Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 522 - 517 Yang Chunyuan’s Self-Proof, The Prosecution’s Cross-Examination

Chapter 522: Chapter 517 Yang Chunyuan’s Self-Proof, The Prosecution’s Cross-Examination

Thursday, the day of the hearing.

The weather was clear and sunny.

It was indeed a good day.

In the defendant’s preparation room of Dongfang Capital’s city court.

"The current situation is as such, we can prepare to enter the courtroom now."

Zhang Wei told his client, Yang Chunyuan, a few reminders in the preparation room, then gestured for everyone to head to the courtroom.

Yang Chunyuan naturally had no objections.

Mo Yuzhu, who was also in the preparation room, nodded, then followed Zhang Wei out with an excited expression.

Inside the criminal court.

Mo Juren had already arrived early and was now sitting in the first row of the auditorium, in the position closest to the defense.

Clearly, he also wanted to attend the trial today to witness the end of the case.

He, too, felt worried about his family members, including Yang Chunyuan.

As Zhang Wei led Yang Chunyuan and Mo Yuzhu into the courtroom, Mo Juren stood up immediately, nodded at Zhang Wei, and then gave Yang Chunyuan a meaningful look.

The couple briefly made eye contact, but then quickly averted their gazes from each other.

Zhang Wei and his party took their seats at the defense bench, while on the neighboring bench for the prosecution, Zheng Fenyong had already taken his seat.

After a few minutes, Black arrived with the plaintiff, Mr. Li.

"Prosecutor Zheng, are we going to defeat Zhang Wei today?"

As soon as he sat down, Black was very excited.

After all, today was supposed to be the final hearing.

Both the defense and prosecution had already summoned all witnesses who could testify in court.

Now, only the defendant for the defense was left.

If Yang Chunyuan were to testify, she would speak first, followed by Prosecutor Zheng’s cross-examination.

In Black’s understanding, all Prosecutor Zheng needed to do was to perform as usual, catch Yang Chunyuan’s inconsistencies, and then victory was in sight.

And Prosecutor Zheng, as a senior prosecutor from the Southern District General Procuratorate, definitely had the capability for that.

Black could already picture, after Zhang Wei let Yang Chunyuan take the stand to testify for herself, the defendant becoming speechless under Prosecutor Zheng’s cross-examination, and even breaking down in tears in court.

If they followed this process, wasn’t it a sure win!

However, Zheng Fenyong, sitting nearby, seemed to sense Black’s thoughts and, seeing the other’s confident eyes, shook his head internally.

He had a feeling that Zhang Wei’s decision to summon Zhang Tianlong’s secretary yesterday would bring unexpected changes to today’s trial.

Of course, that was his speculation, his intuition.

He couldn’t imagine how a city council’s secretary could affect this case.

Was it possible that Zhang Wei had run out of options and was trying to drag Zhang Tianlong into the mess, forcing the city court to drop the case?

Even though Zheng Fenyong was experienced, he couldn’t guess what Zhang Wei was really up to.

The only outcome he could guess was the case being dropped.

Drop the case, in your dreams!

Yet Zheng Fenyong was not panicked at all.

He had fought a hundred battles, been a prosecutor for nearly 30 years, and faced countless major and minor cases. How could he let a young man like Zhang Wei succeed?

"I want to see what you can do today!"

Thinking this, Zheng Fenyong’s face immediately turned solemn, losing any interest in exchanging pleasantries with Black.

As time drew near, the moment to commence the hearing finally arrived.

"All rise!"

Under the announcement of the Court Guard, Judge Liu strode into the courtroom.

As soon as he sat down on the judge’s bench, his gaze quickly swept across the entire room.

Zhang Wei, Zheng Fenyong, and others were all present.

Judge Liu ensured there were no absences among the jury, then hammered down to declare:

"This court announces that the third formal hearing by the Southern District General Procuratorate against Ms. Yang Chunyuan will now begin..."

After the announcement, Judge Liu looked towards Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei straightened his collar and stood up to declare, "Judge Liu, and everyone in the court, I call the defendant Ms. Yang Chunyuan to the stand to testify on her own behalf!"

When everyone in the venue heard this witness, they showed no surprise and a hint of understanding.

