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Chapter 1767: The Temptation of the North (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
Accidents happen everywhere, but some are tragedies.

Until now, Wang Jiahe, who is waiting for trial in the court, is still confused. Half a month has passed since the incident, and he still can't fully understand what happened. He only knows one thing - he is dead!

After all, in many cases, whoever dies is right.

Because of this, he even thought about pleading guilty if the punishment was not too severe.

Until the lawyer showed up at the jail and told him:
"Don't give up, you can win!"

A lawyer then helped him to go through the bail procedures so that he could meet with his family.

In the following time, Lawyer Song kept asking him about the details before and after the incident.

Now the court is finally about to begin.

While Wang Jiahe was waiting for trial, Song Yaozu had already arrived at the court. As soon as he got out of the car and walked up the stairs, he was surrounded by a group of reporters.

"Lawyer Song, Lawyer Song, I heard that you are going to defend the murderer's innocence, is that right?" a reporter asked loudly.

Song Yaozu stopped and responded calmly:
"Please be careful with your words. No one is guilty until trial. Besides, this was just an accident."

"Lawyer Song, do you think this tragedy was really an accident?" another reporter followed closely.

Song Yaozu smiled slightly, his tone firm:

"My client did not violate any law in any way. He was driving his car normally.
Unfortunately, the deceased opened the car door himself and jumped out of the high-speed car, which led to this tragedy.

The law protects law-abiding people, not who is right to die."

When answering reporters' questions, he did not mention issues such as the driver being hard of hearing and mishearing the destination.

I'll leave those details to the courts.

"Lawyer Song, do you think the deceased should be held responsible for his actions?"

Another reporter asked.

Song Yaozu nodded:
“Everyone is equal before the law. No matter who you are, if you do something dangerous, you should bear the corresponding responsibility.

My client is innocent. He was just driving normally, but he got into trouble because of the deceased's behavior.

This is undoubtedly a tragedy, but my client was not the one who caused it.”

The reporters wanted to continue asking questions, but Song Yaozu had already turned and walked towards the court gate. He knew that the next trial would be the real battlefield.

Inside the courtroom, the audience seats were already full. In addition to the deceased's family, there were also many reporters. Originally, this case was not very popular - a female passenger suddenly opened the door of a high-speed car and jumped out of the car, dying on the spot.

The media initially only reported it briefly, but because the case was so bizarre, it attracted widespread attention from the public and led to various controversies.

The case gained popularity when Song Yaozu applied for a court order prohibiting newspapers from using phrases such as "killer shall be killed" and conducting a "private court".

What was even more shocking was that Song Yaozu actually claimed that the defendant was not guilty. This move attracted widespread media attention, and reporters from newspapers of all sizes flocked to the scene, trying to catch this hot topic.

Judge Zhang Chengjun walked into the courtroom and everyone stood up. He glanced at the noisy courtroom, picked up the gavel and knocked it, saying in a deep voice:
"Quiet! From now on, any behavior that disrupts the court will be regarded as disrupting court order and will be subject to judicial action."

The courtroom immediately fell silent.

The prosecution first brought multiple charges against Wang Jiahe, including manslaughter.

SEAs are based on the Anglo-American legal system, where the criminal law divides homicide into murder and unpremeditated homicide. Second-degree murder refers to the intention to kill, but the killing is not premeditated or planned.

The district attorney charged the defendant with "second-degree murder," apparently considering that there was no evidence of intent to kill in this case. However, if convicted, the defendant could still be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

"Defendant's lawyer, you applied for a not guilty plea in your motion, right?"

Judge Zhang Chengjun looked at Song Yaozu and asked.

"Yes, Your Honor." Song Yaozu stood up and said firmly.
“My client was driving normally at the time, and the deceased suddenly opened the door and jumped out of the car while the vehicle was moving at high speed.

Any normal person could not foresee that a passenger would jump out of a car traveling at over 80 kilometers per hour;

Any normal person would not jump out of a car traveling at over 80 kilometers per hour unless they feel any safety threat.

Moreover, according to the assessment of the traffic appraisal department, the speed at that time was likely to have reached 100km/h.

How could a normal person jump out of a car like this?

I therefore consider that the deceased's death was entirely due to her own conduct - she deserved it."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a commotion in the audience. Some people stood up and cursed loudly, and some even tried to rush to the dock.

The flash lights flashed, and the reporters were frantically recording the scene. The bailiffs quickly stepped forward to maintain order, and the judge banged the gavel again, warning the audience to keep quiet, and expelled two reporters who were taking pictures from the courtroom.

The trial continued. The prosecutor described the incident in detail, and Wang Jiahe sat in the dock, looking pale. Whenever he heard the description of the accident, the tragic scene of that night would emerge in his mind, and his heart was filled with pain and regret.

He should have held the other person back at that time. This was obviously impossible, just like the previous debate - it was impossible for him, who was sitting in the driver's seat, to reach out and harass the female passenger sitting behind the passenger seat.

This also eliminates the possibility of female passengers facing danger - a sane driver would not be distracted by harassing a female passenger sitting in the back seat when driving at a speed of up to 100km.

"…We must note that it was precisely because the defendant repeatedly ignored the cries of the deceased that this tragedy occurred, and all of this…"

"I protest!"

Song Yaozu suddenly interrupted the prosecutor's statement, "The prosecutor ignored a key fact in his statement - the cause of death was caused by jumping out of a moving car. The prosecutor should not mislead the jury."

After Song Yaozu received the support of the judge and asked the jury to ignore the prosecutor's inference, and after confirming that the prosecutor had no other questions, it was Song Yaozu's turn to question the witness.

After several questions, Song Yaozu took out a confession and said.

"This is the confession you made to the police, right?"

Song Yaozu then turned over his confession, asked his questions, and turned to the jury.

