Chapter 167: Intense Argumentation, Not Guilty? What Are You Thinking?!

The hearing began.

All parties took their seats.

At the defendant’s seat, Qian Wei quietly watched Su Bai at the seat of the accusing side.

To be honest!

He truly could not understand it…

Previously he had also rendered judgments this way, and there had been no problem, but now if he adjudged it this way, it was no longer acceptable?!

Although public prosecution had now been initiated, Qian Wei still believed that he would not have any major problem.

Moreover, his defense lawyer was not an ordinary defense lawyer.

Qian Wei still had considerable confidence in Liu Jun’s hard strength.

From what he understood, many adjudicators, adjudicative assistants, and the like, when something happened.

Would immediately think of finding Liu Jun to entrust with handling the lawsuit, and in most cases, even if not guilty could not be determined.

At the very least, the sentence could be reduced by one or two years, and it was even possible in lighter offenses to receive a suspended sentence.

Before this, Qian Wei had already spoken with Liu Jun.

Liu Jun believed that in this lawsuit, there would be no problem whatsoever in conducting a not guilty defense.

At the same time.

The legal fees charged privately were also extremely high.

But all of it was worth it…

Qian Wei silently recited this in his heart.

Su Bai noticed Qian Wei’s gaze.

Naturally he knew what the other side was thinking, Qian Wei was thinking that in today’s hearing, he certainly would not be determined guilty?

In fact.

When the case was filed and public prosecution was initiated, both the prosecution and the court were already inclined toward determining that Qian Wei had engaged in dereliction in adjudication and perverted judgment, otherwise public prosecution would not have been brought.

However…

The so called breakthrough evidence referred to by the review department… was the truly crucial matter.

Qian Wei wanted to achieve victory in court through courtroom defense, thereby attaining the objective of not guilty.

But with him sitting in the courtroom today, there was no possibility whatsoever that Qian Wei could escape eating state meals.

It was merely a matter of how many years he would eat them.

As for not guilty? He should not even think about it.

After the court clerk finished reading the courtroom discipline, the presiding judge entered the courtroom.

The three members of the collegial panel entered the courtroom.

Bang bang!

“Please be seated!”

“Court is now in session!”

Presiding Judge Ren Yuandong struck the gavel, looked around the courtroom at the specific situation, and slowly spoke.

Swish swish swish.

All members sat down.

Presiding Judge Ren Yuandong continued speaking:

“This case was designated for transfer by the Higher Court and assigned to this court for hearing, and this court has jurisdiction over the case.”

“Next, verification of the identity of the persons appearing in court shall begin.”

Verification of the identity of the persons appearing in court was very simple, and also very quick.

On the prosecution side, in addition to Guan Tong, there was another accompanying prosecutor named Lin Feng.

Liu Jun’s assistant was named Zhang Feng.

After the information of the courtroom participants had been verified.

Presiding Judge Ren Yuandong glanced through the litigation materials and spoke:

“This case is being heard by the Chang City Intermediate Court, with the collegial panel members being: Presiding Judge Ren Yuandong, Adjudicator Yin Wenhui, and Adjudicator Tang Lin.”

“The cause of action in this case is:”

“The defendant party Qian Wei, as the presiding judge, did not exercise the correct legal authority, and in the judgment seriously violated the facts and the law, causing severe impact upon the party concerned.”

“On this basis, public prosecution has been initiated.”

“Prosecution, is the cause of action true?”

“Presiding Judge, it is true.”

After reading the cause of action.

Bang bang bang!

Ren Yuandong struck the gavel:

“The cause of action is true, next the prosecution is requested to state its litigation claims or legal basis concerning Qian Wei’s unlawful and criminal conduct.”

“Alright, Presiding Judge.”

The prosecution’s responsible person Guan Tong nodded earnestly and spoke.

He took several sheets of materials from Lin Feng’s hand, placed them on the table, and made his statement.

“Through the report and investigation concerning the Zhang Dahu case, the prosecution discovered that…

Qian Wei, as the presiding judge at that time, in his judgment of this case, seriously departed from reality, and caused severe factual consequences.”

“He violated the basic definition of law.”

