Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 204 - 203 Pretrial Contest, Bait and the Real Target (Big Promotion Extra 2)

Chapter 204: Chapter 203 Pretrial Contest, Bait and the Real Target (Big Promotion Extra 2)

(Here comes the second additional Chapter of today, with a 20,000-word update. We ask for your recommendations, monthly passes, favorites, subscriptions, and support~)

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Juror sequestration system.

This was the first time Zhang Wei had heard that the defense would make such a request in a trial in Dongfang Capital.

Sequestration means to seal off information, isolate from all disturbances.

The court’s job was to place the jurors in a location isolated from information to ensure they would not be exposed to any.

This was generally a request made by the prosecution; the defense seldom mentioned it.

In average cases, if the impact was not too significant, jurors were usually allowed to go home.

However, if a case caused a sensation, the pervasive reporting by news and media could greatly interfere with the jury.

In that case, it was best to select jurors who had no knowledge of the case details.

That way, the only information they received would be the evidence permitted in court, and their judgments would not be influenced by media speculation and inadmissible evidence.

But if the defendant was a major star, a well-known artist, celebrity, etc., many jurors might already recognize the person or have heard of them.

If the jury went home at this point, turned on a search engine, and searched for information on the case or the defendant, and happened just to see positive coverage of the defendant, then the jury’s decision might favor the accused.

Similarly, if there was negative coverage of the defendant online, this would also influence the jury’s decision negatively toward the defendant.

Take this case, for instance; before the jury was selected and sequestered, gossip and public opinion had already filled the air.

You could hardly find someone in Dongfang Capital who hadn’t read the reports; they might forget the names of their relatives, but they would definitely know who Zhu Tianying was.

For this reason, factors outside the courtroom might influence the subsequent trial proceedings, in addition to factors within the courtroom.

Both the prosecution and the defense actually agreed that the sequestration system was correct.

Even Judge Ni Qiuping couldn’t help but nod her head.

"I’m glad that the defense has brought up this point. After consideration by this court, we grant this motion!"

Judge Ni said, looking towards the jury pool.

"Now that this court has approved the jury sequestration system, if you think you cannot tolerate being isolated from the outside world during the upcoming trial, you may leave the jury box of your own accord!"

Upon hearing the judge’s words, a few jurors stood up abruptly and left their seats.

Clearly, they couldn’t endure a mundane life isolated from the internet and even electronic devices.

Even so, there might be some among those who remained who could not endure it, but they felt that participating in such a case was worth staying for.

There were still quite a few people left in the jury pool.

Judge Ni Qiuping asked again, "Among those remaining, does anyone need to consider further? Once you enter the external isolation facility, you will live under the supervision of court staff throughout, you can only watch specific channels, surf specific websites, not receive any information related to this case, and can only have brief phone calls with family each day..."

Under the judge’s reminder, two more people hesitated and stood up; they glanced at the defense bench but chose to leave nonetheless.

"Good. For those who remain, this court believes there’s no problem. If you want to protest during the sequestration, the court will not accept it!"

Judge Ni Qiuping had already emphasized multiple times that if anyone couldn’t endure the isolation later and decided to complain, the court staff and the courthouse would pretend not to see.

After all, her reminders were to the point of being exceedingly fair and thorough.

"Now, let’s begin the selection of the jury!"

She waved her hand, gesturing for Jiang Fengzhen to start quickly, as the previous explanation had wasted quite a bit of time.

Jiang Fengzhen got the hint and stepped forward to the jury box once more.

"Here, I would like to ask a question. What’s your view on a woman’s youth?"

She began to call on jurors after posing the question.

"You, juror, what do you think?"

"I believe a woman’s youth is very valuable because the youth of a young woman is priceless!"

"Your Honor, our side accepts this juror!"

"And this gentleman?"

"It depends on who you’re talking to; after all, youth is mutual!"

"Your Honor, we appreciate this gentleman’s response and refuse this juror!"

"And what about you..."

The first question was very purposeful.

"Starting off so direct, huh?"

Zhang Wei could also see that this question was meant to put a value on Zhu Tianying’s five years of youth.

Keep those who acknowledged Zhu Tianying’s sacrifice and eliminate those who did not or who were skeptical.

