179: If the school doesn't want to, forget it.

Many people are a bit confused when they hear the term 'evil forces'.

Actually, the 'evil' in what we often call 'cracking down on evil forces' refers to evil forces.

According to Article 4 of the 'Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Handling of Criminal Cases Involving Evil Forces' jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Public Security Bureau, and the Ministry of Justice in 2018:

Evil forces refer to criminal organizations that frequently gather together, repeatedly engage in illegal and criminal activities by means of violence, threats, or other methods within a certain area or industry, commit evil deeds, bully the common people, disrupt economic and social order, cause relatively severe social impact, but have not yet formed a gangland-style organization.

In plain language, it's a nascent form of a gangland-style organization.

On the surface, these actions don't seem to reach the level of evil forces; criminal law has a principle of restraint.

Because in our normal understanding, to be considered evil forces, you would at least need to be bullying men and women, right?

However, the 'Two Supremes' (Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate) issued a new opinion in 2020, 'Opinions on Lawfully Punishing Crimes Involving Gangland-Style and Evil Forces Using Minors'.

It stipulates that enticing, luring, or deceiving minors to participate in gangland-style organizations, evil force criminal groups, or evil forces, or to engage in gangland-style and evil force illegal and criminal activities, should be identified as 'crimes involving gangland-style and evil forces using minors'.

Based on Guo Zihao's description, besides Brother Shuo, there was another hooligan, and then these students, who regularly demanded money from students.

The money they got, besides buying cigarettes for themselves, would also be given in part to those two hooligans.

The two hooligans told the students to use their names to scare, threaten, and beat other students to demand money, which makes things a bit interesting.

The general idea is already there; first, we need to find evidence that the students previously threatened Guo Zihao for cigarette money and beat him when he refused.

It would be best to find evidence of multiple previous beatings!

This would lead to the conclusion that the students' actions also constitute a suspected crime, specifically robbery, not extortion.

This uses the theory of Professor Zhang Mingkai.

Robbery and extortion are actually very similar in some aspects, for example, both involve threats and coercion, and both cause the victim to feel fear, thereby illegally obtaining property.

Professor Zhang Mingkai believes that the key to distinguishing between the two crimes lies in whether the level of suppression of the other person's resistance has been reached.

He used a rather interesting example to illustrate.

Zhang San tells Li Si, 'Stop, hand over your phone, or I'll beat you.'

Then Li Si hands over his phone. What is this? This is extortion, because Zhang San's actions did not reach the point of suppressing the other person's resistance.

But if Zhang San is a strong man, holding a knife, and Li Si is a delicate, weak woman, and they are in a small alley.

Then at this point, if Zhang San says, 'Stop, hand over your phone,' even if he doesn't say anything like 'If you don't give it to me, I'll beat you,' it is still robbery.

Because Zhang San's actions are already sufficient to suppress all of Li Si's resistance. (Note 1)

Similarly, in this case, sometimes Guo Zihao had no money, and then he would be beaten by the other party in various ways, and this situation occurred many times.

So at this point, it can be considered that the other party's long-term beating behavior of this type was already sufficient to suppress Guo Zihao's resistance.

At this point, if they say they want money, and if he doesn't give it, they'll beat him, then it can be identified as robbery.

And the time the crime began is when that sentence was spoken!

So in such a situation, Guo Zihao's actions have a basis for legitimate self-defense.

Although we have codified law, it doesn't mean that case precedents are useless; the logical thinking of a judge's decision in a certain case can be learned and then used in the defense of similar criminal cases.

Also, according to Guo Zihao's description, the students' phones contained a large number of videos of them beating other students, and they often forced others to watch these videos.

If this part of the evidence can be obtained, things will be easier; it can open up the situation and obtain confessions from the two seriously injured students.

However, merely having a basis for legitimate self-defense is not enough, unlike the rape case where unlimited defense is allowed.

So if the other party can be identified as evil forces, it will be much easier.

By the time he returned to the hotel, Zhou Yun had already written a lot in his notebook, basically having a defense strategy, and now he just needed to work hard according to this strategy.

It would certainly not be easy to directly communicate with the Public Security Bureau; after all, what he knew, the Public Security Bureau must have also known.

But they didn't investigate, which at least indicates that their views on this issue are definitely not consistent.

So he still had to find a way himself.

It was still the old method, brainstorming on paper.

Problem: Obtain the videos saved on the phones.

Zhou Yun drew an arrow behind it and wrote another sentence: It is most appropriate for the Public Security Bureau to step in.

He couldn't directly contact the 'victims', and it was even less possible to buy videos; you have to know this is a criminal case, and it could instantly become the crime of obstructing justice by a defense lawyer.

So how could he get the Public Security Bureau to investigate? Relying on his reputation was somewhat possible, but not safe enough.

After careful consideration, Zhou Yun drew another arrow and wrote a sentence: Find other parents to report the case together.

Yes, don't link the two cases together yet; I'm not trying to defend Guo Zihao; I'm just acting as a law-abiding citizen to report illegal and criminal activities.

I simply want to prove that those two hooligans engaged in instigation.

Next to 'Find other parents to report the case together,' Zhou Yun wrote 'instigation'; here, he couldn't mention 'evil forces'; that was something for the Public Security Bureau to clarify after investigation and communicate with the Procuratorate.

Pushing to this point, the situation became clearer; after a moment of hesitation, Zhou Yun also wrote, 'Can try to find the school to report the case together.'

If the school could be found to report the case together, there would certainly be no problem; for such a long time, the school's surveillance cameras would definitely have captured some things.

But they might not cooperate.

So if the school doesn't work, he can only find other students' parents; currently, the case he is defending is the 'Guo Zihao Intentional Injury Case'.

And the other students' parents are not victims in this case, nor are they witnesses.

Reporting the case would be another case; at least for now, it's unrelated to this case.

Seeing that there was still plenty of time, he got the contact information of the school leader from Guo Xitian, and Zhou Yun quickly dialed the number.

On the other side, school leader Tian Xiashan was in his office looking at his phone when he suddenly received a call, feeling a bit confused, but he still answered.

'Hello, who is this? Guo Zihao's lawyer? Why are you calling me? Everything has been taken over by the Public Security Bureau now, you know? I don't know anything.'

'Alright, hang up, hang up.'

He didn't say many words; in fact, Zhou Yun hadn't even introduced himself yet when Tian Xiashan directly hung up the phone.

This matter had become a taboo; the education system simply didn't discuss it; no matter who asked, they would tell them to contact the Public Security Bureau.

Anyway, the consistent goal was to absolutely not trigger public opinion; they would just handle it themselves.

Inside the hotel room, Zhou Yun put down his phone. Well, although he had guessed this outcome early on, he was still a bit helpless now.

He had originally wanted to help the school, but since they felt they didn't need it, he would drop it.