Chapter 308: Not Guilty Defense

The hands of the clock overlapped—three o'clock!

The courtroom slowly quieted as a clerk stepped forward. "Silence in the gallery. I will now announce the court rules."

"No one other than personnel permitted by this court for official duties may enter the trial area."

"No speaking or questioning without the presiding judge's permission."

"Anyone who severely disrupts courtroom order by causing a disturbance, rushing the court, or insulting, slandering, or assaulting judicial personnel will be held criminally liable in accordance with the law; minor offenses will result in a fine."

Once the gallery fell completely silent, the presiding judge gave a signal and the clerk continued. "Bailiffs, please enter the court to perform your duties. Summon both parties and their appointed representatives to the court."

"Now, in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 123 of the Huaxia Criminal Procedure Law, we will verify the presence of the parties and other litigation participants."

"Is the plaintiff or their appointed representative present?"

The clerk looked toward the plaintiff's table. Jiang Chen stood up as the representative and replied, "The plaintiff is present."

"Is the plaintiff's counsel present?"

Gou Changzheng stood to indicate his presence. "Present."

The clerk turned to look at me. "Is the defendant or their appointed representative present?"

"Present," I said in a deep voice.

"Is the defendant's defense attorney present?"

No one in the courtroom responded. The clerk asked again, "Is the defendant's defense attorney present?"

I stared blankly at the empty defense counsel's seat as murmurs began to ripple through the courtroom.

"How pathetic. Even his own defense attorney abandoned him."

"Why sympathize with a murderer? People like him deserve to be betrayed and abandoned."

"I heard he was involved in that serial murder case five years ago. He got lucky and escaped the law last time, and now he's killing again. It's terrifying."

"He's a psychopath. I wouldn't care if they gave him a death by a thousand cuts."

"I don't know about that. A friend at the precinct told me this guy offended the Jiang family, which is why he's being singled out."

"Offended is an understatement. The man he killed was one of the Jiang family's directors."

"Just dogs biting dogs. Neither side is any good."

Whispers broke out across the newly quieted gallery. The clerk raised his voice. "Silence!"

He frowned and looked at me. "Defendant, did you not appoint a representative or hire a defense attorney?"

"I did."

"Then why haven't they arrived yet?"

I racked my brain for a long time but couldn't think of a reason. My lips moved, and I spat out three words: "I don't know."

The clerk froze for a moment. In all his years of legal work, he had never encountered such a situation. He turned back to consult the presiding judge.

"Proceed to the next item." Sitting at the center of the bench was a middle-aged man with graying temples. He had a square face and a stern, unsmiling expression. I looked at the nameplate in front of him: Presiding Judge Chen Haiyi.

Having received the presiding judge's response, the clerk moved on. "Neither the plaintiff nor the defendant has raised objections regarding the parties present. The proof of legal standing and letters of authorization submitted to this court are fully consistent."

With that, he stepped aside, and the sharp crack of a gavel echoed through the courtroom.

Sitting at the center of the bench, Chen Haiyi spoke. "Court is now in session. The Jiangcheng People's Court is convening today in accordance with the law to hear the case of Gao Jian. It involves twenty-one charges, including intentional homicide, kidnapping, arson, assaulting police officers, robbery, violently resisting arrest, and fleeing the scene. I, Judge Chen Haiyi, will serve as the presiding judge, forming a collegiate bench alongside Judge Huang Zheng and Judge Yuan Zhong. Clerk Li Wei will record the proceedings."

"First, the plaintiff or their appointed representative will read the bill of indictment."

When Chen Haiyi finished, everyone turned their eyes to the plaintiff's table.

The specially extended plaintiff's table was packed with people. Among them were Jiang Chen, Balding Uncle, the old man from the convenience store, as well as representatives from the public security organs, the road administration bureau, and others.

The Jiang family had clearly put an immense amount of effort into determining the charges and the final sentencing detailed in the indictment.

All twenty-one charges were laid out in exhaustive detail. They were well-founded and logically rigorous; even as the defendant, I couldn't find any obvious flaws while listening to them.

As each charge was read aloud, continuous gasps of shock rang out from the gallery.

The way everyone looked at me began to change.

"This guy is way too ruthless!"

