Chapter 534: This is probably what you call a good attitude toward pleading guilty

"Are there so many people? It seems everyone is quite concerned about this kind of case," Zhou Yi said, looking at the number of people in the livestream room.

Not long after the livestream started, the number of viewers felt like it was going off the charts, and the comment barrage was like it had gone crazy, constantly scrolling across the screen.

Many people were saying there, please let the Court sentence them heavily!

When an event that everyone hates occurs, "heavy sentencing" is basically the most simple and direct thought.

Because what was done was too disgusting.

Of course, in such an atmosphere, a portion of people also stood up to play devil's advocate.

For example, on some platforms, some legal experts, or law professors, or even Lawyers began to use this to criticize.

Professor Liu Minrui: "Look at this, everyone is shouting for the Court to sentence them heavily. If you didn't know better, you'd think these few people had committed some heinous crime that angered both heaven and man, but in reality, isn't it just Obscenity?"

"There are too many people like this in the country now. It seems like as long as it's a crime, they want the Death Penalty. It's just a crime of Obscenity, such a common crime, yet there's actually such a reaction!"

"No wonder our rule of law isn't as good as foreign countries. Look at foreign countries, when have they ever had a situation like this? A bunch of short-sighted people led by their emotions!"

"I'll just say it straight: if they are really sentenced heavily, that could be called a disgrace to our judicial circle. Furthermore, shouldn't this situation be reflected upon?"

A very classic statement, and finally, the "reflection-monger" appeared!

If you observe carefully, you will find that this type of statement appears in every case that triggers extreme anger among the public online.

The most classic one is naturally the Yao Moumou case.

Anyway, no matter what, reflect first. Look, the countrymen are just like this, always venting their emotions at the drop of a hat, with absolutely no legal logic whatsoever...

Although the livestream had started, the court trial had not yet begun; it was still in preparation.

So Zhou Yi was just browsing other platforms, looking at some comments about this case, and then seeing this, it felt as disgusting as eating fly excrement.

Netizens requesting heavy sentencing is indeed emotion-driven, that's true, but why is everyone so indignant?

Because everyone is empathizing.

However, Zhou Yi did not intend to say anything, but instead sent the screenshot directly to Fang Dazhuang.

It just so happened that Fang Dazhuang had been forcibly dragged over by the two of them to watch this court trial and was there scratching his head out of boredom.

To avoid Fang Dazhuang scratching away his remaining hair, Zhou Yi felt it was better to give him something to do.

Beside him, Fang Dazhuang was indeed bored; he had seen too many cases like this.

It's just that Fang Dazhuang would never say such things.

Just then, he saw the message sent by Zhou Yi and immediately became interested.

"Oh ho, there are still statements like this now? Opening their mouths with 'countrymen', closing them with 'foreign countries', outputting emotions... interesting, I have something to do today!"

After saying that, Fang Dazhuang began to go online to debate with a joyful face...

What Debate or no Debate, this is called "pastime," understand?

There are no geniuses in the world; I just use the time others spend scrolling through short videos on "pastime."

Having found something for Fang Dazhuang to do, Zhou Yi originally intended to happily watch the livestream with Zhou Xinran. Honestly, it is really difficult to have the same hobby.

The court trial finally began.

There wasn't much to say about the evidence presentation and Cross-examination phase; this time there were five Defendants, and the evidence for those four groomsmen was about the same.

Only that Zheng Chuan, he had committed acts of incitement.

To be honest, this was something Zhou Yi hadn't expected. When he called the police back then, he hadn't thought about sending this groom in, but how does that saying go? Criminal Law Volume Twelve, every volume has your name.

There are about four hundred charges; there is always one that suits you.

After listening to the evidence presentation and Cross-examination, it reached the Court Debate stage. The four groomsmen and the groom all had their own Defense Attorneys.

Zheng Chuan's Lawyer was naturally Yu Feng.

At this point, they had already started separately.

Zhou Yi listened, and there were roughly a few aspects. First, it was said that they didn't know Zhou Min was a minor at the time, because the other party's dress or behavior appeared very mature.

Of course, it didn't hold up, because the Public Prosecution side had evidence to prove that they knew!

It wasn't because of that notification from Zhou Yi, but because Zhou Lingling had invited her own relative to be a bridesmaid and had sent a message to Zheng Chuan...

At the time, she said this relative's child was in the third year of junior high. Later, in that group of Zheng Chuan's, when a few people were chatting, they said that one of the bridesmaids was only in the third year of junior high.

Then there was a bunch of rather explicit talk, things like "loli" and the like, saying they liked young ones... perhaps they were joking, but combined with their subsequent behavior, it could be determined that they were not joking!

The livestreamed court trial reached this point, and the livestream room had completely boiled over!

