Lawyer's character

At nine o'clock on Wednesday morning, Guo Wenzhi's case started in court. Director Du of Wanhua United Law Firm brought several lawyers in the team who often handle criminal cases to observe, firstly to cheer up Guo Wenzhi, and secondly to listen to Fang Yi's defense opinions and serve as a supervisor.

Appellant Guo Wenzhi was sitting at the appellant's table, looking relatively calm. After all, he was a lawyer who frequently visited the court and was more accustomed to the environment in the courtroom. The only thing he was not accustomed to was the special seat for the appellant under his buttocks.

Fang Yi held a signature pen in his hand and listened quietly to the male judge next to the presiding judge reading the first-instance criminal verdict.

"The appellant Guo Wenzhi will first read the appeal or state the reasons for the appeal." After the judge read the first-instance judgment, the presiding judge said.

Guo Wenzhi took the appeal petition he had prepared and read it over. The core idea was that he did not commit a crime.

"The defense lawyer issued his reasons for appeal." After Guo Wenzhi issued his appeal opinions, the presiding judge said in a regular manner.

"The defender believes that the facts found in the first instance were unclear and the evidence was insufficient. As the defender, the appellant only found witness Shi Dali to confirm the situation on the day of the case based on the defendant Xu Chungen's description. There was no intention to hinder testimony. Among the existing evidence, only Shi Dali's Statement, without other evidence…

In summary, the defender believes that the appellant is not guilty of obstructing testimony and requests the court to acquit the appellant in accordance with the law. "Fang Yi defended Guo Wenzhi's innocence.

…

"The prosecutor asked the appellant questions about the facts found in the first-instance judgment." The presiding judge looked at the prosecutor's seat.

"Okay, presiding judge." After the female prosecutor finished speaking, she looked at Guo Wenzhi.

"Appellant, when you defended Xu Chungen in the Xu Chungen theft case, how did you know that Xu Chungen was not at the crime scene?" the female prosecutor asked.

"The defendant Xu Chungen told me personally when I met him at the detention center." Guo Wenzhi replied unhurriedly.

In court, Guo Wenzhi was very cautious when answering the prosecutor's questions, for fear of falling into a trap. In his opinion, the intention to harm others is indispensable, but the intention to guard against others is indispensable. He has different stances and different considerations, so he has to do this.

He couldn't even trust Fang Yi completely, so how could he trust anyone else in the court.

"What did you do after you were released from the detention center?" the prosecutor continued to ask.

"I called the defendant's brother Xu Chunming and asked him to make an appointment to meet with him. I wanted to verify the authenticity of what Xu Chungen said." Guo Wenzhi said unhurriedly.

"Did you give me a big gift when you saw me? Where did you meet me?" the female prosecutor continued to ask.

"Yes, I saw it at Xu Chunming's house." Guo Wenzhi replied.

"What did Shi Dali say at that time, and how did you ask?" the female prosecutor asked aggressively.

"I just asked Shi Dali in accordance with the procedures. What Shi Dali said is generally consistent with what Xu Chungen said." Guo Wenzhi defended.

"When asked according to the procedure, why did the witness's answers in the interrogation transcript only include 'yes' and 'no'? Do you think this is normal?" the prosecutor asked.

"I think it's normal. The witness's educational level is relatively low and he often rambles when answering questions, so I adopted this questioning method." Guo Wenzhi replied.

"Do you also use this questioning method when handling other criminal cases?" The prosecutor glanced at him and asked suddenly.

"I don't handle many criminal cases. In the past, the parties involved found witnesses themselves and asked the witnesses to testify. I did not participate in the collection of evidence." Guo Wenzhi had long expected that the other party would ask this question, so he was prepared.

He did not believe that the paid prosecutor had time to look through the criminal case files he had handled in the past one or two years, or even four or five years. Even if the prosecutor did so, he would have other arguments to defend himself.

"What else did you do before you started the questioning?" the female prosecutor adjusted the pace of the questioning and asked.

"Before I went to Xu's house, Shi Dali was already at Xu Chunming's house. I don't know what they talked about. After I entered the house, Shi Dali asked me about the sentencing standards for Xu Chungen's theft case. I just said a few words about the sentencing. I showed him the legal basis and didn’t say anything else.” Guo Wenzhi knew that Shishi Dali told him the relevant content in the first trial, so the prosecutor asked this question. He had already thought of his words.

"Who was at the scene when you asked about the big gift?" the prosecutor then asked.

"There are only three of us, Xu Chunming and Shi Dali." Guo Wenzhi said truthfully.

"Why do you and your assistant's names appear in the interrogation transcript, and the place of questioning is not the Xu family?" the prosecutor asked.

"At that time, I did it out of compliance considerations." Guo Wenzhi did not deny the purpose of doing so, but in the eyes of the prosecutor, he was a bit evasive.

"After you finished questioning the witness, did you go and see the defendant Xu Chungen?" The prosecutor looked down at the outline of the question and continued to ask.

"I met. In order to check the details of the case and confirm the authenticity, after meeting Shi Dali, I went to meet the defendant Xu Chungen." The detention center has a record of the meeting, so Guo Wenzhi cannot deny it.

"What did you say?" the prosecutor asked.

"I compared what I heard from witness Shi Dali with what Xu Chungen said, and asked Xu Chungen some details." Guo Wenzhi's words are a bit slippery, and can be interpreted in any way. It can be understood as collusion. The suspicion can be understood as just asking for some details and not saying anything else.

The reason why Guo Wenzhi said this is because during the first trial, the defendant Xu Chungen told the relevant situation, but what Xu Chungen said was not very different from what the witness Shi Dali said. Therefore, it is difficult to judge whether there is actually a collusive confession. We can only say that this possibility exists. , it is difficult to tell whether it is true or false, but in criminal cases, there is only possibility and no other evidence to convict.

Fang Yi read the case file and found that Xu Chungen did not admit the collusion in the first trial, because once a collusion occurred, it would be harmful to him but not beneficial at all, especially to Guo Wenzhi.

"Presiding judge, we are done asking questions." The prosecutor ended the questioning.

"Appellant Guo Wenzhi's defender asked." The presiding judge looked at Fang Yi.

"Appellant, what was the purpose of the gift when you went to find the witness?" Fang Yi asked directly. In fact, the prosecutor had asked similar questions before, but the purpose of Fang Yi's questioning was obviously different from the previous questioning.

"I want to verify the facts of the case and confirm whether the situation on the day of the crime that the defendant Xu Chungen told me is true and credible." Guo Wenzhi replied.

"Are the facts you want to confirm important? For the defendant Xu Chungen." Fang Yi asked.