Chapter 43: First Disrupt the Opponent's Psychological State
Inside the courtroom.
After Su Bai finished stating the appeal application, Lin Youping struck the gavel.
'Bang bang!'
"The appellant's appeal application has been stated. The prosecution will now make its statement."
After Lin Youping finished speaking, he shifted his gaze toward Lu Wei at the appellee's seat.
Lu Wei glanced calmly in Su Bai's direction, his expression unchanged, and then lowered his head to state his side's litigation opinion.
"Presiding Judge, our litigation requests and our responses to the appellant's claims are as follows."
"First, we request that the application submitted by the appellant, that is the Qi Feng side, be rejected. There is no substantive evidence to demonstrate that the appellant Qi Feng was in a state of legitimate defense at the time."
"Based on Qi Feng's condition at the time, he was holding a knife and was fully capable of protecting his own safety, yet he used the knife to consecutively kill two people, which demonstrates a subjective intention of intentional harm and does not exhibit the characteristics of legitimate defense, therefore we request that the appellant's application be rejected."
"Second, regarding the compensation issue raised by the appellant for their client, this request is premised on the condition that Qi Feng is not guilty, but at present Qi Feng has not been determined to be not guilty, therefore we request that the appellant's request be rejected."
"Presiding Judge, our statement is concluded."
In response to the issues raised by Su Bai, Lu Wei refuted them one by one.
It was very clear.
Lu Wei knew where the key point of this litigation lay.
The key point lay in whether Qi Feng's conduct constituted legitimate defense.
The legal provision of legitimate defense has appeared many times in courtroom proceedings, yet it has rarely resulted in victory.
Why?
Because it is very difficult to determine the subjective element of whether legitimate defense was used as a pretext to carry out intentional harm.
Therefore, regarding the legitimate defense raised by Su Bai this time, Lu Wei directly refuted it. As long as the determination of the subjective element of intentional harm could be guided appropriately, this litigation would be won.
Presiding Judge Lin Youping briefly organized the litigation requests of both parties.
He remained silent for several seconds.
Then he looked toward Su Bai at the appellant's seat and struck the gavel.
"The prosecution has completed its statement. Regarding the issues raised by the prosecution, does the appellant have legal grounds or corresponding evidence to prove that the party Qi Feng acted in legitimate defense?"
The key moment had arrived.
Su Bai briefly adjusted his suit.
Proving it was simple.
The difficult point was how to lead the opposing party into his own framework and make them follow his rhythm.
As a senior criminal lawyer, Lu Wei was indeed not easy to deal with in this respect.
Su Bai took a deep breath. "Presiding Judge, our side can present relevant legal grounds, but before that, I have several questions that I would like to ask Lawyer Lu."
'Bang!'
"Are the questions related to the hearing?"
"Yes, Presiding Judge!"
"The questions are related to this case. The application is approved."
Lu Wei looked at Su Bai with curiosity, not knowing what he intended, and slightly frowned as he heard Su Bai speak.
"Lawyer Lu, how did you determine that our client committed intentional homicide? How did you determine his subjective intent?"
If the problem could not be resolved, then the problem should be directed toward the opposing party first to disrupt the opposing party's psychological state.
Su Bai continued, "During the first instance, it was Lawyer Lu who, as the prosecuting lawyer, accused our client of intentional homicide. The evidence was that when our client encountered danger, he used a knife to consecutively kill two people, exceeded the limits of defense, and possessed a subjective intention to kill. May I ask how Lawyer Lu made this determination?"
Lu Wei slightly frowned and raised his hand to signal.
"Presiding Judge, I believe that the appellant's lawyer's example regarding the determination in the first instance is unrelated to the second instance. I refuse to answer the appellant's lawyer's question."
'Bang bang!'
"The application is approved. The appellant's questioning is terminated."
Su Bai let out a long breath. Terminated?
This meant that they did not want him to continue questioning.
If they would not allow him to ask, he would still continue to state his position.
Su Bai continued speaking.
"The appellee's principal accusations regarding our client's intentional crime include the following. First, a subjective intention to cause harm. Second, the use of a knife. Third, continuing to inflict harm upon the opposing party after the assailants had lost the capacity to resist. Fourth, our client left the scene after the incident, which was determined to constitute flight."
"First, let us discuss the cause of this case."