When the case was reported previously, Yuan Xiangnan's mother had even come forward to accept an interview, crying so sadly in front of the camera.

She said her son didn't know the other party was a minor at all, and also said that minors nowadays are precocious, and once they dress up, you can't tell at all...

As a result, it was now discovered that these people had known long ago, and had all prepared to "make a scene" properly the next day!

Only Zhou Xinran was an accident...

"Damn it, shouldn't animals like this be sentenced heavily? I'll just ask, those of you jumping around telling us to reflect, you tell me then, shouldn't this be sentenced heavily?"

"Exactly, if your underage daughter encountered something like this one day, you support the Court not interfering, right?"

The evil of human nature is sometimes truly hard to accept.

So sometimes, words like the Death Penalty or sentencing them for two more years also represent a very simple expression of thought.

Just like the case that once caused a sensation, the missing couple... it can be said that everyone would feel angry in their hearts after seeing it. If the Death Penalty were abolished and such people were allowed to live, that would be our tragedy!

In Hanxi Province, inside a certain university, Liu Minrui was also paying attention to the court trial situation, writing an article while watching.

The title of the article was: Sentencing a few young people heavily, is this rule of law or a carnival of public opinion!

As a result, the article he had previously posted had gained nearly ten comments in a short time, each one a long review.

That guy who replied had the username "Lao Fang Ershiba."

Liu Minrui was naturally unhappy and immediately started to reply.

"Someone actually dares to Debate with me? Don't they know I used to be a Lawyer?"

After replying, he blocked the other party as usual.

Because the heat surrounding this matter is indeed very high, there are many people paying attention to his article, so he cannot let the other party continue to speak.

As a result, before he could even react, the comments began to increase at an inconceivable speed.

"Blocking me right after replying, that's a pretty good move. Come on, don't go, let's talk more about this issue of public opinion and the rule of law, don't block me!"

Replier name: Lao Fang Ershijiu...

The case was tried faster than imagined; there was not much room for the Lawyer to maneuver in a case like this.

With evidence conclusive and sufficient, the Lawyer could only say, look, our Defendant has shown remorse and has also been actively seeking forgiveness from the victim's side after the incident, and so on...

This is a very ordinary Commutation Defense.

Finally, the Court Debate ended, and the Final Statement began.

Then, to everyone's pleasant surprise, the camera, which had been far away, began to zoom in, and then several people appeared in the frame, very clearly.

"I really didn't think it was a crime, I just thought it would be lively..."

Several sounds of crying rang out in the livestream room; the four groomsmen plus Zheng Chuan were crying a mess in front of the camera, making it look to people as if they truly regretted it.

Zheng Chuan cried the loudest.

Satisfying, truly satisfying.

The audience in the livestream room, as well as Zhou Yi and Zhou Xinran, felt comfortable watching this footage.

The sight of these people crying bitterly is something one could never get enough of in this lifetime.

Each and every one of them always thinks they are just playing around; go inside and talk slowly to the sewing machine.

However, at this very moment, the crying Zheng Chuan uttered his Final Statement: "I, I was just joking with them, I didn't do anything, I was just having a proper wedding, I didn't think of anything at all, I didn't commit a crime..."

Yu Feng: "???"

Presiding Judge: "???"

Even though he was watching the livestream, Zhou Yi could imagine that once these words came out, anyone in the public gallery with a little legal common sense would know what kind of situation this was.

Zhou Xinran already said with an incredulous look: "Is he crazy? Or does he think that by saying such a thing at this moment, the judge will be able to find him not guilty?"

"To think there would be such a client!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi turned his head and smiled: "Xinran, I wonder which one is more outstanding, this client or Xu Yufeng?"

With one sentence, he successfully earned a roll of the eyes from Zhou Xinran.

In the public gallery, Zheng Chuan's mother was still a bit dazed; she didn't know what the situation was, only seeing that after her son said that sentence, many people in the courtroom began to discuss it.

"What is he doing? Why would he say that!"

Beside her, Zheng Chuan's father growled: "What is that Lawyer doing? Didn't he teach him what to do?"

"What's wrong?" Zheng Chuan's mother asked.

"What's wrong? He's not pleading guilty, you tell me what's wrong!"

Everyone else was looking at Yu Feng; Lawyer Yu was now completely stunned.

Although he knew this Zheng Chuan had many ideas, was this the time to express them?

What kind of place is this? It is a Criminal Case court!

Of course, Yu Feng did not give all sorts of instructions telling the other party that he must remember to plead guilty and show remorse; he just felt that there was no need to keep nagging about such things.

Anyone with a normal brain would not be talking nonsense at a time like this.

The Presiding Judge announced an adjournment; Zheng Chuan's mother wanted to rush up upon learning the situation, but was held back tightly by her husband.

"We are still on Bail Pending Trial right now; do you want to go inside and accompany your son?"

