"I'm defending Duan Feipeng and Du Ze for..."

As he spoke, he paused slightly and then continued:

"Sentence reduction defense!"

Sentence reduction defense?

Is this what he really wants to say!?

In that instant.

In the plaintiff's seat, Xu Liang squinted slightly but did not speak, quietly observing the other's performance instead.

At this moment, Zhang Hao continued:

"In the first trial, the court ruled that Duan Feipeng and Du Ze caused the victim's death due to intentional murder."

"However, after further investigation, I found that on the night of December 6, at 8 PM, the accused did not intentionally kill but instead..."

Saying this, Zhang Hao continued:

"Accidental death!"

Accidental death?

At that moment, the scene was somewhat uproarious.

Intentional murder and accidental death both result in someone's death, but the judgments are worlds apart!

Moreover.

Given the circumstances at the scene, how could there be an accidental death!?

Shi Shan furrowed his brows.

He had also seen the surveillance footage provided by Xu Liang, and the scene was clearly a deliberate murder!

Shi Shan promptly spoke in a deep voice:

"Defense, please present your evidence."

Zhang Hao nodded, swallowed nervously, and instinctively glanced at those eyes.

To be honest.

He indeed found a slight breakthrough.

But the problem is, once he spoke out... it would surely invite a lot of criticism!

And not just any criticism!

But there's no choice.

Since he's a defense lawyer, he must adhere to professional ethics. Otherwise, giving up now would surely deserve scorn...

With this thought, Zhang Hao furrowed his brows, organizing his thoughts, and then began to speak smoothly.

"Honorable presiding judge."

"In the first trial, the evidence presented by the plaintiff showed that Jianghai, Du Ze, and Duan Feipeng killed the victim at 'Osmanthus Avenue'."

"But, after my review, I discovered something, and that is..."

Zhang Hao gradually got into the groove; he's best at finding flaws in details.

The current case, though his point was a bit far-fetched, was still a potential breakthrough!

"The accused's motive for murder!"

With furrowed brows, Zhang Hao opened his mouth:

"From the beginning to the end of the video."

"Due to the pixel issues, the lip movements of both parties are unclear, so it's only visible that the accused killed someone at the first murder scene and then disposed of the corpse."

"After the first trial, I conducted a thorough inquiry of the accused and ultimately found that..."

"The reason the accused assaulted the victim was that they believed the deceased was..."

Saying this.

Zhang Hao paused slightly and uttered an unexpected word.

"Stealing!"

Steal... stealing?

Everyone at the scene was bewildered.

Shi Shan furrowed his brows.

Xu Liang squinted with interest, observing the other party.

Zhang Hao continued:

"On December 6, 2004, at eight in the evening, Duan Feipeng passed by Osmanthus Avenue."

"During this time, he saw a shadow at the back door of the bakery, acting suspiciously, searching for something."

"At the same time, this shadow was holding some of the expensive bread from inside the bakery."

"So, the three of them believed the person was committing theft!"

Theft...

Which means...

"Defense."

Shi Shan furrowed his brow, contemplatively speaking:

"Are you implying that the first victim appeared at the crime scene as a thief?"

A thief?

Was the victim a thief?

"No, what I mean is that, in Duan Feipeng's eyes, the victim was a thief!"

Zhang Hao directly refuted.

"And precisely due to this perspective, the three were misled and concluded he was a thief."

"Then, the three approached with the intention of driving the thief away, forcing him to give up stealing!"

"But due to inconsistent information between both parties, a conflict arose, followed by mutual assault, escalating the conflict!"

"Ultimately leading to the accidental death of the victim!"

From this perspective.

The general logic seems to work.

But...

Holding someone's head and beating them with a stick, can that also be accidental death?!

Xu Liang's eyelids lowered but he didn't speak, continuing to listen.

Under the gaze of many eyes, Zhang Hao pressed on, continuing:

"After repeatedly watching the video."

"I discovered one thing, and that is that the deceased... indeed committed an act of theft!"

Does this constitute theft!?

In an instant.