If those who remained believed Zhu Tianying’s five years of youth were precious, they would likely sympathize with the defendant, thereby influencing the trial in a favorable direction.

Conversely, those who could not sympathize with the defendant would naturally be disadvantageous to the defense.

After Jiang Fengzhen filtered out a few more jurors, she temporarily halted the selection, and it was the prosecution’s turn to question.

"The prosecution may step up!"

Judge Ni waved towards the prosecution bench, but Tan Yingying did not move for a long time.

"The prosecution?"

"Ah, oh, it’s my turn!"

Tan Yingying finally snapped back to reality and, with a stunned look, rose to her feet and walked to the witness stand.

"Prosecutor, it’s not time for cross-examination yet. Please go to the front of the jury bench, ok?"

"Sorry, sorry, my mistake, my mistake, Your Honor..."

Tan Yingying hurriedly apologized, her demeanor frantic as she scuttled to the front of the jury bench.

At this sight, laughter erupted from many in the hearing room.

Hu Yaode and Jiang Fengzhen from the defense bench also wore smirks on their faces.

They had thought that the Procuratorate Headquarters would send a formidable opponent, but it turned out that their current adversary was so lackluster.

If the prosecutor was always of this caliber, they would achieve an unbroken string of victories against the Procuratorate Headquarters.

From the prosecutor’s bench, Zhang Wei couldn’t help but shake his head.

"No way, Xiao Tan, how can you be this weak?"

He couldn’t restrain himself from criticizing Tan Yingying’s performance.

How had Xiao Baihe trained her people? After nearly a year, is this all the skill she has?

Just like her in training apprentices, look at Lin Yumeng—she’s nearly ready to fly solo, able to handle cases independently.

"Fortunately, I had already consulted with Tan Yingying in advance regarding the questions for this trial!"

Luckily, someone was well-prepared, having even anticipated the questions for the preliminary hearing.

"Cough cough..."

Tan Yingying cleared her throat and asked, "May I ask the jurors, if there were a hole the size of a football on the ground, with a sign next to it that read ’DANGER WITHIN, NO SPECTATING!!!’, what would you do?"

"Huh?"

Upon hearing this question, someone from the defense bench was immediately baffled.

Hu Yaode and Jiang Fengzhen exchanged glances, both puzzled.

What kind of question was this?

What did this question have to do with the case?

Why is this question so fantastically absurd?

In the front row of the hearing room.

"Just as expected!" Xiao Baihe rubbed her fair forehead, a look of speechlessness on her face.

This question was obviously thought up by Zhang Wei; only someone with his wild imagination could come up with such a preposterous question.

"What on earth is Zhang Wei trying to achieve with this kind of question?"

Xia Qianyue, sitting beside her and knowing she didn’t understand these things, simply didn’t bother guessing and turned to look at Xiao Baihe.

She knew Xiao Baihe was smarter than her and had courtroom experience; perhaps she could see something amiss.

"Don’t ask me; I’ve never studied that guy’s pretrial methods!"

Xiao Baihe expressed that she was clueless—she wasn’t Zhang Wei after all, and she didn’t grasp these fancy tricks.

If she couldn’t figure it out, then others nearby like Tie Ruyun, Li Yueqin, Lin Yumeng, as well as the reporters and onlookers in the back, naturally couldn’t understand either.

They only had one question in their minds: would they go look at the hole?

In everyone’s head swirled the same symbol: ???

In the courtroom.

"Sir, would you go take a look?"

"Er, I would take a look..."

"Why?"

"Because I’m curious, with a sign that conspicuous, I would have to see what’s so dangerous..."

"Thank you for your answer!"

After expressing her gratitude, Tan Yingying turned to the judge, "Your Honor, the prosecution accepts this juror!"

Next, she approached a female juror.

"Ma’am, would you go take a look?"

"I’d like to know, is the sign eye-catching?"

"Very eye-catching, it even has three exclamation points at the end!"

"Then I definitely wouldn’t go look, because I don’t like taking risks like that!"

"Thank you for your answer!"

Tan Yingying turned again, "Your Honor, the prosecution rejects this juror!"

