Chapter 319: Passive in every situation

In the teahouse at the entrance to Brighton's Chinatown, Zhou Ming and his bodyguard** were having tea. They chose a private booth, and the lawyer Alan hurried in. Under the guidance of the waiter, he came to Zhou Ming and sat down.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, this is a really good choice. Teahouses are the most famous feature of Chinatown, and if you want to drink tea, you have to come here. And I've heard that the health benefits of drinking tea far outweigh those of coffee and other drinks. Three hundred years ago, tea was sold in Europe for more than gold!'

Alan came over and first praised Zhou Ming's choice. Zhou Ming just laughed unnecessarily in response. Although Zhou Ming knew that the reason why tea was expensive three hundred years ago was because the Silk Road was blocked and tea could not be transported to Europe, he did not say so because they were not here to discuss this today. Zhou Ming asked Alan, 'How are things going?'

'As a responsible lawyer, I think my employer should have enough trust in me,'

Alan teased a bit, then took out a stack of documents from his bag and handed them to Zhou Ming, saying, 'These are the documents I signed with Wharton before. I have already taken these documents to Wharton, and he has agreed to withdraw his previous words and re-include the dormitory convenience store in the company's normal scope of operations. At the same time, he will also submit a protest letter to the government, demanding that the dormitory convenience store be immediately removed from the seizure.'

'This is just a temporary solution. Since Wharton can do these things once, he will definitely do it again and again. Can we kick him out of the company? I don't want to get entangled with other people over the ownership of the company,' said Zhou Ming.

'Of course there is no problem. Wharton's actions have actually violated the contract. We have reason to apply to the court for an injunction to make Mr Wharton leave the company,'

Alan said, his tone seemed very confident, but then his attitude wavered: 'However, Mr. Zhou Ming, I am worried about the second trial three days later, because during this time I have been busy dealing with other matters and have not prepared for the trial. I am worried that they will come up with a different response, except that the prosecutor's office may not be the opponent.'

'Just do your best, after all, some things are beyond our control,' Zhou Ming said.

As a barrister, Alan of course heard the undertone of Zhou Ming's words, so he immediately asked, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, do you have any information to back up what you're saying?'

'Very important information,' Zhou Ming said, taking out the photo printed from the computer and handing it to Alan.

Alan took the photo and gasped, 'My God, how could something like this happen?'

...

Three days passed quickly, and on the day of the second trial of Brooke's case, Ming Zhou and Alan once again arrived at the Brighton City Court. When the court bell struck nine o'clock, Ming Zhou and Alan followed Deputy Attorney General Clark into the courtroom.

The case was presented again, and this time Deputy Attorney General Clark and Alan were still adamant in their demand to convict Brooke. However, when it came to Sapir's turn, the dream lawyer changed from his previous defensive stance and began to take the initiative. He told the judge, 'Your Honour, in order to prove my client's innocence, I request that the witness from the previous trial be called. I have a few questions I need to ask.'

The judge granted Sapir's request and called the previous witness to the stand. The original plan was for the student who had been watching to be the first to testify, but Sapir said, 'With all due respect, Your Honour, this witness only saw the riot unfold and cannot prove that my client was involved in the incident. Therefore, I don't think there is any need for this witness to testify at all.'

In view of Sapir's argument, the judge then asked the black brothers to testify again, with the older brother still in the front row.

Sapir walked out of the dock and went to the witness and asked him, 'Is that right, Hem? Hello, I think I remember very clearly that you testified at the last trial that my client gave you money, that he instructed you to cause a disturbance at the dormitory convenience store, and that he did so because he wanted to take revenge on Zhou Ming, or that he wanted to take advantage of the situation to attack his competitor?

Hem, the black man, nodded and said yes. Sapir immediately followed up: 'Classmate Hem, can you guarantee that the testimony you just said is all true and reliable?'

'Of course, I never lie in the sacred court,' Hem said.

'You once said in court that you have no criminal record. Is this statement also not a lie and is it also true and reliable?' Sapir asked again.

'Of course I don't have any criminal record. I'm still just a student, I only know how to study,' Hem replied.

'Well, then, Hem, I found something interesting during my investigation.'

Sapir said, taking out a document from his desk and showing it to everyone, 'This is a document I obtained from the Fenway District Police Station. It clearly states that Hem was arrested and recorded for extorting younger students in the Fenway District five years ago.'

Sapir handed the document to the judge and turned to Hem and said, 'Classmate Hem, you said that you never lie in a sacred court, and you also said that you have no criminal record. That's not lying, so how do you explain it now?'

'I didn't know there was this,' Hem said subconsciously.

'Don't know? Are you trying to say that you forgot the fact that you had a criminal record, or that you don't know that I got this from the Fenway District Police Station?' Sapir continued to press.

