Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 91 - 90 You Are the Clowns, the True Culprit Has Confessed (Alliance Hierarch Added - 4)

Chapter 91: Chapter 90 You Are the Clowns, the True Culprit Has Confessed (Alliance Hierarch Added Chapter 4)

(Today, a massive 40,000 words have been released, Alliance Hierarch’s additional updates are completed, and this time there really is no more...)

...

Following the first trial of Zhang Wei, when Prosecutor Tan Yingying was summoned.

After so many days, Zhang Wei once again summoned a prosecutor to the trial scene.

And this person was none other than Prosecutor Xiao Baihe from the Procuratorate Headquarters.

Her appearance caused an uproar in the court.

Everyone looked at Zhang Wei and Xiao Baihe with strange, astonished, and puzzled eyes.

How dare this kid?

Summoning a prosecutor from the Procuratorate Headquarters, are you sure you have summoned the right witness?

But you really are audacious.

We have seen so many trials, but never have we seen a lawyer from Dongfang Capital with your kind of gutsy move!

The entire court was shocked by Zhang Wei’s maneuver.

In the defense’s seat, Li Qinghe’s gaze was vacant, Lawyer Zhuo’s mouth was wide open, and the two defendants were staring at Zhang Wei in stunned silence.

In their hearts, they all cried out in unison, isn’t this script wrong?

In the prosecution’s seat, Fang Wenbin was also stunned for a moment, because he had not anticipated this turn of events.

He knew Xiao Baihe would appear in the courtroom, but he did not expect her to testify, and especially not as a witness for the defense.

"Objection!"

Although Fang Wenbin did not understand what Zhang Wei had in mind, that did not prevent him from expressing his opposition.

"Judge Qi, the witness that Zhang Wei has summoned is irrelevant to this case. I even suspect that Prosecutor Xiao Baihe has never been briefed on this case, let alone investigated it. What’s the point of summoning her to testify then?"

"Fang Wenbin is right, both of you come up here!"

Judge Qi nodded and beckoned Zhang Wei and Fang Wenbin with a gesture.

Behind them, Lawyer Zhuo also wanted to stand up, but Judge Qi’s glare sent him sinking back into his seat.

His look implied: You just stay there and wait for the verdict.

Judge Qi looked at Zhang Wei and asked, "Lawyer Zhang, what do you mean?"

"Your Honor, the defense has compelling reasons to summon Prosecutor Xiao Baihe. She holds evidence that is critical to the judgment of this case, and it can even be said that this evidence could help us understand the true nature of this case!"

"Hmph, what a joke!"

After hearing this, Fang Wenbin let out a scoff, "You say you have evidence, then why have I not seen it on the published list of exhibits? You’re a lawyer too, you should be aware of the publication rules, right?"

"I am of course aware of that, but this piece of evidence was obtained from an overnight interrogation by Prosecutor Xiao Baihe and Captain Wu Yong of the Martial Association Serious Crime Team 7. The defense was unable to update the exhibit list in time, please understand," Zhang Wei explained.

Understand, my foot!

Fang Wenbin was no newbie, and of course, he did not believe Zhang Wei’s excuse.

Even he himself often used this kind of "tactic" to launch a surprise on the defense, catching them off guard.

Now you’re using this tactic in front of me; isn’t this teaching grandma to suck eggs?

"You, don’t think you can fool me with these tactics..."

"Stop!"

Fang Wenbin wanted to say more, but Judge Qi cut him off.

After interrupting Fang Wenbin, Judge Qi looked at Zhang Wei with a mildly puzzled expression, "You just mentioned overnight interrogation, they were investigating their case, what does that have to do with this case, unless you have actually caught..."

At this point, Judge Qi suddenly paused as a thought flashed through his mind.

"Your Honor, haven’t you guessed it already? I ask that for the sake of my client’s innocence, please consider my request very, very carefully!"

Seeing that the judge had caught on, Zhang Wei spoke again, emphasizing "carefully" three times.

Seeing Zhang Wei’s obvious warning, Judge Qi felt a headache coming on.

This kid couldn’t have really caught the criminal, could he?

No way, no way...

To bet or not to bet on whether he’s bluffing?

If I were still young, maybe I could afford a mistake.

But I might retire next year, and this is my last case. If it fails, wouldn’t that ruin my reputation at the last minute...

No judge wants to make a huge mistake in the last trial of their career, as it would be a stain they carry to the grave.

Judge Qi doesn’t want such an outcome either.