"He looks so ordinary, yet he murdered people, fled the scene, resisted arrest, and snatched a police gun. You really can't judge a book by its cover!"

"They should just execute him. Keeping a guy like this alive is nothing but a menace."

By the time the seventeenth charge was read, the courtroom was boiling over. The presiding judge had no choice but to bang his gavel. "Silence! Do not disrupt courtroom order!"

Only after all twenty-one charges were finished did the gallery slowly calm down. However, everyone's gaze uniformly landed on me. It felt as if my solitary presence at the defendant's table exuded a more intense aura than the crowded plaintiff's side.

Chen Haiyi stared at me for a long time as well, seemingly pondering just how twisted a person's psyche had to be to commit all these crimes within three days—and to dare clash head-on with the police, even going so far as to call the cops himself to lure them into a trap.

"The reading of the plaintiff's indictment is complete. Now, the defendant or their representative will make their defense." With his words, the entire room's attention homed in on me even tighter. Everyone wanted to see how a criminal without even a defense lawyer would defend himself.

Countless stares pricked at my skin. My lips were a little pale, likely because my body hadn't fully recovered yet.

The opposition had prepared thoroughly. The twenty-one charges weren't fabricated out of thin air; each one had been finalized after careful selection. The legal team hired by the Jiang family truly lived up to their reputation as top professionals. They had analyzed everything perfectly, from the logic down to the criminal motives and causes.

I was powerless to refute them, because most of what they said was indeed the truth.

Assaulting police officers, stealing a police car and a taxi, snatching a police gun, resisting arrest... all of these things actually happened. They had the surveillance footage and a whole crowd of eyewitnesses. No matter what I said, they could tear my arguments apart.

Seeing my prolonged silence, Chen Haiyi urged me again. "Defendant, do you have any rebuttals to the plaintiff's twenty-one charges?"

'It really is so much like five years ago. Maybe I shouldn't have been so nosy. When the flood comes, I wonder if you will all still be able to sit here in your fine clothes and hurl accusations at me.' In that instant, I recalled the text message sent by the Underworld Live Show before the eighth broadcast began: "You stood beside them, and you were pushed into the abyss by them." Only now did I understand its true meaning.

'This truly is the abyss of death.' My mind raced to find a solution. Although Du Yu hadn't arrived on time, some of his previous words had given me an inspiration.

'Even if I really did kill him, I can't admit it!' That was it. The root of these twenty-one charges lay in the Jiang Long murder case, and they couldn't conclusively prove I was the killer in that instance. How could they possibly build a complete chain of evidence in just three short days for a case where they hadn't even figured out the cause of death?

"Defendant, if you intend to forfeit your defense, we will—"

"Forfeit? Why would I forfeit?" Although I was wearing a prison uniform, I still stood tall. My gaze swept across the hall before finally landing on the plaintiff's table. "I have been framed. Not a single one of their twenty-one charges holds water!"

An uproar erupted through the courtroom the moment those words left my mouth.

"The surveillance footage is practically his personal photo album, yet he still has the gall to say he was framed?"

"With human testimony and physical evidence both present, he still wants to argue. Does he think the plaintiff's lawyers are just sitting around doing nothing?"

"Murder, arson, assaulting police officers, fleeing the scene—yet he can still stay calm and pinpoint the loopholes in the case. This guy's mental fortitude is unbelievable!"

"Silence!" The trial had only been underway for ten or so minutes, but Chen Haiyi had already called for silence multiple times. This had never happened in previous public trials.

He banged his gavel. "The plaintiff and the defendant have finished their statements. We will now proceed to the next item—cross-examination of evidence!"

The evidence presentation and cross-examination phase could be considered the most critical part of a court trial. Both the defendant and the plaintiff needed to present their gathered evidence to everyone present, including the jury and the gallery.

The evidence laid out during this phase would become the key focus and foundation of the upcoming debate.

"Next, the plaintiff will explain the sources of their evidence, the facts it proves, and the purpose of the evidence. The defendant will then conduct their cross-examination."

Chen Haiyi nodded toward the plaintiff's side. From the plaintiff's table, the lawyer dressed in a sharp suit, sporting expensive glasses and styled hair, stood up. "I, plaintiff's attorney Gou Changzheng, request that the judge summon the first witness to the court!"