The defendant was going to testify on her own behalf, which meant what? It meant the case was finally about to end.

All eyes in the venue turned to the witness stand, where Yang Chunyuan had already taken her seat.

Zhang Wei also stood up and approached the witness stand.

"Hello, Forensic Yang."

"Hello, Lawyer Zhang."

The two of them had exchanged greetings.

"Forensic Yang, I know that you have been under a lot of pressure these past few days, but rest assured, if you have any grievances, you can speak freely. Judge Liu and I will see justice done!"

From the bench, Judge Liu’s eyes suddenly widened.

You, Zhang Wei, can decide on it all by yourself, so why drag me into it? I, Xiao Liu, am not that influential.

"Well, I’ve actually been quite fine recently, just taking it as a holiday," she said.

"I can see that!"

Zhang Wei looked at Yang Chunyuan’s forced smile and responded with a perfunctory one of his own.

"Then, let’s get back to the main topic, Ms. Yang. Let’s leave painful matters in the past."

Zhang Wei found his way back to the topic and asked, "The key point in this case is that 20 years ago, as a forensic technician in the forensic identification department, you conducted autopsy work on eight victims, including Dong Juan!"

"You didn’t find any clues on the first seven bodies, but suddenly, on Dong Juan’s body, to be precise inside her throat, you found a *hair from the suspect Mr. Li, is that correct?"

"Yes!" Yang Chunyuan nodded.

"It was this *hair that allowed you to extract the DNA of the suspect Mr. Li. The location of the item indicated that the eighth victim, Dong Juan, had most likely been assaulted by the suspect Mr. Li before she died. It can be said that it was this very *hair, which all men possess, that established your reputation as Dongfang Capital’s top medical examiner, isn’t that right?"

"I suppose so..."

Although Yang Chunyuan nodded, she felt something odd about Zhang Wei’s words.

What does he mean my achievement was all because of a *hair?

Even though it was true, it still felt somewhat inappropriate to hear.

"In fact, it was also this *hair that led to the current case!"

As Zhang Wei said this, he looked towards the jury and emphasized, "But I have already proven one point, and that is, someone tampered with the evidence, and that person is none other than Old Cao, also known as Forensic Dr. Cao, Forensic Yang’s colleague!"

"Before the case was prosecuted, he entered the archives by unconventional means and tampered with the evidence from that *hair, by sprinkling some pollen on it to interfere with the DNA sequencing, thus affecting the accuracy of the evidence!"

"It was his meddling that caused my client, Forensic Yang, to suffer such a grievous injustice. Without Old Cao’s meddling, my client might not even have appeared in this courtroom!"

Zhang Wei’s emphasis made several jurors nod in agreement.

It seemed to make sense.

After all, the contamination of the *hair with pollen was an indisputable fact that affected the DNA match results.

This point was already proven by Dr. Ding, who testified as an expert witness during the trial on Tuesday.

But, was the person who tampered with the evidence really Old Cao?

That matter hasn’t been determined yet, has it?

"Objection, hearsay evidence!"

"The defense is using suppositions to mislead the jury!"

As expected, Zheng Fenyong couldn’t sit still any longer and stood up to interrupt.

"Objection sustained!" Judge Liu naturally needed to make a ruling.

At the very least, he could not allow Zhang Wei to present a one-sided narrative in the courtroom.

He glared fiercely at Zhang Wei, but Zhang Wei’s smile remained unchanged, and he acted as if he hadn’t seen the warning.

Xiao Liu was young and impetuous; it was understandable.

Zhang Wei was not the type to be petty with the young!

If Judge Liu knew what Zhang Wei was thinking and that he had been classified as "young" in Zhang Wei’s eyes, he might have been so frustrated that he’d spit blood.

"Forensic Yang, during this recent period, you must have endured great suffering. Would you be willing to share with us your emotional journey?"

"Wouldn’t denying it make me seem utterly hypocritical?"

Yang Chunyuan gave a bitter smile and confessed, "The recent time can be said to be the low point of my life."

"I once dedicated my life to work, but in the end, I realized that although I gained a lot at work, I lost even more in life."

"My daughter, my husband, my relationship with them became very poor. For work, I could barely see my husband a few times a year, and as for sitting down to eat with him, that never even happened."