Alan immediately raised his hand and said, 'I object, Your Honour. I believe that Sapir's line of questioning is not directly related to this case, and I request that the witness refuse to answer.'

Sapir said, 'Your Honour, I believe the opposite. I believe that the witness's testimony on this issue is highly relevant to this case, because if the witness is an untruthful person himself, then I don't think his testimony in this case is credible at all. His testimony also has a decisive bearing on whether my client is guilty or not, so the witness must answer this question truthfully.'

The judge thought for a moment and ruled: 'The witness must answer the defence lawyer's question truthfully.'

Black Hem had to reply, 'At that time I was only 18 years old, I was protected by the law, and they also said that my file would be sealed, so I didn't...'

Before Hem could finish, Sapir interrupted him, saying, 'I think the situation is now very clear. This witness, classmate Hem, is not an honest person. Since he could lie about whether he had a criminal record or not, there is every reason to believe that he will also lie about testifying against my client. And this lie will help him reduce his sentence, because the sentence for being instructed to commit a crime is different from the sentence for committing a crime on one's own initiative.'

Sapir pointed again to the document in the judge's hand and said: 'Since Hem had a previous conviction for fraud, it is very likely that he will try to defraud the convenience store in the dormitory again to get compensation. Therefore, Hem is very likely to lie in court in order to avoid or reduce his criminal liability.'

The last witness to testify was Jie La. This time, Alan decided to pre-emptively attack. He stood up and said, 'Your Honour and members of the jury, Teacher Jie La is an excellent teacher at Harvard University. She has no criminal record and no interest in the suspect, so I believe her testimony is absolutely credible.'

Sapir stood up unhurriedly and walked over to Jie La and asked her, 'Are you Jie La, Zhou Ming's class teacher?'

Jie La nodded and said, "Yes, but just because I'm his class teacher doesn't mean I'll help him lie in court.'

'On this point I do believe you, Jie La," Sapir then changed the subject and asked, "But what if it's for a lover?'

'Lover? What lover?" Jie La asked, confused.

'Of course it's Zhou Ming. In fact, no one knows, but this beautiful teacher Jie La has an improper teacher-student relationship with her student Zhou Ming. They are lovers,' said Sapir.

With Sapir's words, the scene immediately erupted into an uproar. Not only was there chatter on the hearing bench, but the jury also expressed their shock at this matter.

'I didn't. Zhou Ming and I were just ordinary teacher-student relationship, we didn't have any other relationship!' Jie La argued.

Lawyer Alan also immediately stood up and said, 'I object. I think the defense lawyer is maliciously speculating about other people's relationships. He is deliberately smearing Teacher Jie La and my client. I think his actions are extremely unprofessional and also a contempt of court. I think the court should give him a sufficient warning.'

The judge looked at Sapir, but before he could say anything, Sapir said, 'Your Honour, I am not making groundless speculations. I have witnesses. Please allow my witnesses to appear in court.'

Then a white man was brought into the courtroom. He testified, 'I am a teacher in the economics department of Harvard Business School. I have personally witnessed intimate behaviour between Jie La and Zhou Ming. They also often went on dates alone. I think they must be in love.'

Sapir said, 'Your Honour and members of the jury, I think it is now clear that Ms. Jela helped her lover frame my client, so she made up the story that my client and Mr. Hem went together to extort the dormitory convenience store. This is a joint frame-up, and I don't think it has any probative value!'

...

The trial ended at 12 noon. Zhou Ming and Alan walked out of the courtroom. Alan opened his phone and received a call. He went out for a while and returned in less than five minutes, and also brought Zhou Ming some information.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, this is the information that my friend who works in the court helped me get,' said Alan, opening the information and handing it to Zhou Ming. 'This is a semi-public material from the judge. Judge Reggie is the judge in charge of this trial of Brooke. I really didn't expect that he would be a collateral member of the Brooke family. This is an oversight in my work.'

Alan then said to Zhou Ming, 'According to our Massachusetts law, although the court has a jury, the judge's influence on the verdict is decisive. This is because if the judge is not satisfied with the jury's result, he can also use his veto power to persuade the jury again. As long as he can persuade more than half of the jury members, he can change the verdict.'

Alan paused for a moment before continuing, 'So the news we know is enough to reverse the outcome.'

In the end, Alan let out a bitter smile, "Mr. Zhou Ming, from Wharton to the trial and now the judge, we are passive everywhere. I'm afraid this verdict will be difficult.'

'It doesn't matter. As the old Chinese saying goes, "After the willows turn dark, there's another village,' and after the dark clouds pass, there will always be a rainbow. Alan, you are the most prestigious lawyer in Massachusetts, you can't admit defeat so easily,' said Zhou Ming.