“He did not make the determination in accordance with the principle in the Civil Procedure Law that whoever makes the claim must produce the evidence, and departed from the content of legal provisions.”

“He incorrectly applied the law, and his determination carried a strong personal subjectivity, not proceeding in accordance with legal facts and not proceeding in accordance with evidence, and this caused severe harm to judicial credibility.”

“Accordingly, the prosecution has initiated public prosecution against Qian Wei and has determined that he violated Article 399 in the Criminal Law provisions concerning the crime of dereliction of duty.”

“The crime of perverted judgment in civil and administrative matters.”

“According to the provisions of Article 399, the crime of perverted judgment in civil and administrative matters means that in civil and administrative adjudicative activities, one intentionally violates facts and legal basis and renders a perverted judgment, and where the circumstances are serious, one shall be sentenced to fixed term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention, and where the circumstances are especially serious, one shall be sentenced to fixed term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years.”

“The prosecution believes that according to Qian Wei’s perverted judgment, this belongs to serious circumstances, and the recommended sentence is three years of fixed term imprisonment.”

Guan Tong turned one page of the litigation materials and raised his head to look toward the seat of the presiding judge.

“Presiding Judge, the prosecution has finished its statement.”

Bang bang!

The gavel was struck.

After hearing the prosecution’s opinion, Ren Yuandong placed his gaze upon the defendant’s seat.

As public prosecutor, the prosecution has the right to recommend a sentence regarding criminal personnel on the defendant’s side.

But whether that recommendation is adopted or not depends upon the intention of the collegial panel and the presiding judge, and the prosecution’s accusation is merely one basis.

Ren Yuandong said: “The prosecution has finished its statement.”

“The defendant side is now requested to state its litigation claims and the legal facts on which they are based.”

“Alright, Presiding Judge.”

Liu Jun nodded lightly.

As a litigation lawyer proficient in duty related crimes and dereliction offenses.

He had seen a great number of litigation claims from public prosecution sides, and overall they were all not very different.

With regard to the litigation claims in this lawsuit and the not guilty defense for Qian Wei, he had complete confidence.

Basically, there would not be any major problem, and it was also impossible for there to be any major problem.

Facing the question from Presiding Judge Ren Yuandong.

Liu Jun slowly said: “Presiding Judge, our side does not agree with the prosecution’s statement, and I believe that our client Qian Wei is not guilty.”

“Our litigation claims and factual basis are as follows.”

“First: according to the definition of the crime of perverted judgment:”

“(1) The manifestation is: conduct in civil matters that violates facts and law.”

“(2) The protected object is: the normal adjudicative activities of adjudicative organs.”

“In 2006, the Supreme Procuratorial Department issued and implemented the clear standards for filing cases concerning perverted judgment, which are:”

“(1) A perverted judgment that causes the party concerned or close relatives thereof to commit suicide, self harm causing serious injury, death, or mental disorder.”

“(2) Causing direct economic loss of personal property of more than 100,000 yuan, or where the direct economic loss is less than 100,000 yuan but the indirect economic loss exceeds 500,000 yuan.”

“(3) With respect to enterprises and organizations, causing direct economic loss of property of legal persons or other organizations of more than 200,000 yuan, or where the direct economic loss is less than 200,000 yuan but the indirect economic loss exceeds 1,000,000 yuan.”

“(4) Forging or altering relevant materials or evidence and manufacturing wrongful, false, and mistaken cases.”

“(5) Colluding with parties to manufacture false evidence, destroy evidence, or tamper with courtroom records.”

“(6) Out of favoritism or private gain, knowingly accepting forged or altered evidence, or intentionally not accepting evidence that should be accepted, or intentionally violating statutory procedures, or using erroneous legal provisions to render a perverted judgment.”

“As for the subject element, there is really nothing that still needs to be stated, and this case satisfies the standard of the subject element.”

“But with regard to the subjective element of this offense, to determine that Qian Wei committed perverted judgment, Qian Wei must have rendered the judgment intentionally in order to be convicted of perverted judgment.

That is, he must have known that his own conduct violated the facts and the law and constituted perverted judgment, yet still done it, and if it belonged to negligence, then this offense could not be constituted, and instead it would be classified as the crime of negligence in performing duties within the offense of dereliction of duty.”