Seeing the judge hesitating, Fang Wenbin hurriedly spoke up, "Judge Qi, this guy is clearly talking nonsense. You shouldn’t listen to what he’s saying..."

"This court allows it!"

However, Judge Qi didn’t listen to Fang Wenbin but chose to agree.

"Judge Qi, you..."

"I’ve said it, this court allows it!"

Fang Wenbin opened his mouth, but seeing Judge Qi’s firm attitude, he could only return to the prosecutor’s seat, his face seething with anger.

"Thank you, Judge Qi, for your understanding!" Zhang Wei nodded to the judge and then Xiao Baihe took the stand.

The testimony began.

"Witness, although I know who you are, please introduce yourself to the jury and everyone in the courtroom."

"My name is Xiao Baihe, and I am a prosecutor in the serious crime division at Dongfang Capital Procuratorate Headquarters."

"Thank you for your cooperation, witness. Could you now explain to everyone why, as a defense attorney, I invited a prosecutor from the Procuratorate Headquarters to testify in court?"

As Zhang Wei spoke, he passed the floor to Xiao Baihe in front of him.

She nodded and spoke in a cool voice:

"Last night, we arrested the criminal suspects Sun Taishan and his girlfriend and conducted overnight interrogations. So far, we have made significant progress..."

"Sorry to interrupt, although I don’t like to interrupt the witness, I have to ask on behalf of everyone present: What does this Sun Taishan have to do with this case?"

Zhang Wei saw the confusion shared by all and posed the question knowingly.

Xiao Baihe didn’t pause but nodded and continued, "Based on the intelligence we currently have and the results of the interrogation, Sun Taishan is the principal criminal suspect in the robbery case at Fuyu Road Fugui Jewelry Store, and his girlfriend is an accomplice. They robbed Fugui Jewelry Store at 11:30 PM on the Thursday before last and also assaulted the owner, Wang Fugui!"

Upon this revelation, the courtroom was in an uproar.

The two defendants sitting at the defense table weren’t the robbers?

We’re still conducting a trial here, and the Procuratorate Headquarters has already arrested the real culprit?

The real culprit has been apprehended?

"Impossible!"

From the prosecution’s table, Fang Wenbin slammed his hands on the desk and stood up abruptly, his large frame showing a mix of shock and confusion.

He had never anticipated that Xiao Baihe would release such information.

Wasn’t this a blatant slap in his face?

Xiao Baihe looked at Fang Wenbin’s dramatic reaction and felt a twinge of vengeful satisfaction.

Serves him right!

He had it coming for not listening to her.

That’s what he gets for showing off and acting all high and mighty.

He was told to be careful of Zhang Wei, but instead of listening, he even kicked her out of the office. Did he ever consider the consequences of being embarrassed like this?

"Objection, hearsay evidence!"

On the other side, Lawyer Zhuo stood up instinctively, while Li Qinghe, though looking shocked, did not stop him.

"Objection?"

Zhang Wei, anticipating this, still feigned confusion.

"Lawyer Zhuo, Lawyer Li, what exactly are you objecting to?"

Zhang Wei looked at the two as if watching clowns, mocking, "The Procuratorate Headquarters has helped the case by arresting the real criminal; isn’t that a good thing? Why such strong reactions?"

"Would you two please think it through? If the real culprit has been arrested and confessed, our clients would be exonerated, right?"

While the logic was sound, Lawyer Zhuo instinctively sat back down, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t the outcome he wanted.

Li Qinghe felt the same. Although catching the real culprit could clear Wang Xi’s suspicion, following the "normal" procedure, Wang Xi wouldn’t be considered a suspect, right?

Lawyer Zhuo and Li Qinghe exchanged glances, both feeling somewhat uneasy.

They couldn’t understand why they felt this way; perhaps it was seeing Zhang Wei and Xiao Baihe play a duo in court while they became the jesters in their adversary’s eyes that irked them.

Prosecutor Xiao Baihe dropped a bombshell that completely threw the courtroom into chaos.

The real culprit had been caught, and the revelation was a thunderbolt from a clear sky, shocking many people to the core.

"Oppose!"

Li Qinghe’s side stopped opposing, but Fang Wenbin immediately raised an objection to their proposal.

"The prosecution opposes?"

Although Zhang Wei had anticipated this, he couldn’t help but ask.

"That’s right, I oppose!"

Fang Wenbin stood his ground, looking toward the bench: "These are all hearsay evidence, unsupported by actual physical evidence. The testimony of the witness is currently one-sided, and the prosecution believes it should not be admitted as evidence!"