Judge Ni Qiuping cast a glance at Tan Yingying, causing the latter to feel a wave of guilt.

However, in the end, she didn’t say anything and just made a note on her pad.

Clearly, she couldn’t make out any issues either.

"You can’t tell?"

Only Zhang Wei at the prosecution’s table felt a lonely sense of superiority, as if viewing all the other mountains from the top of one peak.

"It’s just curiosity, can’t they understand that?"

He muttered to himself, and this was his goal.

The obvious evidence in this case was already very clear. Zhu Tianying and the media were talking about self-defense, and the evidence provided by the investigative department supported this claim.

If the trial proceeded normally, Zhu Tianying would definitely be found not guilty.

Therefore, what the prosecution needed was people who were skeptical of appearances and curious to probe the truth.

Only such people would be adept at digging for truths beneath the surface evidence.

Sadly, few people in the courtroom could see this point.

Even more regrettably, one could not ask too many such questions, otherwise the jurors might detect the pattern and change their original answers.

On the bench, Judge Ni Qiuping looked at Tan Yingying.

"Would you like to continue questioning?"

"That would depend on whether the defense wants to speak..."

Judge Ni Qiuping and Tan Yingying both looked towards the defense’s table.

Jiang Fengzhen shook her head, signaling the prosecution to continue.

"Then the prosecution will continue with the questioning!"

"Oh, okay!"

Tan Yingying quickly flipped her notes, and Zhao Ben read aloud, "I would like to ask the jurors what they think is the reason people get married?"

"Sir, would you answer, please?"

"Get married?"

The man who was asked was bewildered, his eyes wide open, visibly annoyed, "I don’t even have a wife, why are you asking me this?"

"Then, what do you think marriage is for?"

"To deal with the nagging from my family, I suppose. They keep pushing me to find a wife; it’s driving me crazy!"

"So that means you might hate the idea of marriage, or even hate women?"

"A bit, but I’m not against getting married. If I really find someone suitable..."

"I see!"

Tan Yingying nodded, then turned her gaze towards the defense’s table, "Your Honor, we accept this juror!"

"Your Honor, the defense rejects this juror!"

As soon as Tan Yingying expressed acceptance, the defense immediately stood up in opposition.

Joking aside, this juror had admitted to hating women, so what was the point of keeping him?

The defendant was a woman, and who knew if this juror would dislike the defendant for that reason.

Better to dismiss him.

"May I ask, madam, what do you believe is the purpose of marriage?"

"I think it’s for a sense of security, the sense of security between a man and a woman!"

"What do you mean by ’a sense of security’?"

"Family, children, responsibility... of course, money too..."

"Oh, money!"

Tan Yingying suddenly stressed the point, causing the female juror to show a hint of embarrassment.

Immediately afterward, Tan Yingying suddenly lowered her head and flipped to a page in her notebook.

"Your Honor, we accept this juror!"

As she said these words, she showed a bit of a "triumphant" smile.

"Your Honor, the defense rejects this juror!"

Although unsure of what expression Tan Yingying had, both Hu Yaode and Jiang Fengzhen believed this juror to be detrimental to their side.

Because in marriage, those who value money the most could place extra importance on wealth.

They were certain that the prosecution would use wealth as evidence, and keeping this money-minded woman could be absolutely unfavorable to Zhu Tianying.

Judge Ni signaled the female juror to leave, then made a note of it.

The questioning from Tan Yingying continued.

Her questions also sparked many discussions in the audience gallery.

"These questions are somewhat simpler, but obviously not something Ying Ying would come up with. They must be Zhang Wei’s goal. I always feel he’s plotting something!"

Xiao Baihe watched the prosecution’s table, harboring a suspicion.

"What scheme?" Xia Qianyue asked with a curious look.

"The defense, you might have been tricked!" Xiao Baihe murmured, seemingly catching onto something.

In fact, besides her, there was someone else in the audience seat who also caught on.

"Oh, these are all decoys, purposely used to exhaust the defense’s opportunities to object!"

Qin Shaocong, as an attorney for Long Teng, sat motionless in the audience seat, watching the proceedings in the courtroom.