"In fact, if my daughter hadn’t chosen to be a forensic expert, I would have had even fewer encounters with her than with my husband."

"I found out that even if you dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to work, what you get in the end is merely superficial. What’s the use of being Dongfang Capital’s number one forensic expert?"

"I admit, when I first received that title, I was indeed quite pleased with myself. When I was chosen as the head of the First Forensic Office, I was truly excited and ready to make a big impact. However, I realized that no matter how hard I tried, crime is still crime, and our role as forensic practitioners isn’t to prevent crimes from happening but to assist in their investigation after they’ve occurred."

"I am glad to help the victims’ families find the murderer, but I would actually prefer it if people would think about the consequences in moments of rashness and avoid some of these tragedies."

"Really, compared to being busy with work, I wish I could have holidays every day, come home early from work, because that would mean that our forensic office didn’t receive any bodies that day, there was nowhere that needed our examination."

"Unfortunately, after working in the First Forensic Office for over twenty years, I’ve realized that this is just a vain hope. The investigative department has new bodies sent over every day, and they’re always pushing you to issue reports quickly. But the conditions of the deaths are so varied and bizarre that each one presents a challenge."

Yang Chunyuan said this and sighed deeply, "That’s why I end up leaving work after midnight nearly every day, and sometimes, to keep up with work, I have no choice but to stay in the lab, sleeping alongside the corpses."

"Because of this, I’ve neglected my family, my daughter, my husband."

"I think this case has helped me realize a lot, and the most important thing I’ve come to understand is that I can’t treat work as everything. Otherwise, I’ll lose what’s truly important in life!"

With that, Yang Chunyuan looked toward Mo Juren in the audience seat and then at Mo Yuzhu at the defense bench.

They are everything in her life!

Clap clap clap!

Applause suddenly erupted in the courtroom.

Zhang Wei couldn’t help but nod in approval and even began to clap his hands.

"Cough cough!"

Judge Liu hurriedly reminded them, and the applause then subsided.

"Forensic Yang, your speech was truly wonderful. I think both the jury and I can hear how tough you’ve had it!"

Many members of the jury nodded in agreement.

Yes, this woman really has had it tough, we are beginning to feel sympathy for you.

"Forensic Yang, I’d like to ask you, if you had a chance to do it all over again, would you give up becoming the number one forensic expert?"

Hearing Zhang Wei’s question, the courtroom went silent; all eyes turned to Yang Chunyuan.

She took a deep breath and then shook her head with a bitter smile, "No, I wouldn’t give up!"

"Oh, why is that? You clearly said that the title of the number one forensic expert is a shackle in your life, why wouldn’t you choose to give it up?"

"Because it’s also a duty!"

Yang Chunyuan spoke firmly and with seriousness on her face: "It is precisely because we are always on the front line that we can help the victims and their families, and bring the murderers to justice."

"Without the decisive evidence we provide, how could the investigative department catch the murderers, how could the Procuratorate’s Office prosecute them and send them to prison."

"It’s precisely because of our job responsibilities, going all out, that we can give the victims’ families closure!"

"We are on call 24 hours a day, constantly surrounded by corpses, for what? To serve justice for the victims’ families, to let the victims rest in peace, to judge the real murderers!"

"For these reasons, I will not give up this burden, I will not give up this responsibility."

As she spoke, Yang Chunyuan turned to Mo Juren in the front row of the audience and said, "Old Mo, I’m very sorry that I neglected the family because of work, but I hope you understand that I must shoulder this burden!"

Mo Juren nodded; his eyes showed only understanding and emotion, even shimmering with tears.

Who would have thought?

The couple had not sat down to talk for over a decade, yet at today’s trial, they were able to speak openly and honestly face to face.

This was, indeed, extremely difficult.

The deep eye contact between the husband and wife also moved many members of the jury and the audience.

Between family and duty, Yang Chunyuan chose duty, chose to bear the weight on her shoulders.

It could be said that she sacrificed a lot.

But her sacrifice was an account to the victims’ families, an account to the Dongfang Capital Penal System.

This sacrifice was finally seen by the jury.

If they put themselves in her shoes for a moment, they would realize that this sacrifice is not something ordinary people can endure.