"From the perspective of this case, our client and the other two individuals did not know each other and had no prior interaction."
"However, inside the shopping mall, the other two individuals verbally abused our client without any cause, and after our client merely responded with a single remark, he was subjected to physical assault by the two individuals."
"During this process, our client picked up a knife from within the shopping mall, and the other two individuals showed no fear and continued to verbally abuse our client and intentionally carried out further assault. During this process, our client engaged in legitimate defense, which resulted in the deaths of the two individuals. There is no error in this sequence of events, correct?"
Lu Wei frowned slightly. "There is no error. This is the sequence provided by the prosecution, but regarding the final point, that it constitutes legitimate defense, I object, and at present the plaintiff is still in the hearing stage and there is no evidence to demonstrate that he acted in legitimate defense."
"Counsel for the appellant, please pay attention to your wording!"
'Good!'
As long as the sequence of events was correct.
Whether it constituted legitimate defense, Su Bai was not inclined to continue debating at this moment.
Su Bai revealed two small white teeth in a smile.
"Presiding Judge, I request permission to question our client."
'Bang!'
"The application is approved."
Lin Youping struck the gavel.
Qi Feng, surrounded on both sides by two judicial police officers, appeared somewhat nervous in the face of Su Bai's sudden questioning.
Su Bai gave Qi Feng a look, signaling him not to be too nervous.
After waiting several seconds until Qi Feng had calmed down, Su Bai slowly began speaking.
"Please answer, at that time in the shopping mall, did you deliberately pay attention to the location where knives were placed in the shopping mall?"
Qi Feng shook his head. "No."
"What was your purpose in taking the knife at that time?"
"The purpose of taking the knife was to frighten them."
"After the killing occurred, what was your first subjective reaction?"
Qi Feng seemed to recall something unpleasant, and his expression became painful.
"My first reaction was fear."
After asking these questions, Su Bai looked toward the judicial bench.
"Presiding Judge, my questioning is complete."
'Bang bang!'
"Then counsel for the appellant may now begin your legal explanation."
"Yes, Presiding Judge."
Su Bai adjusted his suit and slowly began speaking.
"In criminal law, intentional crime is defined as a psychological state in which the actor, while clearly knowing that his conduct will produce harmful consequences for society, nevertheless continues to carry out that conduct."
"According to Article 14 of our country's Criminal Law, intentional crime has two characteristics."
"First, the actor clearly knows that his conduct will harm society."
"Second, the actor adopts a permissive attitude toward the occurrence of its consequences."
"These two characteristics must be simultaneously satisfied in order to constitute intentional crime."
"How to determine the content of an actor's intent is a complex issue and multiple factors must be considered."
"In the process of this case."
"First, our client did not subjectively pay attention to the location where the knife was placed."
"Second, our client's subjective purpose was to frighten them and he had no intention to kill them."
"Due to the sudden and non repeatable nature of the incident, our client's first reaction after leaving the scene was fear."
"For a young university student encountering such a situation, the emergence of fear is unavoidable. This was not simply an act of flight, but rather a subconscious reaction after being frightened."
"In judicial interpretation, flight generally refers to the subjective intention to evade criminal responsibility."
"In this process, our client's mental state was disordered, which is recorded by the law enforcement authorities, and he returned to the scene at the earliest opportunity and surrendered himself, which demonstrates that subjectively he did not have the intention of fleeing after committing homicide or evading responsibility."
"It was merely a subconscious reaction after losing composure."
"More importantly, according to the prosecution's accusations and evidence, our client's height is 178 centimeters (5 ft 10 in), while the heights of the other two individuals are respectively 172 (5 ft 8 in) and 175 centimeters (5 ft 9 in)."
"Our client struck several downward slashing motions in order to stop the continued attack of the opposing party."
"These were merely defensive actions by our client and were not deliberate results. Causing the deaths of the opposing party occurred during the urgent circumstances of legitimate defense."
"Our client did not foresee this result, and the process of his conduct was entirely produced under a strong defensive emotional state."
"From the perspective of criminal psychology, this constitutes a stress reaction within legitimate defense."
"Our client caused this result in the course of legitimate defense."
"Therefore, the accusation that our client committed intentional homicide cannot be sustained!"
After finishing speaking, Su Bai quietly looked at Lu Wei.
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