Everyone inexplicably felt a rush of anger, glaring at Zhang Hao.

Including Presiding Judge Shi Shan, whose gaze at Zhang Hao was extremely sharp.

He said in a deep voice:

"Defendant, do you have any basis for your claim?"

"Yes."

"Please, Your Honor, could you freeze the surveillance video as presented by the plaintiff during the first trial, at the exact time of the incident, at 7:45:23 in the evening!"

Zhang Hao spoke; he had memorized these details long ago.

Upon hearing this.

After Shi Shan's permission, the clerk began to rewind the video presented in the first trial.

Soon, the specified time mentioned by the other party was displayed!

This was when the deceased was being beaten by Duan Feipeng!

The scene was full of signs of a struggle, with trash cans knocked over.

"Could you please zoom in on the trash can lying on the ground?"

Zhang Hao made a request.

The clerk followed his instructions and zoomed in.

This trash can was privately purchased by the shop owner; otherwise, the garbage truck couldn't even get there, and there were hardly any residents, so city management wouldn't place a trash can there.

It was just a similar appearance.

But...

"Everyone, please note, there's a warning label on the trash can!"

Zhang Hao suddenly pointed out something and spoke up.

Everyone looked in the direction of his voice.

And saw, on the surface of the trash can, conspicuously stuck was a..... stark black and white piece of paper.

Even though it was soaked in dirty water and the surveillance pixel was blurry, the writing on it was still legible.

The words read...

[DO NOT TOUCH!!!]

"Honorable Judge."

"According to Article 207 of the Civil Code and the theory of property rights, the abandonment of ownership requires both a subjective intent to abandon and an objective loss of control over the item."

"Clearly, the prohibition against others touching it indicates that ownership of the items inside this bin was never transferred."

"Moreover, the location of the trash can is at the back door of the bakery's kitchen!"

"In terms of location, and the signage, the items in the trash can still belong to the bakery!"

Zhang Hao finished saying these words in one breath.

Finally, he delivered his conclusion.

"So, on December 6th, 2004, at 7:30 in the evening."

"From a legal perspective, the deceased infringed upon the interests of the bakery, committing an act akin to theft."

"It is for this reason that the subsequent conflict between the defendant and the deceased occurred, ultimately leading to death."

"The defendant, at the first crime scene, had no intent to deliberately harm and should be reclassified as causing death by accident..."

Bakery, and even some large dining establishments' private trash cans often carry such signage.

The reason is to absolve themselves of liability.

If someone got sick from scavenging, they could not claim against these businesses.

As long as ownership was not transferred.

Then, legally, this trash did not count as refuse and remained private property.

Zhang Hao intended to use this point to change the cause of the first victim's death from premeditated murder to accidental death.

It's indeed possible.

Some might even say, if the charge of premeditated murder was removed... Du Ze might have his sentence changed to a reprieve!

But...

The manner seemed somewhat unsightly.

In an instant.

The entire High Court trial scene fell silent, an indescribable atmosphere pervading everyone's hearts.

Very quiet, eerily so.

Until.

Shi Shan took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.

He turned his head, looking coldly at the plaintiff.

"Plaintiff, do you have a response to the defendant's above statement?"

He was a judge.

A public judge, he had to restrain himself, despite his anger; otherwise, it would be unfair in the eyes of the law.

Xu Liang, however, didn't have to.

"Yes."

He coldly replied with a single word.

Then, Xu Liang glared at Zhang Hao, his anger turning into a smile, taking a deep breath, and asked sternly:

"Defendant, I would like to ask you a few questions."

After finishing his words.

Regardless of whether the other party agreed or not, Xu Liang's expression shifted, speaking solemnly:

"What you mean is."

"The deceased, while sated with Guanyin Earth, went out, fought with stray dogs over food, only to scour the trash bin for a few pieces of moldy bread, in your eyes..."

"Is theft!?"

Xu Liang stared intently into Zhang Hao's eyes.

His voice was incredibly loud, echoing in everyone's ears.

"Please answer me directly!!!"

...

ps: Do you have any votes, any votes awa