"Hahaha, Prosecutor Fang’s reaction is really not beyond my expectations..."

Zhang Wei laughed. Though his laughter was not loud, the mocking tone on his face was quite evident.

"Even at this point, do you still think your actions are just, or do you disregard the truth for the sake of your own face?"

Zhang Wei did not give him a chance to counter in court, but instead nodded to Xiao Baihe to proceed.

"Prosecutor Fang, you claim that my testimony is merely rumors, so now I will show you the evidence!"

As she spoke, Xiao Baihe produced a USB drive: "This is the video recording of the real culprit confessing to his crimes during our overnight interrogation. If the court permits, we can play it right here!"

"Oppose, the evidence was not included in the public exhibit list!"

Fang Wenbin continued to object, even though he was already panicking inside, but he pretended to be calm.

In his heart, he probably already accepted that this case was doomed.

But the idea of being made a fool of by a rookie lawyer was something he just couldn’t accept!

"Opposing again?"

Zhang Wei once again looked at Fang Wenbin with a mocking gaze. Fang’s current behavior was the last struggle of a powerless person, still trying to put up a fight!

"Your Honor, this video evidence has already been admitted as an exhibit, but not in this case. It was in a case filed overnight by the Procuratorate Headquarters’ Serious Crime Department, to prosecute Sun Taishan for his crimes. I believe that a criminal’s own confession about the crime is solid proof. In the video, he has admitted without reservation to robbing the Fuyu Road Fugui Jewelry Store. Therefore, I think our current trial is completely unnecessary, isn’t it?"

"This..." Judge Qi looked at Fang Wenbin, then at Zhang Wei.

"Sigh, what is this Fang Wenbin doing? Is he ruining his late career?"

He shook his head inwardly, but his expression remained the same: "The court believes that this video can be admitted as evidence. Since you all say so, let’s show it to everyone!"

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Honor!"

Zhang Wei expressed his gratitude, took the USB drive from Xiao Baihe’s hand, and began operating the courtroom’s projector to play the video.

In the video, a scene from the interrogation room appeared.

Sun Taishan was being interrogated by Captain Wu Yong and Tamu, with Wu Yong asking questions and Tamu creating psychological pressure with his presence.

"Come clean, were you the ones who robbed on Fuyu Road?"

"Don’t think about denying it, your girlfriend has pretty much spilled the beans. If I were you, I’d do myself a favor and confess everything. Then, I could talk to the Procuratorate and get your sentence reduced."

"Of course you could choose not to confess, and then there’s no need for you to do so after your girlfriend tells everything. She might only get three years, but you’ll be facing 10 to 15 years in prison. It’s your choice!"

"Sun Taishan, will you speak or not?"

Facing the interrogation from Wu Yong, the intimidation from Tamu on the side, and understanding the character of his girlfriend, Sun Taishan finally couldn’t bear the pressure, and his psychological defenses crumbled.

"I’ll talk, I’ll confess, I’ll confess everything!"

"The Fugui Jewelry Store on Fuyu Road was indeed robbed by us. I came from the north to seek refuge in Dongfang Capital two months ago, and settled in the Chengbei District. Originally, when I thought of seeking refuge in Dongfang Capital, I had no plans for this robbery."

"Then one day, while drinking at the New Trend Bar not far from where I lived, I overheard someone discussing rings at the bar. That immediately caught my attention."

"Later, I eavesdropped on that man’s phone conversation and even secretly followed him, only to find out he had a girlfriend who worked at a jewelry store."

Wu Yong raised his hand, interrupting: "Stop, let me interrupt for a moment, are you talking about the man named Kong Hang?"

"Yes!" Sun Taishan nodded, continuing his account.

"That man plays in a bar band, spending days either at the bar or his place, and occasionally visiting his girlfriend. So, it was easy for me to track him down to the jewelry store. I also discovered that the security at the jewelry store was weak, especially the old store owner—he was seen as an easy mark by people in our line of work. The only real challenge was the safe’s combination, but I had a contingency for that."

"After over a month of surveillance, I came up with a detailed and meticulous plan. For this plan, I even purposefully handed them a travel voucher for Nandao, since I guessed the couple didn’t have much money. They were overjoyed to receive it, blissfully unaware that they had fallen into a trap!"

"I was seated next to them on the plane, able to keep an eye on them at all times, including the woman unlocking her phone. When they were asleep, I stole the woman’s phone, cracked the password, and obtained half of the safe’s combination. The other half wasn’t a problem for me, as that old fool always kept the combination on a piece of paper."

