Lawyer's character

After Du Yong finished delivering his defense opinions, the court fell silent. Many people in the auditorium cast admiring glances at him at the defense table and gave him a thumbs up.

…

After the adjournment, the collegial panel pronounced the verdict in court.

"... This case has been reviewed by the collegial panel and a judgment has been formed. Based on the opinions of the prosecution and defense, combined with the focus of the dispute in this case, and based on the facts and evidence of this case, this court made the following comments:

…The defendant Rongyang’s subjective malignancy is relatively small, and the social harm is relatively light. He belongs to the “lighter circumstances” of the crime of intentional homicide, and can be sentenced within the statutory sentencing range of “fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years.”

At the same time, if Rongyang can truthfully confess his crime after being brought to justice, he can be given a lighter punishment in accordance with the law. Based on the aforementioned statutory sentencing range and specific sentencing circumstances, as well as comprehensive consideration of defendant Rongyang’s specific facts of the crime, attitude of guilty plea and repentance, and joint pleas from many relatives and friends, it was decided to give Rongyang a lighter punishment and apply probation.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 232, Article 67, Paragraph 3, Article 72, and Article 73 of the Criminal Law, Rongyang was found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for four years. "The presiding judge pronounced the verdict.

Although Du Yong was mentally prepared before, he did not expect that the court would sentence defendant Rongyang to a suspended sentence. However, after thinking about it carefully, Du Yong understood that this case had a great impact on society. Since the court dared to open the trial and invited many media, it must have had a case that was acceptable to the public before the trial. The verdict.

In any case, the court's decision is what the public expected. After the verdict was announced, there was overwhelming news on the Internet soon. Unsurprisingly, public opinion was one-sided, with the majority of voices supporting the case's decision.

On the afternoon of the day when the verdict was announced, Du Yong accepted an interview under the arrangement of Wan Kefa. Soon the name of lawyer Du Yong from Sidley Austin Law Firm appeared in various media. Cases that Du Yong had previously handled were also "exposed", and netizens affirmed Du Yong's professional ability.

After the first-instance verdict was announced, the defendant Rongyang did not file an appeal, nor did the public prosecution agency file a protest, so the verdict became legally effective.

After that, under Fang Yi's instruction, Xie Youhe arranged several cases with certain social influence for Du Yong, which increased his exposure to the public.

At the same time, the reputation of Fang Yi's team is also increasing day by day. Meng Guangda was before him, and Du Yong was behind him. In addition, Fang Yi, who was already very well-known before, has three well-known criminal lawyers in one team. It is difficult to think of being famous. .

…

On this day, Zhou Ying returned to the law firm angrily with her bag in hand, sitting at her desk and sulking. Yu Wendong came over and said, "Sister Zhou, what's going on?"

"I went to court in the morning and made me very angry." Zhou Ying replied with a heavy breath.

"Why? Why are you angry with the people in the Procuratorate? Aren't we just eating this bowl of rice? We all have our own masters." Yu Wendong advised.

In his opinion, lawyers and the procuratorate are natural enemies. They are both offensive and defensive in court, and each plays their own role. There is nothing wrong with that.

Since Zhou Ying went to court in the morning, she must be angry with the prosecutor. Of course, she might also be angry with the judge, but the probability is not very high.

"I'm not angry with the prosecutor." Zhou Ying explained.

"Where is the judge?" Yu Wendong asked with a wink.

"It's not a judge, it's a colleague, a defender." Zhou Ying said helplessly.

"What's going on? What does it have to do with your colleagues?" Yu Wendong didn't understand.

“There are three defendants in this criminal case this morning. I defended the first defendant, and the other two defendants were defended by lawyers from other law firms.

During the court investigation phase, when I questioned the first defendant, the judge said nothing and the prosecutor did not raise any objection. However, the defenders of the second and third defendants raised objections and shouted: Don’t waste everyone’s time. What’s the matter? Just ask, that's almost enough...

Then he acted as the spokesperson of the Procuratorate, as if he was paid, and his butt was already sitting on the opposite side, with an expression that looked very much like a douchebag.

I reminded the judge at that time that there is no legal provision for defenders to raise objections to other defenders' inquiries. This is an act that disrupts the order of the court. Zhou Ying said angrily.

"Then what?" Yu Wendong asked in surprise. He has really never encountered such a situation.

"The judge said a few words lightly, but nothing happened. Maybe they thought it was too explicit, and the two defenders didn't say anything else afterwards, but it was clear from their eyes that they were very dissatisfied with me.

So what if I'm dissatisfied? I rely on my professionalism to make a living, not on flattery and being a second-rate son of a bitch. "Zhou Ying's tone was filled with anger.

"What the defender did, did he have any sense of responsibility and professional ethics? Before the charge horn sounded, I knelt down first. I was really speechless." Yu Wendong was also very angry after hearing this.

“Today’s case was not over yet. I pointed out that there was a problem with the evidence submitted by the prosecutor, and the collegial panel adjourned the case.

After leaving the court, the defendant's brother came to me and I told him: 'You were also present during the trial today and you saw everything that happened. With such a defender on your side, accept your fate! ’

The defendant's family was also very angry. If I hadn't raised issues with the evidence on file, the case might have been completed just like that. "Zhou Ying said.

As soon as Zhou Ying finished speaking, her cell phone rang. It was the brother of the first defendant.

"Lawyer Zhou, I want to change the defender... It's not that I want to change. I made a mistake. It's the other two defendants who want to change the defender. Can they still change now?" the other party said.

"In principle, the defendant has the right to change defenders after the trial. Why did they remember to change defenders? Have they communicated with the judge?" Zhou Ying was a little surprised.

"When the trial started this morning, those two bullshit lawyers didn't play a role at all. Although the family members of the other two defendants were not present, they were both from our village. After the trial, I called them to tell them about the trial. The situation was explained.

The family members of the two defendants told me that after the trial, the lawyer called them and said that they had done a lot of work during the trial.

I yelled at them and told them that I was not the only one who was observing. I asked them to ask the villagers who were observing and they would understand everything.

As a result, more than half an hour later, they called me and said that they wanted to terminate the previous entrustment and entrust your law firm to provide defense. "The other party said.

"Oh, we have no problem, but they'd better communicate with the court first to change the defender. In addition, the lawyer fees they paid before may not be returned." Zhou Ying said.

"Lawyer fees are a trivial matter. We can weigh whether a lawyer's fee of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan is more serious than a jail sentence. Don't worry, I will tell them right away, please wait for my call." The other party hung up after saying that. Got the phone.

"Look, the public's eyes are sharp. They want to fool others' legal fees, but they end up ruining their own business." Zhou Ying put away her mobile phone and spread her hands towards Yu Wendong.