After hearing each side's arguments, Presiding Judge Xu Rufeng briefly organized them.
Based on the arguments from all three sides so far,
it was clear that the Defendant's retained lawyer's statements had some basis and gave him a certain advantage.
Why was that?
Because the Defendant's retained lawyer had emphasized voluntary surrender and the circumstances under which it had occurred.
And what meritorious service had been rendered.
The Defendant's retained lawyer had focused his emphasis on this aspect.
Although the Prosecution and the victim's retained lawyer had emphasized the heinous nature of the circumstances,
their arguments had not been particularly persuasive.
Of course... although the Defendant's retained lawyer had placed particular emphasis on this aspect,
in reality, the core of the case still came back to one question.
Namely-whether voluntary surrender accompanied by meritorious service should mitigate the punishment in this case, reducing the death penalty to a death sentence with reprieve.
This was the greatest point of contention in this case!
Of course, there were other, smaller points of contention, such as whether Dong Baihao's assault on Dong Guoguo had been premeditated.
Premeditation here did not mean having a specific plan for carrying it out, but whether he had previously harbored such thoughts or ideas.
Ultimately, it was still a question of his subjective state of mind.
Another, more important point was whether Dong Baihao had known that Dong Guoguo had only just turned ten.
This was also a key point.
Because committing an assault while knowing the victim was under fourteen constituted forcing a young child.
When an assault involved someone who had reached fourteen, the law classified a fourteen-year-old as a woman.
Young children and women were two different concepts.
In this case, if Dong Baihao had known that Dong Guoguo had just turned ten, or had