Wu Zhen had originally wanted to offer further rebuttals to fight for his client's legal rights.
But as he sorted through the litigation materials, several times he nearly spoke, only to stop himself.
He did not know how to refute Su Bai's statement.
Or rather, he had neither the factual nor the legal grounds to refute it.
The argument for two principal offenders would be more readily accepted.
Of course... the Collegial Panel might not accept a scenario with two principal offenders.
But it would consider the point Su Bai had made and continue to identify Wang Wenyuan as a principal offender.
After all...
Although Wang Wenyuan had not been the one to propose murder and forcing someone into sexual intercourse in this case.
Still...
Wang Wenyuan was the organizer.
In other words, throughout the process, Zhang Liang, Zhang Dali, Yu Wei, and the others had all followed Wang Wenyuan's lead.
Even if Wang Wenyuan had not proposed it, in this case, that was equivalent to his tacit approval.
Why was that?
Because from the Presiding Judge's perspective, why had Wang Wenyuan not refused when Zhang Dali proposed it?
Not refusing meant tacit approval.
And who had been the main leader of the small criminal group in this case?
Wang Wenyuan!
If Wang Wenyuan had rejected Zhang Dali's suggestion, would they still have gone on to commit the crimes there?
Certainly not!
So, after hearing Su Bai's statement and considering that angle, the Presiding Judge would still have to identify Wang Wenyuan as a principal offender.
That was what worried Wu Zhen.
Things unfolded much as Wu Zhen had expected.
At the Presiding Judge's seat on the Judges' Bench.
After hearing each side's views on identifying the principal offenders, Lü Penghui sorted through the relevant circumstances.
What kind of circumstances