However, having no point of contention did not an a trial could not proceed. This was equivalent to the defendant pleading guilty. The case would continue following procedure.
On the prosecution bench, a prosecutor imdiately stood up and said in a deep voice, "These are the evidentiary materials presented during the first trial. They clearly show that Liu Qiao colluded with Han Dongting over three years, using the latter’s official position for profit. During this period, he repeatedly gave Han Dongting laundered cash bribes, totaling over ten million yuan."
Originally, Liu Qiao’s money ca from legitimate pharmacy business operations. But to make it more ’seamless,’ he chose to convert ten million of it into illicit assets to prevent the serial numbers from being traced. Eventually, this ten million yuan in cash landed in Han Dongting’s account.
The prosecutor continued, "Furthermore, during the appeal period, Liu Qiao and his defense attorney, Zhang Kuang, attempted to bribe relevant judicial officials, with the cumulative amount totaling several hundred thousand yuan. These are all pieces of accusatory evidence and materials provided by the relevant personnel."
As he spoke, the prosecutor took out another piece of evidence. It contained photographs of cash, testimonies from relevant personnel, and more. This was sufficient to prove the new criminal acts committed by Liu Qiao and Zhang Kuang.
The Judgnt Chief put down the submitted evidence and looked toward Liu Qiao at the defendant’s bench. "Defendant, regarding the above evidence, do you have anything to argue?"
In front of Liu Qiao, this sa evidence was laid out, clearly showing the defense attorney’s criminal behavior during the second trial. This evidence showed who was bribed, the amounts involved, the demands made, and so on. Among those implicated, even the Judgnt Chief had received over one hundred thousand yuan in cash. But these people, after taking the money, had turned around and delivered the cash to the procuratorate, reporting their actions. This ultimately led to the prosecuting authority discovering their cris.
Seeing that both remained silent, the Judgnt Chief spoke again, his voice stern: "Defendants, regarding the above evidence, do you have anything to argue?"
Liu Qiao and Zhang Kuang looked at each other, seeing cold sweat break out on each other’s foreheads. The interrogation in the courtroom was virtually equivalent to a judgnt. If they handled this poorly, they would really be going to prison at the end of the trial.
"I... I... I..." Zhang Kuang, looking at his client Liu Qiao, gritted his teeth and argued, "These actions were instructed by my client! I was just taking money to do the job; it has nothing to do with !"
Facing this imminent disaster, he made a split-second decision: to shift the bla onto Liu Qiao. "This money was also given to by Liu Qiao, who asked to help deliver it to various judicial officials." In his telling, this act of bribery had nothing to do with him. It wasn’t his idea, nor was it his money. He was rely a courier.
When Liu Qiao heard his own lawyer say this, his expression changed instantly. He glared furiously at the defense attorney beside him and imdiately burst out yelling, "How dare you slander ! Wasn’t this bribery your suggestion? Didn’t you say that for one million yuan, you would take the money and manage the connections? I provided the money, and you did the work! How has it suddenly beco all my doing? I’m telling you, don’t even think about escaping culpability by shifting all the bla onto !"
He was extrely angry. As he spoke, he looked up directly at the Judgnt Chief and said, "Judgnt Chief, I admit to the cris. Attorney Zhang Kuang directed to do all these things. I was rely aware of them. From beginning to end, Zhang Kuang was the one directing and carrying them out. He said this would help get acquitted, so I gave him one million yuan."
To ensure this unscrupulous lawyer suffered punishnt, he recklessly laid bare everything, confessing his cris in court.
The spectacle of the two of them turning on each other once again shocked everyone present, leaving the elders like Zhang Qingyuan gaping in astonishnt and exclaiming continuously.
"I thought ng Lei and his wife arguing in court was rare enough, but who would have thought we’d see a client and their lawyer arguing in court?"
"How should this situation be handled? Will their case even continue? Who is the lawyer going to help now—himself or his client?"
"I’m confused too. Shouldn’t the defense attorney’s duty be to defend Liu Qiao? But now the two of them are at odds."
"This is truly sothing you only see once in a lifeti! Today’s trip wasn’t wasted."
In the gallery, Zhang Qingyuan, Li Weiguo, Song Tiancheng, and the others sighed repeatedly. Watching this scene, they couldn’t help but lower their voices and discuss it among themselves. Every ti they ca to court, sothing unexpected would happen. Take this ti, for example: a client and his lawyer turning on each other in court, arguing, shifting bla, and trying to pass the buck. In all the cases they had witnessed, they had never encountered a client and lawyer turning against each other. Even Zhang Wei, despite facing extrely difficult defendants, always did his utmost to defend them, never shifting the bla onto his clients.
But in this case, Liu Qiao, in his bid to appeal, had his defense attorney devise an entirely new thod. This had led both of them down a criminal path, and the prosecuting authority had even obtained evidence of their cris. To protect themselves, both had chosen to shift the bla onto the other. As for who was truly culpable, that would depend on the outco of this trial.
"Since both parties are shifting bla, please both sides present evidence to prove who exactly was the principal actor behind this bribery incident."
In the courtroom, the Judgnt Chief looked at the two, his lips twitching slightly, as he continued to preside over the trial.
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