One sentence finally made Zheng Chuan's mother calm down.

Zheng Chuan looked around at this moment; he kept feeling that everyone was laughing at him, so he thought for a moment, turned his head, and asked: "Lawyer Yu, you say... do you think it's possible for me to be innocent?"

"I don't know."

"Aren't you a lawyer?"

"You still know I'm a lawyer!"

This conversation could not go on; Zheng Chuan considered himself very knowledgeable, thinking the Procuratorate and the Public Security Bureau both wanted him to go to jail, but he clearly hadn't committed a crime!

Thinking this way, the adjournment time passed, the Presiding Judge returned, and the verdict was announced in court.

The four groomsmen, depending on the Serious Circumstances, were sentenced to between six and five years respectively.

Among them, the pervert who took advantage of the act of lifting the person up to sneak his hand into Zhou Min's skirt and grope around was sentenced the highest, because in so many videos, he was the one who committed the most Obscenity.

This was not sentenced too heavily, because too many buffs were stacked: minor, gathering a crowd, threatening multiple people, etc.

Even with active requests for forgiveness and expressions of guilt and remorse, it wouldn't be reduced by much.

For Obscenity involving gathering a crowd, that starts at five years...

And according to the Judicial Interpretation, in cases of gathering a crowd for Obscenity, for every additional person, the sentence increases by two years; of course, there is no upper limit, and in practice, the judge still has to exercise discretion.

Minors, young girls, that is even more heavily punished.

These few, they had minors, it was a gathering of a crowd, and there were multiple people, Serious Circumstances...

If you don't understand, you could put it this way: even if Dean Chen, who loves to study foreign languages, came here, this case would be hard-pressed to find any reason to explain it away.

If it weren't for the active request for forgiveness and a good attitude of pleading guilty and showing remorse, it wouldn't be this situation.

Hearing the verdict, the people online felt even more comfortable; although some were still questioning that the sentence was light, this time no one helped him speak.

For the crime of Obscenity, this is basically already a very heavy sentence.

Finally, it was Zheng Chuan's turn.

When the words "Fixed-term Imprisonment of eight years" were spoken, Zheng Chuan was completely stunned there.

Zheng Chuan's mother fainted all of a sudden; she could not accept this verdict.

"Why, why was I sentenced so high, why, I didn't do anything!"

Zheng Chuan shouted there.

However, after listening to the Judgment, Zhou Yi felt that, according to his own understanding, the sentence was actually lighter than he had imagined.

Because during the evidence presentation and Cross-examination phase, the evidence produced by the prosecutor included statements from Zheng Chuan and his friends saying that when the time came to cause a scene, they should go for the bridesmaids, not their own wives...

Therefore, he knew full well that such a thing might happen, yet he did not take any action to stop it; on the contrary, he let the bridesmaids bear the brunt of it.

Zhou Min's father called again, saying he planned to take his daughter for proper treatment; she had been frightened at the time, so she had seemed normal.

But as the days went by, Zhou Min's condition became more and more serious; now she has become reticent, extremely sensitive and insecure, and afraid to see people...

Eight years, that is already getting off cheap...

Zheng Chuan was shouting wildly, but soon a bailiff stepped forward and restrained him.

The Presiding Judge didn't say anything; Zheng Chuan was crying there until his eyes were red, as he truly could not understand why he had to be sentenced so heavily just for sending those messages...

The trial ended, and everyone had their fill of gossip.

The livestream room had already closed, and many people moved to other platforms to start discussing this case; some thought the sentence was heavy, while others felt they should have been castrated...

Zhou Yi suddenly remembered that before the trial started, he seemed to have seen a very uncomfortable article.

He had even sent the article to Fang Dazhuang.

Looking to the side, Fang Dazhuang was already sitting in front of the computer, typing away on the keyboard with a clatter, though it was unclear what he was doing.

He might as well check that article and see how Fang Dazhuang was progressing.

As it turned out, clicking the previous link resulted in a notification: This article has been deleted.

Deleted?

Then what was Fang Dazhuang doing?

Just as he was about to ask, Fang Dazhuang looked up: "Sentenced, right? Oh, that guy's article was deleted by himself; I just found his Zhalang handle and am chatting with him one by one right now."

Zhou Yi: "..."

Forget it, he should leave first; after saying goodbye to Zhou Xinran, Zhou Yi left the law firm, as he still had to go get the Company's vehicle inspected this afternoon.

The previous car had been handled by the system, and the new car was handled by the Company's staff; come to think of it, he had never been to the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center, that somewhat mysterious place.

The first update is here; thanks to wore, Wenchidage, Another Newbie, Feimaowuyu, Mengxinzai, Short Legs, Guoguo, desirekyo, and A Fei; thank you brothers for the tips, thank you.

(End of this chapter)