What's wrong with this lawyer?!-Chapter 1038 - 336: The Key to Overturning the Case Still Lies in Resolving the Person_2

For many major cases, higher authorities demand expediency, but judges, being the ones actually handling the cases, know which ones have underlying issues... like Wen Weilin.

So, cases that could originally be sentenced to immediate execution are often maneuvered into commuted sentences instead.

Why? Because once someone dies and later investigations reveal mistakes, it becomes a huge headache. The main people responsible might even end up in jail themselves. But as long as the accused are still alive, it’s much more manageable.

While reviewing cases, Tang Fangjing noticed another intriguing one.

"Tang-ge, this was submitted by Wang Jing, our intern lawyer at the firm," Wang Qingqing chimed in.

Old Tang nodded, carefully reviewing this "false accusation and entrapment case." If what was written here was true, the case indeed had a fascinating twist.

After pondering for a moment, Old Tang said, "Qingqing, assign this intentional homicide case to Zhang Wei. Not only does he need to handle it well, but he must do it thoroughly. Do you understand?"

Other lawyers might not grasp what "do it thoroughly" means, but Zhang Wei, as the direct disciple, understood it perfectly. Thorough meant ensuring those who deserved punishment faced it and those deserving conviction were convicted.

"Also, give Wang Jing a call. I’ve got a few things I want to ask her."

Wang Qingqing quickly got busy, and soon, the call connected.

Old Tang took the phone and said, "Wang Jing, right?"

On the other end, Wang Jing was discussing her graduation thesis with Professor Du. Hearing that the law firm’s director wanted to speak with her, she felt a surge of excitement.

Hurriedly, she replied over the phone, "Hello, Director."

"I reviewed the case you submitted. You mentioned it involved your senior brother’s family, and you’ve looked at the statements. Now, I’m asking you—how credible do you think they are?"

Wang Jing thought for a moment before responding, "I believe the credibility is solid. The logic is very clear."

"Alright, I see. Now let me test you—if this case were to be overturned, where do you think the breakthrough point lies?" Old Tang asked casually as he flipped through the case materials.

Wang Jing glanced at her mentor across the table before replying, "Based on Lu Jianshe’s confession, we could file an appeal on grounds of insufficient evidence and unclear facts..."

This was the conclusion she had arrived at after discussing it with her senior brother and Professor Du.

She suddenly heard a derisive chuckle.

"Classic academic approach. That Lu Jianshe sought out the court too, didn’t he? But they didn’t initiate a retrial, right?"

"Which shows that this path isn’t easy. Now let me repeat: don’t be too rigid when handling a case. Can you tell me what charges Lu Jianshe is facing?"

"It’s false accusation and entrapment. He was accused of fabricating evidence claiming a certain official had accepted bribes and reported it to the relevant authorities, attempting to subject others to criminal prosecution," Wang Jing replied cautiously.

"Exactly—he’s charged with false accusation and entrapment. But doesn’t his confession also say he genuinely knew that official was taking bribes at the time?" Old Tang pressed on.

"If you believe the confession is largely accurate, then let’s change our approach. If we’re able to prove he didn’t fabricate the claim back then, wouldn’t the case be overturnable?"

Uh... what? Wang Jing froze. "Director Tang, are you saying...?"

"I’m saying, if we can find evidence showing that official did take bribes at the time, then this case can be overturned easily," Old Tang explained matter-of-factly.

Wang Jing fell silent. This approach—it was such a quintessential director strategy: straightforward, simple, and extremely effective.

"Actually, we don’t even need definitive evidence to convict the official. All we need is to find evidence sufficient to trigger an investigation against them, and that’ll suffice."

Years had passed, and the official in question had long retired. But after the 18th National Congress, retirement no longer guaranteed immunity from scrutiny.

Standing by the office window, Old Tang set the case materials aside and continued, "Consider this—if we really prove the official took bribes, what does that mean? It means we’ve uncovered new evidence to start a retrial. That’s entirely different from admitting to a wrongful conviction from back then." freёwebnoѵel.com

"Alright, I’m very interested in this case. But I’ll need to meet this person first before deciding whether to take it."

In Modu, Professor Du watched as Wang Jing set her phone aside and couldn’t help but ask, "What did Tang Fangjing say? Did he have any good ideas?"

Wang Jing glanced at her mentor and replied, "Director Tang’s suggestion was, since the charge was false accusation and entrapment, all we need to prove is that it wasn’t false accusation, and we’re done."

"Make it so airtight that no one can argue with it."

Huh? Professor Du was stunned. Suddenly, he realized the gap between himself and someone like Tang Fangjing, a seasoned practitioner.

The simplest difference—it lay in their way of thinking.

When faced with criminal cases, his first instinct was to examine whether the evidence was sufficient, whether the facts were clear, and whether there were doubts in the case that could support acquittal under the principle of "innocent until proven guilty."

But what Tang Fangjing did was far simpler.

How do you prove innocence in an obstruction-of-duty charge? Just prove the official duties being obstructed were unlawful. If the duties were unlawful, then obstruction doesn’t exist anymore. What’s that called? That’s justified defense.

Similarly, how do you prove innocence in a false accusation and entrapment charge? Just prove it wasn’t false accusation. If you identified real misconduct and reported it, what’s that called? That’s exercising citizens’ rights to oversight!

The logic sounds easy when laid out, but sometimes, you just don’t think of it.

Professor Du felt a pang of frustration in his teeth. He decided he’d better stick to theoretical studies. While some professors are also seasoned practitioners, he clearly wasn’t one of them.

Before long, the senior brother showed up and, upon hearing Tang Fangjing’s solution, was equally baffled.