Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 224 - 223: Can’t Find Clues, Look for Character Witnesses?

Chapter 224: Chapter 223: Can’t Find Clues, Look for Character Witnesses?

Courtroom scene.

The plaintiff and defendant were in the process of selecting jurors.

"Excuse me, ma’am, what do you think of men who are handsome in appearance?"

"Sir, if someone of the opposite sex showed interest in you, would you be suspicious of their motives?"

"Old gentleman, what are your thoughts on young couples displaying excessive affection? Do you think such behavior is indecent?"

"Madam, if your child had a conflict with someone else, what would you do?"

...

Hearing these questions, Zhang Wei, who was sitting in the front row of the spectators’ seats, yawned disinterestedly.

"Well, is this how you operate jury selection, with such biased questioning? You might as well write your intentions on your face!"

"That Chen Baoluo’s tactic is so simplistic. I didn’t expect Uncle to be the same. Can’t there be a bit of technique involved?"

Zhang Wei muttered, somewhat disappointed with the preliminary questioning.

His gaze swept over to the jury bench, where the 6-person jury had finally been selected through the questioning of Li Qingmu and Chen Baoluo.

The six people, mostly older, was clearly not a good thing for the defendant, Xia Qianjun.

Because young people might not reject intimate gestures, but the older ones are generally more traditional and might not accept couples’ relatively large-scale actions.

Furthermore, older people are generally more conservative and traditional. They would consider some over-the-top actions to be crimes.

In conclusion, the jury was favorable for the plaintiff but very unfavorable for the defendant.

But there was no helping it; young people generally do not like to serve as jurors, considering it a waste of time.

And the court was unlikely to select young people with unstable jobs to join the jury as they tend to be impulsive and might struggle to make rational decisions.

So in the first round of this exchange, Zhang Wei felt Uncle’s side was at a disadvantage.

"Very well, we have a jury!"

At the bench, Judge Ni nodded in satisfaction, then opened her notebook to check the date.

"This court announces the end of the preliminary hearing. The trial will formally commence this Wednesday. The plaintiff’s party, please prepare your opening statement!"

With the announcement of the trial date, the courtroom was dismissed.

People in the spectators’ seats began to leave one after another.

Laura was the first to rise, escorted out of the courtroom by a group of subordinates.

However, before leaving, she exchanged a knowing look with Chen Baoluo.

The latter understood and made his way straight to the defendant’s bench.

"Lawyer Li, here is our witness list!"

Chen Baoluo handed over a sheet of paper, which Li Qingmu naturally took and glanced at.

The list was short, and Li Qingmu recognized a few names—all relatives and friends of Ji Guoguo.

However, as an experienced attorney, he was well aware that the names on the witness list were not all of the witnesses.

Especially in criminal court, both the prosecution and defense keep their "trump cards" hidden, which are not revealed to the opposition before the trial begins.

"By the way, our young Miss said she hopes you will seriously consider the settlement offer. If you agree, William International can cover the compensation amount for you, and you wouldn’t even need to pay it back!"

When Li Qingmu heard this offer, he scoffed inwardly.

Because over the weekend, Zhang Wei had already exposed William International’s calculations.

They were interested in the influence the case could bring, rather than the profit from the case itself, which was minor; William International didn’t care about the tens of thousands in compensation.

Chen Baoluo’s intention was also obvious: he wanted to exchange a mere tens of thousands for substantial benefits.

Li Qingmu, of course, wouldn’t agree.

"Lawyer Chen, we appreciate your kind offer, but to exchange such a minuscule amount for such huge benefits, don’t you think your wishful thinking is a bit..."

"Lawyer Li, rejecting the goodwill of William International is not a wise move. Wait until Wednesday’s court session, you’ll regret it!"

"I, Li Qingmu, am actually curious to see what means William International has!"

"So there’s no room for discussion?"

Seeing Li Qingmu’s mind was made up, Chen Baoluo took a meaningful glance at Xia Qianjun before smiling and walking away.

Ji Guoguo’s family also left the courtroom along with Chen Baoluo.

However, as they left, her glare towards Xia Qianjun was filled with malevolence.