He realized Tan Yingying’s purpose in asking these questions was not to screen jurors but to use up the defense’s chances to dismiss them.

By asking these less critical questions to create the illusion of wanting to keep jurors, it would lead the opponent to believe they needed to excise the threat, thus utilizing their chances for dismissal.

Once the six opportunities were all used up, the prosecution would then play their hand, keeping a juror crucial to their case who the defense was unable to dismiss.

This was the prosecution’s goal!

"That’s a very clever line of questioning!"

Qin Shaocong looked at Tan Yingying, his gaze swiftly moving past her.

He knew that these questions were definitely not concocted by the rookie who was easy to spot as underperforming, but by the composed young man on the prosecution’s bench.

"Indeed, Lawyer Zhang is impressive, having won multiple times against the Procuratorate Headquarters and even overcoming the Supreme Procuratorate; you truly have the skill!"

Qin Shaocong held Zhang Wei in higher esteem and did not skimp on his praise.

In the courtroom.

"Your Honor, the prosecution accepts this juror!"

"Your Honor, the defense rejects this juror!"

As Jiang Fengzhen once again dismissed a juror that Tan Yingying wanted to keep, Judge Ni Qiuping drew another line in her notebook, and there were already five such lines.

"Prosecution, do you have any more questions?"

"Yes, Your Honor!"

Seeing Tan Yingying nod, Ni Qiuping waved her hand.

Since the defense didn’t object, you may proceed as you wish!

In her heart, Tan Yingying counted the numbers, then approached a woman and asked, "Madam, what is your profession?"

"I am an actress!" the woman answered proudly, visibly pleased.

"An actress?" Tan Yingying glanced at her, then, surprised, turned her gaze toward the prosecution’s bench.

Because during the pretrial, Zhang Wei had mentioned something to her: they needed to pay special attention to this woman, as she could potentially become the trial’s number one juror.

Similarly, Zhang Wei was also relieved.

"Good job, this woman is an actress, a professional dissembler, definitely able to see through others’ performances. Especially Zhu Tianying, who almost has no acting skills. This number one will surely see through her poor pretense at a glance."

"I’ve observed earlier, this one has a relatively lively disposition. She can sway the majority in the somewhat dreary twelve-member criminal jury with her advantage, an important juror who can definitely influence the course of the trial. She is absolutely fit to be our ’number one’!"

Thinking this, Zhang Wei’s face showed a hint of a ’scheme successful’ sly smile.

His real objective had been achieved!

In front of the jury seat, the questioning continued.

"What movies have you acted in recently?"

"I haven’t taken any movie roles recently, but my agent has arranged some live streaming contracts for me. I’m currently working part-time as a ’sales’ streamer."

"A sales streamer, what do you sell?" Tan Yingying nodded.

"I sell all kinds of things, depending on what company’s contract my agent picks up. They tell me what to sell, and I help them sell it. Recently, I’ve been selling a lot of smart home products, like refrigerators and TVs, and then kitchen utensils, like brooms, mops, cleaning agents, and so on..."

"What about your acting career?"

"Don’t worry, I definitely won’t give up. Because becoming an excellent actress has always been my dream!"

Seeing the woman answer so assuredly, Tan Yingying couldn’t help but nod again.

"Your Honor, we accept this juror!"

"Your Honor, we reject this juror!"

Seeing Jiang Fengzhen unsurprisingly stand up, both Tan Yingying and Zhang Wei on the prosecution’s bench were pleased.

"Defense, you have used up your six opportunities to challenge!"

Judge Ni couldn’t help but interrupt Jiang Fengzhen and declared directly, "This miss may join the jury seat!"

Hearing this announcement, Jiang Fengzhen’s complexion changed.

It seemed she had realized something.

"Damn, we’ve been had!"

Similarly, Hu Yaode, sitting on the other side, also finally reacted.

He never imagined that Zhang Wei’s real target was the actress from the earlier deliberation, a critical juror.

How frustrating that they had failed to notice that the previous questions were all distractions.

The defense attorney was filled with regret, while the prosecution naturally achieved their goal and rejoiced.

"Alright, the jury has been set. Court will reconvene tomorrow!"

With Judge Ni Qiuping’s announcement, the courtroom began to clear.