“According to the evidence submitted by the prosecution and the accusation brought against our client.”

“The basis relied upon has two points, namely (2) and (6), causing economic loss of 100,000 yuan of personal property, and applying erroneous legal provisions.”

“However…”

“First, there is one point, namely that under circumstances where the facts are unclear, Qian Wei’s determination has not been met by any clear evidence capable of proving that his judgment was erroneous.”

“May I ask the prosecution, is it not somewhat unreasonable to use points (2) and (6) to determine that our client Qian Wei committed perverted judgment?”

“According to what the prosecution has stated.”

“To render a judgment without sufficient evidence violates the interests of legal fairness and justice, then does not the prosecution’s accusation against our side likewise belong to infringing the legal rights of our client and violating the interests of legal fairness and justice?”

“According to high probability, where both sides do not have sufficient evidence, the presiding judge may make a determination on the basis of the objectivity of the factual circumstances.”

“Our side may have had a certain erroneous cognition concerning the objectivity of the facts, but the legal provisions relied upon presented no problem whatsoever, and therefore the subjective element of perverted judgment is not constituted.”

“Presiding Judge, the above is our litigation statement and defense, and our side applies for a judgment that Qian Wei is not guilty.”

Liu Jun clearly finished stating the litigation claims word by word.

Faced with Liu Jun’s litigation claims, Guan Tong frowned slightly, but did not care too much, although the other side’s defense was reasoned and grounded, it still contained certain problems.

At the trial bench, at the seat of the presiding judge.

Bang bang!

The gavel was struck.

“Does the accusing side have anything that needs to be supplemented…?”

Ren Yuandong looked toward Su Bai’s position and asked.

“Yes, Presiding Judge.”

Su Bai nodded.

Liu Jun’s statement was very comprehensive, and could be said to have set out all the conditions of perverted judgment.

Moreover, he had rebutted one by one the contents of the prosecution’s accusation.

If the facts are unclear, then determining that initiating public prosecution against Qian Wei belongs to a lack of sufficient evidence, and therefore belongs to infringing Qian Wei’s legal rights?

What he said seemed to make a great deal of sense.

But in fact it was all nonsense!

Why say that?

Because the other side was confusing concepts.

First of all, what the prosecution submitted was in fact saying that Qian Wei had not made the determination according to the principle that whoever makes the claim must produce the evidence.

And that in the absence of evidence he rendered judgment and ordered Zhang Dahu to pay a compensation amount of 400,000 yuan.

Liu Jun did not mention a single evidentiary inclination unfavorable to Qian Wei.

He was entirely making his defense from other aspects.

In truth, in this hearing, there were still several other, even more crucial, pieces of evidence, but the prosecution had not expressed them in the litigation claims.

That is to say… in the first instance case involving Zhang Dahu, within the judgment inclination of the collegial panel members, this matter had been led by Qian Wei.

Moreover, the other two members of the collegial panel had raised the viewpoints of whoever makes the claim must produce the evidence, and that the evidence was insufficient, but Qian Wei rejected them.

Why did he reject them?

Of course, there was also one most important item of evidence.

According to the investigation of the supervisory department, it was discovered that before the hearing, Qian Wei and Chen Meixia’s third son had call records, and after the hearing there were also call records.

This was one of the principal reasons why the prosecution had brought the public prosecution!

The reason the prosecution had not raised this point in the litigation claims was that in the first round of litigation claims, there was no necessity to raise it.

And the reason Liu Jun did not raise this point was that he intentionally did not raise it.

Because he knew that this point was very unfavorable to his client Qian Wei.

At the same time.

This point was an important condition for determining subjectivity.

After sorting out his line of thought, Su Bai began his statement:

“Presiding Judge, with respect to the litigation claims raised by the defendant side, our side applies for their rejection.”

“First, the entrusted lawyer for the defendant side has explained very carefully the definition and constituent conditions of the crime of perverted judgment in civil and administrative matters, as well as the subjective and objective circumstances, so I will not continue repeating them here.”