Similarly, Ji Guoguo’s family members cast hostile looks at Xia Qianjun, filled with outright animosity.

"Let’s go, we should also discuss our strategy!"

Li Qingmu didn’t think much of it and urged them to leave.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhang Wei was stopped by a court guard.

It turned out that Judge Ni Qiuping had sent a message through the court guard.

"Judge Ni says, ’Please be honest. The pressure this trial is putting on her is immense; it’s driving her to depression! She also said, you know what she means.’"

After delivering the message, Zhang Wei dismissed the court guard.

"What’s with Judge Ni? Why is she depressed all the time?"

Someone couldn’t help but make a snide comment, though they understood what Ni Qiuping meant.

This woman thought that returning to civil court would give her a few days of relief, but she hadn’t expected her first case back to be one involving him.

Ni Qiuping knew that any case involving Zhang Wei would be particularly difficult.

So all she could do was give him a verbal warning, hoping that Zhang Wei would have the sense not to cause any trouble.

But would Zhang Wei behave?

That depended on the situation. If the trial went smoothly, he certainly wouldn’t stir things up.

However, if the judge couldn’t control the proceedings, then no one could blame Zhang Wei for intervening...

After the pretrial, Zhang Wei did not participate in the strategy meeting between Li Qingmu and Xia Qianjun.

Because he knew that even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to speak up.

Li Qingmu was a very decisive lawyer; he had his own way of thinking. He might listen to others’ advice, but certainly not to the likes of the junior, Zhang Wei.

Especially in this case, now that Li Qingmu was in charge throughout, Zhang Wei just needed to be informed about the progress.

As for how effective Li Qingmu’s methods were, they would have to wait until Wednesday to see.

...

Tuesday, a peaceful day.

Jincheng Law Firm, Criminal Division office.

"Old Tie, I’m heading out to ’gather inspiration’!"

After informing his superior, Zhang Wei left the office under his colleagues’ watchful eyes.

Seeing this, Lin Yumeng was a bit curious, Li Yueqin a bit envious, and Tie Ruyun looked frustrated.

The apprentice felt that her master seemed very busy lately.

But she had no clear idea what he was busy with.

Xiao Li envied Zhang Wei for his freedom and the ability to handle cases independently. She realized she needed to keep learning and improving, striving to close the gap with Zhang Wei as soon as possible.

Tie Ruyun grumbled, "Who’s the leader here, you or me? Skipping work every day, right?"

Zhang Wei was unaware of his colleagues’ thoughts; he had already arrived at the café where the incident took place.

"Zhang Wei!"

"Silly!"

At the entrance of the café, Xia Qianyue, dressed in a white, loose tracksuit, was already waiting.

"Indeed, loose clothing suits Silly the best!"

Because of the bagginess of the tracksuit, it concealed her upper body. For a girl like Xia Qianyue, who had delicate features but a flat chest, it was actually the best choice.

From a distance, Xia Qianyue looked like a youthful and energetic sporty girl, radiating vibrancy from head to toe.

Zhang Wei hurried over to meet her.

"Are we both investigating together today?" Xia Qianyue blinked, her face full of excitement.

"Of course, but did you take leave?"

"Yep, yep, Captain Wu gave me the whole afternoon off, and he said I can have another day off during tomorrow’s hearing. I’ve got plenty of annual leave, so I can come to all the trial days these few days!"

Hearing what Xia Qianyue said, Zhang Wei felt helpless.

The leave she’d accumulated from overworking for the serious crime team finally had a chance to be used.

"Alright then, let’s go in and ask!"

Zhang Wei led the way into the café, with Xia Qianyue following him.

"Hello, we’re from the investigative division. Could you tell us if you saw this girl and this boy over the weekend?"

In front of the café counter, Zhang Wei had Xia Qianyue show their division’s credentials, then handed out two photos, one of Xia Qianjun and the other of Ji Guoguo.

"I kind of remember this handsome guy; as for the girl, this face..."

The barista looked at the two photos with a weird expression.

Even though Xia Qianjun was cold, his good looks were memorable.

And as for Ji Guoguo, with her makeup on, she definitely had that influencer look; in their café, there were quite a few girls with similar faces, making it hard to recognize her.