"Please note that my client provided all the facts of what happened in the car, including the several shouts he faintly heard from the deceased. There was no need for him to trouble himself. He only needed to say that he did not hear anything.

But my client was honest. He really didn't hear clearly due to temporary hearing impairment caused by otitis media, and some misunderstandings did occur.

But that was not the key factor that led to the death of the deceased.”

Then Song Yaozu emphasized:

“The crux of the matter is – she opened the door of the vehicle herself while it was moving at high speed and jumped out of the moving vehicle, which resulted in her death.

According to the on-site investigation, there were only fingerprints of the deceased on the door handle, and my client did not have, and could not have done, any harassing behavior toward the deceased in a car traveling at a speed of up to 80km/h. He was just an ordinary taxi driver who worked diligently and conscientiously.

Just because of the passenger's subjective conjecture, she jumped out of the car on her own initiative and paid the price with her life, but this does not mean that my client is guilty.

My client does not need to and cannot pay for the mistakes of others.”

Then he turned to the jury and said firmly:

"I need to remind the jury again that it was the deceased who opened the car door and jumped out of the car at high speed, which led to this tragedy. All the evidence does not show that my client had ever harmed or threatened the deceased.

The so-called behavior of the deceased jumping out of the car was her personal subjective decision. Until now we still don’t know what she was thinking or why she jumped out of the car at that time. However, this has nothing to do with my client. He is just an ordinary driver.

This is despite the prosecution's repeated assumption that my client may have harassed the deceased in the car.

But the assumption that there is no evidence in court is untenable.

And no one can let go of the steering wheel to harass a passenger in the back seat of a car at a speed of 80 km/h."

Song Yaozu's defense of innocence was based on one core principle - the deceased opened the car door himself and jumped out of the car himself.

He invited a forensic expert to explain in detail the relationship between the deceased's injuries and the act of jumping out of the car, and showed the on-site investigation report, proving that there were only the deceased's fingerprints on the car door handle.

As the trial progressed, all the evidence was moving in the driver's favor.

"Mr. Juror," Song Yaozu said in his closing statement.
"First of all, thank you for taking the time to attend this trial. I believe that through all the evidence, you have come to a conclusion that the death of the deceased was a complete accident.

The root cause of the accident was not my client - although I repeatedly emphasized to the prosecutor - the case was caused by my client's hearing impairment.

But this is not against the law. Our laws do not prohibit people with hearing impairments from driving a car, of course they need to use hearing aids.

My client is not hearing-impaired. He has temporary hearing impairment caused by otitis media. According to the doctor's certificate, this temporary hearing impairment does not affect his driving.

Although this caused him to mishear the destination and drive in the other direction, this was of course a mistake.

He needs to take responsibility for his mistakes, which means he needs to make corresponding compensation, but this is only civil compensation.

This is simply compensation for the accident, not criminal liability for someone else's mistake.

After all, no one could have predicted that the deceased would open the door of a car traveling at nearly 100 km/h and jump out.

Of course no one would have such a prediction, because it is beyond our imagination.

The core of this incident is that the deceased opened the car door himself.

I believe that all the jurors have understood the key to this case!
If someone must be held responsible, it is the deceased who should be held responsible for her actions with her own life.

My client is just an ordinary law-abiding citizen who works and lives conscientiously and obeys the law. Unfortunately, someone has engaged in dangerous behavior that has not only brought harm to himself, but also brought trouble to his life.

Dear jurors, the law is the law. It protects law-abiding people. It protects every one of us, not who is right to die!"

As soon as he finished speaking, angry voices erupted again in the audience.

"This is absolutely heartless! My daughter is dead, how can this be so unreasonable! Killing someone means paying for their life, it is only natural."

A family member of the deceased cried out.

"Your Honor, please punish him severely!"

Song Yaozu ignored the commotion in the audience and just nodded slightly to Wang Jiahe, signaling him to rest assured. He knew that the core of this case was not complicated. The only difficulty was that someone was dead.

Sometimes, whoever dies is right. But the law is the law, and it must fairly protect every law-abiding person.

Wang Jiahe looked at Song Yaozu, and a glimmer of hope gradually rose in his heart.

Maybe, this matter is really over.

Then he turned his gaze to his wife, who was also looking at him with joy.

-

In the morning, Edward was sitting in a tea restaurant having breakfast. In front of him was a newspaper with the words: "It's not that whoever dies is right!"

"A simple and straightforward case made the front page."

Edward muttered to himself in confusion. As a law student, he even felt that it was a huge mistake to bring such a case to court. It was just a matter of civil compensation, but it ended up in court. At least it was a waste of judicial resources.

"Is there no other news in Hong Kong Island? Even such small news is reported."

The classmate who was having breakfast opposite him said with a smile.

"They will report everything about us, no matter how big or small it is. There's nothing we can do about it because they like us."

Then, he looked through other news. The backpack beside him betrayed his identity. During the summer vacation, there would always be some backpackers from SEA coming to Hong Kong Island. Most of these backpackers were college students. They used their vacations to travel abroad, and Hong Kong Island was just one of their destinations.

Suddenly, a piece of news in the newspaper caught his attention. He picked up the newspaper and handed it to his friend in front of him, saying:
“Look, Hank, we can travel to the mainland!
Taking the newspaper, Hank looked at the news that SEA tourists were allowed to enter the country and said:
"Edward, are you sure we want to go there?"

Sun Chendong, who was enjoying his breakfast, said:
"Hank, you are too cautious. There is nothing to worry about. Since travel is open, there is nothing wrong with going and taking a look. Who knows, we may be the first tourists in SEA to enter the mainland."

Several other classmates also agreed, they were all full of curiosity about that piece of land. If I have the opportunity to go there, I will certainly not miss it.

(End of this chapter)