“According to points (2) and (6)”

“If one proceeds according to the defendant side’s viewpoint, then Qian Wei indeed would not belong to the crime of perverted judgment, but the defendant side has one very serious point of confusing right and wrong.”

“The entrusted representative of the defendant side uses the fact that the Zhang Dahu case cannot prove that Zhang Dahu was acting with righteous courage, as supplementation for evidentiary insufficiency.”

“On this basis, he seeks to defend the correctness of Qian Wei’s judgment.”

“However, the entrusted representative of the defendant side has overlooked one very important point, namely that Qian Wei also could not, on the basis of sufficient evidence, determine that Chen Meixia should prevail.”

“Since there were not sufficient facts and evidence, then why did Qian Wei determine that Chen Meixia should prevail? What was the basis on which he relied?”

“In court, Zhang Dahu’s side placed special emphasis on whoever makes the claim must produce the evidence, and the other two adjudicators also raised the points that whoever makes the claim must produce the evidence and that there was insufficient evidence proving that Zhang Dahu struck anyone.”

“Why did Qian Wei not adopt that and still determine that Zhang Dahu needed to bear civil compensation liability?”

“What was the reason that Qian Wei did not adopt it? Why did he not adopt this viewpoint, but instead adopt the civil rule of proof known as high probability?”

“The civil rule of proof known as high probability means that where, on the basis of the results of the court’s examination and judgment of the evidence proving the fact to be proved, and in combination with other relevant facts, the existence of the fact to be proved is considered to have a high possibility, the court shall, according to law, recognize that fact.”

“In Zhang Dahu’s civil lawsuit, neither side had sufficient proof capable of providing evidence, and according to Qian Wei’s viewpoint, he adopted the side whose evidence was relatively more sufficient.”

“However, high probability also expressly states that the court must judge the evidence concerning the fact, and in combination with other relevant facts, consider that there is a high possibility.”

“When the evidence cannot be confirmed and made certain, and there are only oral statements, is it reasonable to use high probability in combination with other relevant facts, and from the perspective of life experience and social rationality, to determine a case?”

“In Zhang Dahu’s case, the plaintiff Chen Meixia had an oral statement, and the defendant Zhang Dahu likewise had an oral statement, and under legally recognized determination, oral statements must be combined with the actual situation.”

“Chen Meixia’s initial statement was that Zhang Dahu struck her from behind, and that she saw Zhang Dahu’s face.”

“However, if Zhang Dahu struck Chen Meixia from behind, then as an elderly person in her seventies, could Chen Meixia have reacted quickly enough to see Zhang Dahu’s face?”

“According to analysis through life experience and social rationality, can those present feel that Chen Meixia, an elderly person in her seventies, after being struck from the front and knocked down, saw Zhang Dahu’s face?”

“An elderly person, with inconvenient mobility, was knocked down by a young and strong man, even to the point of losing consciousness, and could still see the other side’s face clearly?”

“She could not…”

“So what was it that Qian Wei determined on the basis of life experience?”

“It was the use, from the perspective of personal subjectivity, of the characteristic principle of high probability in the law, intentionally to determine and manufacture wrongful, false, and mistaken cases.”

“This kind of conduct completely turns the law into a means of promoting personal interests, completely places the power of legal interpretation in his own hands, and completely tramples upon the dignity of the law!”

“As the party concerned, Qian Wei himself is the clearest about what his own conditions of determination were, does he not feel ashamed before the law?”

“Why did he use high probability to determine this case, instead of using the principle provided in the Civil Procedure Law that whoever makes the claim must produce the evidence to determine this case?”

“Based on all of the foregoing factors, our side believes that the not guilty defense application viewpoint of the defendant side’s entrusted lawyer should be rejected.”

“Presiding Judge, our side has finished its statement.”

After Su Bai finished his statement, at the defendant’s entrusted seat, Liu Jun frowned slightly.

The other people in the courtroom also fell into silence.

Especially Qian Wei.

As for what Su Bai had said, Qian Wei, as the party concerned, understood best what it meant.

As a rule of proof in civil litigation, high probability.

Was indeed quite useful when evidence was insufficient…

This speech of Su Bai’s could be considered to have exposed his thinking in rendering civil judgments.