After the three-member committee ruled that the trial process of the first "White Rose" case was in accordance with procedures.
Lawyer Richard made a brief statement in front of the garden of the villa he rented, saying that he was "very disappointed with everything that happened here" and then left Donghai.
His disappointment seemed to be his disappointment with the Renault family, to which the person involved belonged, and also seemed to be his disappointment with the legal system in Donghai.
In short, it depends on how you interpret it from your personal standpoint.
For example, his fans in the imperial capital would definitely use the latter explanation.
But no matter what, Richard's sudden departure meant that the lawsuit in which he served as an attorney in Donghai had come to nothing.
The lawyer newly hired by the Renault family to represent Renault Jr., Van Si, is a senior lawyer with a fourth degree in the Reed Law Firm in the East China Sea West District.
Obviously, he was willing to take the case for the generous reward, and no one among the top lawyers in Donghai was willing to wade into this muddy water. Richard had no other options for the case, and no one wanted to take over this mess.
Vans applied for an extension on the grounds that the defendant had changed lawyers.
The court granted three days and the prosecution did not object.
However, Vans apparently did not find any new grounds to attack the character of the prosecution witnesses, and due to Jordan's counterattack, he lost the favor of the jurors.
…
On the day of closing arguments, the gallery was already full of people early in the morning.
Even outside the court, reporters' cameras were ready.
As the judges and the judge took their seats, the court gradually became quiet.
At nine o'clock, Judge Demps announced that closing arguments would begin.
Lu Ming slowly stood up and walked to the jurors' seats.
"There is a statistic that most people may not know. In criminal cases, more than 99.9% of those who are brought to the dock are guilty."
"Many criminal defense lawyers feel a great sense of frustration, but they also yearn to meet that 0.1 percent. That is the meaning of the existence of criminal defense lawyers, a very noble meaning."
"However, reality is cruel, especially in murder cases. The suspects that prosecutors and police finally identify are usually not innocent. However, because the chain of evidence sometimes cannot perfectly reflect the entire process of the case, there are many who escape legal sanctions. Of course, from a legal point of view, they are all innocent."
"In this case, there is no problem of insufficient evidence. A large amount of evidence proves that Jeff Reno participated in the mob's carnival and participated in at least seven massacres. Mr. Jeff Reno's defense attorney argued that Jeff Reno was in a state of mental disorder at the time."
"So, your duty is to use your wisdom to judge based on what you hear and see in court. Did Jeff Renault really not know what he was doing when he inserted various sharp weapons into the victim's body again and again and listened to the victim's screams?"
"In fact, Booker, the second defendant in this case, once admitted in court that all terrorist attacks were planned by him and the first defendant."
Over there, Hancock, the defense attorney for the second defendant Booker, had a gloomy look on his face.
How could he not know that he had been severely fooled by Richard, the Renault family and Booker, and that he had become a clown.
Now, all he had to do was wait for the closing arguments to be made as soon as possible so that he could receive the bill. Although, Booker's bill might also be paid by the Renault family.
In front of the jury, Lu Ming continued, "Although Booker is a dishonest witness, if his confession that he and the first defendant planned all the murders is not credible, then his statement that he alone bears all the charges of planning is even less credible."
"I have never seen a defendant like this in court. First of all, at the police station, he turned himself in and took all the blame on himself."
"Then, he changed his testimony in court, accusing the first defendant of being the same planner as him, or even the first planner."
"The evidence provided is flimsy and vulnerable."
"Ultimately, what effect did his confession have? It further proved the innocence of the first defendant."
"I think there must be a deeper reason, Mr. Booker, who has been defending Jeff Renault."
"This reminds me of the relationship between the company's employees and their bosses. Of course, Reynolds Pictures is a super company that can invest tens of millions to build skyscrapers!"
Little Renault's new defense attorney, Vans, frowned. However, closing statements are not allowed to be interrupted. You can make corresponding rebuttals in your closing statement, but you cannot interrupt the other party.
Moreover, according to the legal principles of the East China Sea, in criminal cases, in order to ensure the interests of the defendant, the prosecution will make the closing statement first.
Lu Ming continued, "Throughout the trial, the first defendant, Jeff Raynor, was not sent to the witness stand by the defense. Of course, I should not question this from a legal principle, because any defendant has the right to remain silent. But the problem is that the defense has been claiming that Jeff Raynor has serious mental problems, but has only provided unclear video footage to prove it. I think that the performance of a mentally ill person on the witness stand is somewhat different from that of a normal person. The wise jurors will definitely be able to see this."
"So why did the defense, from beginning to end, never send him to the witness stand?"
Some of the jurors were already nodding, apparently, and they were the jurors who strongly supported that Reno Jr. was not mentally ill at all.
Lu Ming sighed, "Maybe it's because I have a bad reputation. In the legal community, I have a very bad reputation. People who are not mentally ill may be diagnosed with mental illness by my questioning. Maybe the defense lawyer is worried that Mr. Jeff Reno's mental illness will worsen under my questioning, and he will fight poison with poison and become a normal person, and the wise jurors will think he is normal."
