this issue in terms of its social impact."
"This case has sparked widespread public debate, primarily concerning the relationship between those enforcing the law and those subject to enforcement."
"Likewise."
"During the course of enforcement, a law enforcement officer may be killed because of certain inappropriate factors."
"But regardless, a law enforcement officer was killed."
"This can be said to have created an extremely consequential situation, involving very serious circumstances."
"I