"Xiao Zhu, come over for a sec, I remember you were also here over the weekend, do you remember this person?"

A female waitress set down her broom and hurried over.

"I remember him, that handsome guy, right? It seemed he had a conflict with a girl later, and she was holding his hand and screaming harassment!"

The waitress’s face turned a slight red as she looked at Xia Qianjun’s photo and recalled.

She couldn’t help it, seeing a handsome guy, she naturally took note.

"Did you see them having the conflict?"

"I didn’t, they were sitting in a corner, and that spot is quite secluded; we usually can’t reach it."

The waitress explained further, "Us waitresses need to have eyes in the back of our heads and ears in all directions, otherwise, it’s real hard work to take care of all the customers in such a big area. We can’t cover everything."

Zhang Wei looked around, the coffee shop was quite spacious, divided into several areas at the front, back, and sides, excluding a bar, there were fifty or sixty small tables.

The space was indeed large, but precisely because of that, finding an eyewitness was very difficult.

"Please let us see the coffee shop’s surveillance footage!"

"Alright, please follow me!"

A male waiter led Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue into the back office and then turned on a computer.

"This is the surveillance footage. All of Saturday’s footage is here. Our shop only has three cameras, and I don’t know if that corner was caught on camera..."

As the waiter spoke, he adjusted the surveillance to that Saturday, and Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue began to watch.

"Hey, isn’t that you?" Suddenly, the waitress spotted a scene and was astonished.

Because she saw Zhang Wei walk into the coffee shop with a blonde beauty, and it seemed like they were holding hands.

The waitress trembled, turning around with difficulty.

Fortunately, the scenario she had anticipated did not occur; Zhang Wei remained composed, and Xia Qianyue beside him did not explode as expected.

"I couldn’t get away over the weekend, so I could only meet up with Jessica, but then Radish bailed..." Zhang Wei explained with a sigh at the end.

"That’s my fault, I apologize. If I could have gone that day, my brother definitely wouldn’t have had such a thing happen." Xia Qianyue said apologetically, as if admitting her mistake.

Damn!

The male waiter was stupefied at this scene.

He took a closer look at Zhang Wei, thinking to himself, this guy isn’t that handsome, how did he manage to charm such a simple-minded girl?

And that was not all; he had brought a busty blonde to the shop to have coffee that day.

How do you manage to hook up with two at the same time, and still keep things so harmonious?

The male waiter’s look towards Zhang Wei began to change, tinged with some envy.

He plotted in his heart whether to ask Zhang Wei for some tips, as he had been wanting to ask Xiao Zhu, the waitress, out for a stroll, dinner, and a movie.

Zhang Wei was unaware of the male waiter’s thoughts; he was meticulously watching the surveillance footage.

Unfortunately, with such a big place and only three cameras, the footage did not capture the location of Xia Qianjun and Ji Guoguo.

"The surveillance only goes up to here, just showing that after the incident, the two of them left one after the other. There’s no footage of the incident as it happened," the waiter said, pausing the footage and pointing to the image of Xia Qianjun leaving.

It seemed Xia Qianjun wanted to leave, but Ji Guoguo stopped him, and it appeared there was a verbal conflict between them as they left.

However, based on Zhang Wei’s understanding of Xia Qianjun, he definitely would not attack civilians, especially not lay a hand on women.

So, it was very likely that the situation at that time was Ji Guoguo unilaterally overpowering Xia Qianjun, with Xia Qianjun unable to break free.

"Zhang Wei, how does it look?"

"This is a bit tricky..."

Facing Xia Qianyue’s inquiry, Zhang Wei showed a hint of helplessness.

Without footage of the incident on the surveillance and the waitresses unable to provide valid testimony, there was no evidence.

Once you lose a strong eyewitness and testimony, a case of a man harassing a woman has to rely on the parties involved to prove their innocence.

In such situations, women are often the advantaged party.

Female victims typically only need to show up in court, turn on the waterworks or act a bit, and they can usually move the jury.

Once the jury feels sympathy for the victim, the direction of the court becomes one-sided.

"Here’s my contact information; if any customer remembers what happened that day, they can get in touch with me!"