If there are jurors, they will laugh out loud.
On the bench, Demps frowned slightly. He could have reminded the judge of the inappropriate expressions in the closing statement, but he just frowned and said nothing.
Vans gritted his teeth and said, "I heard that it was Lu Qianxing's insistence that led to not replacing you, thus saving you from a reputation crisis. So, are you returning the favor now?"
Amid the chuckles of the jurors and the audience, Lu Ming sighed softly, "Actually, this is a very sad thing. He is clearly a thug who killed many people and took pleasure in killing, a pervert who slept with human brains in his arms. In this court, I don't even have the power to loudly accuse him on behalf of the victim. This is in line with legal logic. Is it sad? It's really sad!"
The juror, who was originally smiling, gradually became serious and even a little ashamed.
"The power to accuse him and punish him lies in the hands of all the wise jurors! It is the God of Justice who has granted you the power to bestow justice! I hope that all the jurors can demonstrate your fairness! Use the most severe punishment to roar for those poor souls, and let those poor souls still in the glass bottles rest in peace!"
"Jeff Renault! He should be punished most severely!"
"Thank you!" Lu Ming bowed slightly and walked back to the prosecution seat.
Jordan looked at Lu Ming, whose face was heavy, and patted him on the shoulder gently.
Although I feel that this solemnity of Commissioner Lu may be mostly pretended.
In his closing statement, Commissioner Lu only mentioned the second defendant once, but everyone knew that Booker would definitely be found guilty by the jury.
On the other side, Vans slowly stood up. Jordan was too lazy to listen and picked up the earplugs to plug his ears.
…
In the lounge, Jordan paced back and forth.
The jury has returned to their room to vote.
The results may come out very quickly, but it may take several days.
Because it is the principle of unanimous consent, as long as one person disagrees with the others, the ruling will be invalid.
Jordan did not listen to Van der Les's closing argument. He heard it was just average, while Hancock's was even more outrageous.
Several team leaders including Gao Shi Nian, Zhang Xianhe, and Cantona were also there.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the lounge door. "The jury is back."
"Isn't it too fast?" Jordan was surprised.
"What does this mean?" Cantona whispered to Zhang Xianhe.
"The result may be good or bad!" Zhang Xianhe did not answer.
But it is also true that most of the time, no one can guarantee the jury's outcome before the final verdict.
Although, in this closing argument, Commissioner Lu was really brilliant, manipulating the jurors' emotions from beginning to end.
…
The prosecution, defense and the parties involved all returned to the courtroom.
The second defendant, Booker, had a blank expression on his face. It seemed that he had been aware of his inevitable death since the day he surrendered himself.
Little Renault looked nervously in the direction of the jurors.
Whenever his eyes passed over Lu Ming, they would become complicated. Perhaps, he really wanted to ask Lu Ming why.
In a corner of the gallery, old Renault sat expressionless.
The clerk brought the jury's verdict to the judge's bench in the form of a folded white card. Judge Demps took a look at it and handed it back to the clerk, who handed it back to the foreman of the jury.
"Foreman, have you reached a unanimous verdict?"
"Yes, your honor!"
"Stand up! The verdict is now announced!" the clerk drawled.
Everyone stood up, but little Renault's legs went weak and he almost couldn't stand up.
The chief juror was a middle-aged lady. She opened a blank sheet of paper and read out: "Donghai First Circuit Court, case number 950092158. After deliberation by the jury, the first defendant was unanimously found guilty of first-degree endangerment of public safety..." She paused, "Founded!"
Little Renault's face turned pale immediately and he sat back in his seat in a daze.
The sentencing over there is still going on, and all the charges brought by the prosecution, including the second defendant, have been proven true.
"Thank you, jury!" After the foreman of the jury read out the verdict, Judge Demps picked up the gavel and banged it hard: "The first and second defendants are remanded in custody! I will sentence them in three days! Court adjourned!"
The prosecutors in the prosecution seat and in the gallery behind the seat immediately cheered together.
"Lu Qianxing, tell me, tell me why?! How did I offend you? You keep biting me like a mad dog! Is it because you failed to blackmail the Tower Restaurant? Should I not have gone to you and scared you?!"
Little Renault jumped up and pointed at Lu Ming like crazy.
Several bailiffs had already come up and put handcuffs and shackles on him.
But he twisted desperately, "Tell me, tell me?!"
Many people looked at this scene in surprise.
Lu Ming looked at him quietly: "No, I wanted to beat you to death. At first, it was because of little Martha. Later, Zhao Xuecheng and Gao Xiu'e appeared! And many other people appeared!"
"They, who are they, who is Martha?! Who is it?! Zhao what, who is it? Who is it?!" Little Renault struggled desperately.
The bailiffs were no longer polite and quickly put a muzzle on him, so he could only make whimpering sounds.
Lu Ming looked at him: "You won't understand."
Turning around, he saw old Renault staring at him blankly in the gallery.
Lu Ming nodded to him, and walked out of the courtroom surrounded by prosecutors. Immediately, countless spotlights flashed.