nycdaug Chapter 112 Court Hearing (Part 2)
Chapter 112 Court Hearing (Part 2)
After a short break, the second court session began. The presiding judge tapped the gavel and said, "The next case concerns a minor. Prosecutor, please present the case details." Prosecutor Chen Yonghao stood up and said, "Distinguished members of the public, and leaders from all levels of Shuguang City, I am about to present a heinous case. Please look at the child sitting there. His name is Zhang Feng, and he is 14 years old. Why is he a defendant at such a young age? I will now recount the details of the case to you."
Wu Yonghao then began his account of the case. It turned out that the boy, Zhang Feng, had repeatedly bullied classmates at Shuguang City School, was lazy and unwilling to work, and was eventually expelled after repeated attempts by teachers and the principal to persuade him to stop. However, he harbored resentment and, while his homeroom teacher was away teaching, secretly kidnapped the teacher's 9-year-old daughter. During the crime, the teacher's 7-year-old son tried to stop him and was brutally murdered by Zhang Feng. The girl was repeatedly assaulted by Zhang Feng after being kidnapped. When the security team located the girl through Shuguang City's surveillance system, Zhang Feng was digging a pit to bury her alive. Although she was rescued in time, the girl had already gone insane and is currently receiving physical and psychological treatment at Shuguang Hospital. This perpetrator's actions were extremely heinous and had a significant impact. Currently, all teachers and students of Shuguang Middle School and Shuguang Elementary School have spontaneously signed a petition requesting that this person be given the most severe punishment.
After speaking, Wu Yonghao produced a petition signed by over a thousand teachers and students, showing it to the presiding judge and all the spectators present. He also projected some of the photos taken by the security team onto the large screen. Wu Yonghao said somberly, "Currently, the teacher is too grief-stricken and in poor health to attend this court hearing. However, she repeatedly knelt down yesterday, pleading with our prosecutor's office and security team to severely punish the perpetrator and avenge her son and daughter." The crowd erupted in anger. A mother holding her child said, "This person must die; otherwise, it will be difficult to appease the public." Another man said, "It's truly too cruel. What kind of demon could commit such an outrageous act?" But another man also said, "The suspect seems to be only 14 years old. According to the laws of Dawn City, 16 is considered a full adult. A 14-year-old can only bear partial responsibility for the crime, so the death penalty is definitely out of the question."
Because of the public's outrage, the judge had to repeatedly strike the gavel to quiet the room. The presiding judge said to the suspect, Zhang Feng, "Zhang Feng, why did you kill your homeroom teacher's son in such a cruel way, and then torture such a young girl? Do you plead guilty?" Zhang Feng replied disdainfully, "In this apocalypse, the strong dominate the weak. I only bullied a few weaklings at school, so why did she criticize me in front of so many people and even tell the principal? Seeing her laughing and talking with her daughter and son all day made me feel disgusted. I thought, why do you get to live so well? So I wanted to kill her daughter and son. Originally, I only intended to severely injure them, but her weak son was so useless, he died in a few blows. Later, I thought killing one was the same as killing two, so I tortured her daughter severely. Unfortunately, you found out when I was burying her. I was planning to kill her daughter first, then go back and kill her too. Okay, I've finished. Hurry up and start the trial. I'm only fourteen years old today, you can't sentence me to death, hahahahaha."
Upon hearing this, Yunlan gritted her teeth in anger and almost rushed forward to kill Zhang Feng. At this moment, the defendant's lawyer, Ma Qian, stood up and said, "Although I am also very saddened by this case and feel that my defense is extremely heinous, neither the laws before the apocalypse nor the laws of the Dawn after the apocalypse apply to people aged 14 and under. I ask the presiding judge to consider this before making the final judgment."
As soon as Ma Qian finished speaking, a heated discussion and shouting erupted in the courtroom. Zhang Feng, sitting in the defendant's dock, looked at them with disdain, and then burst into laughter. The presiding judge tapped his gavel: "Please be quiet. I hereby declare a temporary recess. The final verdict will be delivered in fifteen minutes." Then the three judges returned to the lounge.
As soon as they entered the lounge, Li Chenglong, Yun Lan, Zheng Yong, and Ma Tiancheng came in. Zheng Yong said to Ma Tiancheng somewhat seriously, "Old Ma, your youngest daughter has taken on a rather difficult case this time. If Zhang Feng really escapes legal punishment, she'll be cursed to death." Ma Tiancheng sighed, "That's how the job of a lawyer is; you're bound to offend people. There are too few professional lawyers in Shuguang City right now, and my youngest daughter has ten years of legal experience, so she has to take on some challenging cases." They then began to discuss how the case should be judged.
Li Chenglong said, "My stance is that Zhang Feng must be sentenced to death, and executed immediately, to bring this to justice. First of all, Zhang Feng's crime was premeditated. He's someone who enjoys bullying others, and now he's killed someone in an extremely heinous way, then attempted to kill another, and even tried to kill her homeroom teacher. This person is thoroughly evil inside and out. If such a person isn't killed, it will pose a great threat to the order of Shuguang City." Yun Lan, Zheng Yong, and Ma Tiancheng all agreed. The presiding judge also said, "I feel that you, City Lord, could push for a legal amendment to explain these special cases, so that we will have a basis for future trials." Li Chenglong agreed, and he would hold a meeting to discuss this after returning home today.
Fifteen minutes later, after a vote in the break room, it was unanimously agreed that the perpetrator should be sentenced to death. Then, three judges came to the bench. The presiding judge tapped his gavel to signal silence: "Please all rise. I will now read the verdict in the Zhang Feng murder case. The suspect, Zhang Feng, male, 14 years old, resident of District 2, Shuguang City. On June 13th at noon, while no one was home, he broke into the victim's home and killed a 7-year-old child. He then kidnapped a 9-year-old girl, tortured her, and attempted to kill her. The methods of the crime were extremely heinous, causing a great social impact. Furthermore, the suspect, Zhang Feng, showed no remorse and repeatedly shouted in court. After comprehensive consideration, this court sentences him to death, to be paraded through the streets and executed immediately."
Upon hearing the verdict, Zhang Feng immediately shouted, "How could this be? I'm a minor! You can't sentence me to death! You can't!" He then burst into tears, completely losing his earlier arrogance. Two bailiffs went directly to the platform, added another chain to his arm, and then dragged him away. All the spectators applauded and cheered. Even Ma Qian looked relaxed and smiled at Li Chenglong.
The two trials in the morning had already concluded. Li Chenglong carefully reviewed the subsequent cases and, finding nothing particularly noteworthy, decided not to attend any more. Early the next morning, the First Amendment to the Dawn City Criminal Law was published, explaining the two special cases and making simple supplements to some legal provisions.