"When the couple returned, I knew the man was going out to meet his ex-girlfriend to discuss getting back a ring, so I knew the time was right for action..."

Hearing what Sun Taishan said in the video, Wang Xi in the defendant’s seat couldn’t hold it in any longer.

She raised her head and looked at Kong Hang with disbelief in her eyes, tinged with a hint of apology.

What Kong Hang had said was actually true—he had visited his ex-girlfriend indeed to ask for the ring back.

Kong Hang noticed Wang Xi’s gaze, turned his head, and exchanged a glance with her.

He nodded slightly, everything understood without being spoken.

The video continued.

"My plan was perfect, I even considered the old man sleeping in the room. I’m best at preparing exits, so when the old man woke up, we improvised and had my girlfriend shout Kong Hang’s name to frame him."

As Sun Taishan said this, a smug look appeared on his face, "It was quite a coincidence, the prosecutor who brought the charges was exactly as I expected, misled by the evidence I deliberately faked, and he really thought it was that idiot who robbed the jewelry store."

"Don’t get cocky, keep confessing. The stupidity of Chengbei District’s prosecutor has nothing to do with you!" Wu Yong hastily cut off Sun Taishan’s speech.

In the prosecutor’s bench, Fang Wenbin couldn’t sit still any longer.

Many people around looked at him as if they were looking at an idiot.

They must be thinking, "Look, even the real culprit is ridiculing you; can’t you see the writing on the wall?"

If you’re not the idiot, then who is?

Fang Wenbin’s face burned with embarrassment and his heart was filled with both anger and hatred, yet he was unable to express it.

It was truly unbearable~

In the end, the video showed Sun Taishan confessing to everything.

He was responsible for planning and robbing, whereas his girlfriend handled fencing the goods.

And according to his confession, his girlfriend was a habitual thief, quite familiar with jewelry. She had also disguised herself as a customer to scout out the jewelry store several times before, so she knew very well which jewelry was valuable and which was not.

This also explained why only the valuable jewelry had been taken from the scene and why the robbers didn’t even glance at the less valuable pieces.

The video ended, but the shock it brought lingered on.

"Your Honor, members of the jury, and everyone in the audience, as you all have seen, the suspect Sun Taishan has confessed to all his crimes of robbing the jewelry store. I believe you too understand that the trial of this court no longer holds any meaning, right?"

Zhang Wei said, looking toward Fang Wenbin.

The latter opened his mouth but knew that it was already too late.

Unless he could have known about this earlier and withdrawn the case, but being pointed out in court, it was already too late to remedy!

Thud, thud, thud!

"Order in the court!" Judge Qi, seeing the commotion in the courtroom, couldn’t help but bang his gavel to interrupt.

After a moment of deep thought, he announced, "Given the irrefutable evidence submitted by Dongfang Capital Procuratorate Headquarters, this court hereby dismisses the case and would like to extend an apology to the defendants Wang Xi and Kong Hang for the wrongs they have suffered."

As he spoke, he looked at Fang Wenbin with a complex gaze that conveyed a multitude of meanings.

"That will be all, this court is adjourned!"

Following Judge Qi’s pronouncement, the trial officially came to an end.

Fang Wenbin didn’t say a word from beginning to end and didn’t even notice the courtroom descending into noise after Judge Qi’s decision was announced.

In the audience, many people stood up, the jury members began to leave, and the defendants Kong Hang and Wang Xi suddenly embraced each other. Wang Xi’s father, Wan Hai, his eyes full of regret, kept apologizing to Kong Hang.

Li Qinghe and Lawyer Zhuo looked uncomfortable, but seeing Wang Xi found not guilty, they also felt a bit of relief in their hearts.

Only Fang Wenbin became the clown at this moment.

"Prosecutor Fang, shouldn’t I have warned you about how formidable Zhang Wei is?"

It was at this moment that Xiao Baihe came to him and reminded him with a cold voice.

"He..." Fang Wenbin looked at Xiao Baihe, then at Zhang Wei, but was unable to say a word.

"You made a mistake, which is underestimating him. He is the one who has beaten our Procuratorate Headquarters three times in a row!"

"Beaten the Procuratorate Headquarters three times, is he the one from that Wang Yuqing case...?"

"Realizing it now, don’t you think it’s too late?"

Fang Wenbin was filled with regret, indeed, as Xiao Baihe said.

Too late!

Everything was too late...

Because the sky had fallen!