If it were us, would we want to work late nights and weekends, spend our days with corpses, and barely see our families a few times a year?

Clearly, we couldn’t!

If we had such a job, we would prefer to quit sooner rather than later.

Over ninety percent of the audience seemed to understand the hardships Yang Chunyuan had endured.

The mood in the courtroom began to tilt towards the defense.

"Oh, playing the sympathy card, huh?"

From the prosecution’s bench, Zheng Fenyong was slightly surprised to see this turn of events.

But he had to admit, playing the sympathy card could be a good tactic too, compared to presenting some evidence.

Didn’t you see that most of the jury members were quite moved?

However, while the emotional approach has its advantages, it also has its disadvantages.

And once its shortcomings were exposed, it could lead to a devastating crash!

"Judge Liu, I have no more questions for my client!"

In the courtroom, Zhang Wei finished his questioning.

He stepped down from the stand, giving up the "stage."

"Very well, the prosecution may begin its cross-examination!"

Upon this reminder from Judge Liu, Zheng Fenyong rose to his feet and walked step by step toward the witness stand.

The entire courtroom tensed up again.

Mo Juren in the gallery and Mo Yuzhu at the defense bench both clenched their hands nervously and started praying inwardly.

"Forensic Yang, you spoke earlier about sacrifices, correct?"

Zheng Fenyong approached the witness stand and asked, "You said that you sacrificed your family for work, lost time to be with your loved ones?"

"Yes," Yang Chunyuan nodded.

"May I ask then, does your workplace mandate overtime?"

"That... overtime isn’t mandatory..."

"So, isn’t it true that if you really didn’t want to work overtime, you could choose not to?"

"But the work still needs to be done, and the forensic department is always rushing us."

"Then why not hire more people? Surely the First Forensic Laboratory isn’t short on funds?"

Zheng Fenyong spread his hands with a puzzled look, "Forensic Yang, you’ve been stressing the importance of your responsibilities. May I ask about the salary matters of the First Forensic Office?"

"Objection, irrelevant to the case!"

At this moment, Zhang Wei suddenly stood up to object.

"Judge Liu, it was Lawyer Zhang and his team who first made an issue of responsibilities and duties. So I should also be allowed to question the relationship between work and compensation, right?"

Zheng Fenyong seemed to have anticipated this, smoothly presenting his prepared argument.

"Hmm, objection overruled!"

After weighing the pros and cons, Judge Liu made a decision.

Zhang Wei reluctantly sat down.

"Forensic Yang, please tell me about the salary situation at the First Forensic Office?"

"In our First Forensic Office, the salary for forensic personnel is roughly around ten thousand or so, plus there are some bonuses and allowances each month. If the number of cases assisted in a single month is high, there will be additional overtime pay..."

Hearing what Yang Chunyuan had to say, Zheng Fenyong let out a cold laugh, "Forensic Yang, saying ’ten thousand or so’ is quite the understatement, isn’t it? There are bonuses and allowances as well, so why do they seem minor in your description?"

With that, Zheng Fenyong walked back to his seat and pulled a document from his briefcase.

"This document is a recent quarterly salary sheet from the First Forensic Office. In fact, the forensic personnel there earn more than 10,000 before taxes each month. If you include allowances and bonuses, it can even exceed 20,000. If we take into account the major component from the salary sheet, which is overtime pay, the salary can even approach 30,000!"

"Forensic Yang, when I asked why your office was so busy, why not hire new personnel, but after seeing this salary sheet, I suddenly understood."

Zheng Fenyong brandished the sheet in his hand and sneered, "If your office slowed down, would there be less overtime pay, fewer bonuses and allowances?"

"In the end, your so-called hardships are all for the sake of subsidies. With an income of several tens of thousands each month, sitting in the office every day, I’m starting to want to apply to your office."

Although his words were jesting, they left no one in the audience feeling cheerful.

Nobody had expected the First Forensic Office to have such good remuneration!

"Uh-oh, it’s all over!"

Zhang Wei, too, upon realizing the tactic of the prosecution, felt a sense of doom.

He had never anticipated that to counter his own strategy, Zheng Fenyong would have prepared such a move!

Brilliant!