Inside the courtroom.
After Su Bai finished presenting his appeal, Lin Youping struck the gavel.
Bang, bang!
"The appellant has finished presenting his grounds for appeal. The prosecution will now make its statement."
As Lin Youping finished speaking, he turned his gaze toward Lü Wei at the respondent's table.
Lü Wei glanced casually in Su Bai's direction, his expression unchanged, then lowered his head and presented his side's position:
"Your Honor, our requests and responses to the appellant's arguments are as follows:"
"First, we request that the application submitted by the appellant, Qi Feng, be dismissed. The appellant claims that Qi Feng acted in lawful self-defense, but there is no substantive evidence showing that he was acting in lawful self-defense at the time."
"Given Qi Feng's circumstances at the time, the knife in his hand was fully sufficient to protect him. Instead, he used it to kill two people. This demonstrates a subjective intent to inflict harm, not lawful self-defense. We therefore request that the appellant's application be dismissed."
"Second, the appellant's claim for compensation on behalf of his client is predicated on Qi Feng's innocence. However, Qi Feng has not been found innocent. We request that the appellant's claim be dismissed."
"Your Honor, that concludes our statement."
Lü Wei rebutted each of the points Su Bai had raised.
Clearly.
Lü Wei knew exactly what this case hinged on!
The key was whether Qi Feng's actions constituted lawful self-defense!
Lawful self-defense had been invoked in plenty of court proceedings, but those arguments almost never succeeded.
Why?
Because it was difficult to determine the subjective factor: whether someone had used self-defense as a pretext to deliberately inflict harm.
That was why Lü Wei had immediately challenged Su Bai's self-defense argument. As long as he steered the court toward a finding of deliberate harm, he would win the case.
Presiding Judge Lin Youping briefly organized both sides' requests.
He fell silent for a few seconds.
Then he looked toward Su Bai at the appellant's table and struck the gavel twice:
"The prosecution has finished its statement. In response to the prosecution's points, does the appellant have any legal grounds or corresponding evidence to establish that Qi Feng acted in lawful self-defense?"
The crucial moment had arrived!
Su Bai briefly straightened his suit.
Proving it was simple.
The difficult part was drawing the other side into his trap and making them follow his lead.
With Lü Wei, a seasoned criminal lawyer, that was no easy task!
Su Bai took a deep breath. "Your Honor, we can provide the relevant legal grounds. Before that, however, I have a few questions for Attorney Lü."
Bang!
"Are these questions relevant to the proceedings?"
"Yes, Your Honor!"
"The questions are relevant to this case. Permission granted."
Lü Wei studied Su Bai curiously, unsure what he was getting at. He frowned slightly as Su Bai began:
"Attorney Lü, how did you determine that my client committed intentional homicide? How did you establish his subjective intent?"
If you can't resolve the issue, throw it back at the other side. Throw him off balance first.
Su Bai continued, "At the first trial, Attorney Lü acted as the prosecuting attorney and charged my client with intentional homicide. The evidence cited was that, when confronted with danger, my client killed two people with a knife, exceeded the limits of self-defense, and possessed the subjective intent to kill. Attorney Lü, how did you reach that conclusion?"
Lü Wei frowned slightly and raised his hand. "Your Honor, I believe the appellant's counsel's reference to the first-instance ruling is irrelevant to this appeal. I decline to answer his question."
Bang, bang!
"Request granted. The appellant's questioning is terminated."
Su Bai let out a long breath. Terminated?
So they don't want me asking questions!
If they won't let me ask, I'll say it anyway.
Su Bai continued, "The respondent's principal grounds for alleging that my client committed an intentional crime are: first, a subjective intent to inflict harm; second, the knife used; third, continued harm inflicted on the attackers after they had lost the ability to resist; and fourth, my client's departure from the scene after the incident, which was deemed flight."
"Let us first discuss how this case began."
"Based on the facts of this case, my client did not know the other two men and had never had any prior dealings with them.
"But inside the shopping mall, those two men began verbally abusing my client without provocation. My client merely answered back once, and both men began beating him.
"During this encounter, my client grabbed a knife from the mall. The two men showed no fear whatsoever. They continued verbally abusing him and deliberately resumed their assault. In the course of this, my client acted in lawful self-defense, resulting in both men's deaths. That account of events is correct, isn't it?"
Lü Wei frowned. "It is correct. That is the sequence of events provided by the prosecution. However, I object to your final point characterizing his actions as lawful self-defense. The plaintiff is currently on trial, and there is no evidence establishing that he acted in lawful self-defense."
"Counsel for the appellant, please mind your wording!"
Good!
As long as the sequence of events is correct!
For now, Su Bai could not be bothered to keep arguing about whether it was lawful self-defense.
Su Bai flashed two white teeth. "Your Honor, I request permission to question my client."
Bang!
"Permission granted."
Lin Youping struck the gavel.
Flanked by two court officers, Qi Feng looked somewhat nervous at Su Bai's unexpected request to question him.
Su Bai gave Qi Feng a look, signaling him not to be too nervous.
He waited several seconds until Qi Feng calmed down, then slowly began:
"Did you deliberately take note of where the knives were displayed while you were in the shopping mall?"
Qi Feng shook his head. "No."
"Then why did you take the knife?"
"I took the knife... because I wanted to scare them."
"What was your immediate reaction after killing them...?"
Qi Feng seemed to recall something terrible, and his face twisted in pain:
"My first reaction was fear."
After asking these questions, Su Bai turned toward the bench. "Your Honor, that concludes my questioning."
Bang, bang!
"Counsel for the appellant, please begin your legal explanation."
"Yes, Your Honor."
Su Bai straightened his suit and began slowly:
"Under criminal law, an intentional crime refers to the mental state in which a person commits a criminal act while knowing that it will produce consequences harmful to society, yet continues to carry it out."
"Under Article 14 of our country's Criminal Law, an intentional crime has two characteristics:
"First, the perpetrator knows that his actions will harm society.
"Second, the perpetrator adopts an attitude of acceptance toward the occurrence of those consequences.
"Both characteristics must be present for an act to constitute an intentional crime."
"Determining the substance of a perpetrator's intent is a complex matter that requires consideration of multiple factors."
"In this case:
"First, my client did not deliberately memorize where the knives were displayed.
"Second, my client's subjective purpose was to frighten them. He had no intention of killing them.
"Given the sudden and unrepeatable nature of the incident, my client's initial reaction when he left was fear.
"For a young university student confronted with such an event, fear is inevitable. This was not simply an act of flight, but an instinctive response after being frightened.
"In judicial interpretations, flight generally refers to a subjective intention to evade accountability for a crime.
"During this incident, my client was mentally disoriented, as documented by law enforcement. He also returned to the scene at the earliest opportunity and turned himself in. This demonstrates that he had no subjective intention to kill and flee, or to evade accountability.
"He merely lost his composure and acted instinctively."
"More importantly, according to the prosecution's allegations and evidence, my client is 178 centimeters tall, while the other two men were 172 and 175 centimeters tall, respectively.
"My client made several downward slashes in an attempt to stop their continued attack.
"These were merely defensive actions, not an attempt to achieve a deliberate outcome. Their deaths resulted from my client's actions in the urgency of lawful self-defense."
"My client did not foresee this outcome. His actions were carried out entirely under an intense defensive emotional state."
"From the perspective of criminal psychology, this was a stress response during lawful self-defense.
"My client brought about this outcome while acting in lawful self-defense."
"Therefore, the charge of intentional homicide against my client cannot stand!"
Having finished speaking, Su Bai quietly watched Lü Wei.
Before you continue