Zhang Wei left a number for the male waiter and left, somewhat disappointed.

The male waiter could only sigh in helplessness, unable to ask Zhang Wei for advice.

However, after he returned to his workstation, he hesitated for a moment but still called Xiao Zhu over.

"Xiao Zhu, how about I treat you to coffee tonight?"

"Ah, having coffee?"

"Oh, we’re not having coffee. How about going to see a movie together? Actually, I have a pretty good impression of you," he said.

"Brother Liu, I know you’re a good person, but we’re really not compatible, and I’m just working here temporarily without any plans to date..."

Hearing Xiao Zhu’s response, the male waiter Brother Liu’s face finally couldn’t hold back any longer.

"If it were the guy who came last weekend, I might consider it..."

However, Xiao Zhu muttered softly, her cheeks flushing as she walked away.

Indeed, only with good looks can one have a good meal!

Brother Liu’s heart was somewhat shattered.

He thought of Zhang Wei again—even with his unimpressive looks, how did he manage to attract two girls?

If Zhang Wei knew, he would certainly laugh and say to Brother Liu, "Dude, I attract women with my talent!"

...

In Chengbei District, at Qingmu Law Firm.

While Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue were looking for clues, Li Qingmu was also pondering countermeasures.

"I had Qingmu’s investigators ask the coffee shop’s staff at that time and also reviewed the surveillance footage, but unfortunately, there was nothing gained; there were also no eyewitnesses, so there’s no way to clear your name with evidence!"

"But it’s okay, even without eyewitnesses, we can still clear your name by self-verification. So I asked you to make a list cousin, and pick out people who can vouch for your character as your character witnesses!"

Li Qingmu was speaking with Xia Qianjun, who had already written down a dozen names on paper.

"Uncle, I really haven’t done anything; why do I have to go through so much effort to explain myself for something like this?"

"I know you didn’t do anything, but the other party is intent on making a big deal out of it," Li Qingmu said helplessly.

William International was dead set on publicizing this issue, and if necessary, they would even spread news of it worldwide.

"We just need to do our part. How’s the list of your character witnesses coming along?"

"I’ve listed everyone familiar with me, and as you requested, I even went through all my acquaintances at the War Department."

"That’s good. Although the War Department is at a distance from us, for this case, we still need to leverage its reputation!"

As Li Qingmu said this, he picked up the list and began to sift through the names one by one.

"Gao Yang and Luo Qi, they are..."

"They’re two of my fellow soldiers who went through life and death moments with me. We were all in the same team at the War Department!"

Seeing Xia Qianjun say this, Li Qingmu shook his head: "They won’t do!"

"Why not?"

"Because, as you said, you’ve been through life-and-death experiences together. The opposing lawyers will definitely use this point to criticize and say their testimony can’t be trusted!"

"There’s also a junior in my team who is two enlistments younger than us; we have a good relationship!"

"Did you save his life too?"

"Yes!"

"This..."

Li Qingmu was at a loss for words for a moment. His nephew certainly had quite the capability—during his missions at the War Department, he had saved so many lives.

But here was the issue: if you saved them, the opposition might argue that you have a life-saving grace over them, which could lead them to give false testimony!

"Are there any women, do you know any women at the War Department?"

"There are only a few liaison officers, but I’ve only heard their voices and hardly ever met them in person!"

"This..."

Li Qingmu was speechless. My dear nephew, with your qualifications, is there really no woman in the War Department interested in you?

No way, no way. Could it be that your sexual orientation is in question?

Li Qingmu felt a headache coming on. Though these character witnesses could attest to Xia Qianjun’s character, because he had saved their lives, they weren’t the most suitable character witnesses.

"How long have you been in the special combat unit?"

"Less than a month!"

"Then that won’t work either, the time is too short to serve as a character witness. Besides teammates from the same operational team at the War Department, do you have anyone else who knows you?"

"Someone who knows me... Does a psychologist count? The War Department arranges for a psychologist to counsel us every quarter."

"That could work; give me the name and contact information, and I’ll arrange for someone to get in touch!"

When Xia Qianjun mentioned the psychologist, Li Qingmu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At last, a reliable one came up. Let’s go with this person.