192: My lawyer is running away?

Lü Xinhao was admitted to the Detention Center, and coincidentally, the single room he was currently staying in was the same one Guo Zihao had previously occupied.

Actually, this wasn't really a coincidence; it was mainly because Fengxian County's Detention Center wasn't very large, and there were very few places where minors could stay, so it was considered a normal situation.

Ever since he came in, Lü Xinhao had been crying. He had never suffered such hardship in his life, from childhood to adulthood. Although he could stay in a single room at the Detention Center, a single room in a Detention Center was still a Detention Center!

He regretted it, regretted it immensely, but the Police Officer would only watch him to prevent him from committing suicide or self-harm; besides that, he said very little.

Unlike Guo Zihao before, when he was in a bad mood sometimes, the Police Officer would even comfort him a few words.

To be honest, no one respected someone like Lü Xinhao.

Suddenly one day, Lü Xinhao received a notice from the Police Officer, saying that the Lawyer his family hired had come for a visit!

As if he had seen a ray of hope, Lü Xinhao began to get excited.

At the same time, in the visiting room, Lawyer Yang Junhao, who had come from the imperial capital, was waiting. He was hired by Lü Dehai at a high price from the imperial capital.

As mentioned before, for some more complex criminal cases, local lawyers generally wouldn't easily take them on. Even if they did, it was usually in the form of legal aid.

However, criminal defense lawyers from the imperial capital were known for being bold and daring to operate; of course, many incidents occurred, and many also ended up in prison…

Many of the reports you see online about lawyers clashing with judges in Court or being beaten are often about criminal defense lawyers from the imperial capital.

Lawyer Yang Junhao's reason for taking the case was simple: on one hand, the pay was good, and on the other hand, he really wanted to show off his skills, especially after hearing Lü Dehai say that everything was orchestrated by Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun had risen to prominence, and now in the eyes of netizens, he seemed to have become the top criminal defense lawyer in the country, which many criminal defense lawyers resented.

As the saying goes, 'there's no second in literature.' You, Zhou Yun, have indeed handled some impressive cases, but so what? Who hasn't eaten a few dumplings?

So he came. Before coming, he specifically asked the guardian of the client many questions, such as what his son had actually done.

Now it seems it was just about extorting money and assaulting others. These matters can be big or small.

After waiting for a while, Lawyer Yang Junhao saw a young man walk in, his eyes red and his face stained with tears.

"You're Lü Xinhao, right? My surname is Yang, you can just call me Lawyer Yang."

Lü Xinhao nodded, and quickly said, "Lawyer Yang, Lawyer Yang, please quickly find a way to get me out! I really can't stay here for another day, I can't take it anymore…"

Lawyer Yang Junhao quickly advised, "Don't get excited yet. I will definitely find a way, but right now I need to understand the case first."

"Tell me everything you've done, and remember to be detailed."

He wanted to understand the main issues at hand, what the primary evidence for the alleged robbery was, and if there was a possibility of proving innocence.

As long as the robbery charge was dealt with, there would be no problem.

It's very simple: Lü Xinhao is between fourteen and sixteen years old. For crimes committed within this age range, only situations involving the eight major heinous crimes are prosecuted.

Many people might not understand this. Let me give an example, a real-life case.

There was a student, fifteen years old, who, along with accomplices, kidnapped a classmate and then demanded money from the classmate's parents.

Because this classmate often bragged about how rich his family was, but in reality, his parents were just ordinary workers and had no money at all.

When they received a ransom message saying their child was in the kidnappers' hands, demanding three million, they had no choice but to call the Police.

However, by the time the culprits were caught, the victim had already been killed…

Normally, kidnapping followed by murder would be charged as kidnapping. In criminal theory, this is called a combined offense, or sometimes an aggravated offense.

Article 239 of the criminal law stipulates that whoever kidnaps another person for the purpose of extorting money, or kidnaps another person as a hostage, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment. Whoever commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph and murders the kidnapped person, or intentionally injures the kidnapped person, causing serious injury or death, shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death, and shall also be fined or have his property confiscated.

Why is it stipulated this way? Because generally speaking, kidnapping plus murder is definitely a death penalty; there's no need for multiple offenses and punishments. In law, this is called statutory construction.

However, there was a bug here: kidnapping is not one of the eight major heinous crimes. Since the suspect was fifteen years old, he could not be punished for kidnapping.

But his actions were extremely malicious, so what to do? After consultation with the High Court, it was decided to treat it as intentional homicide…

Therefore, Lawyer Yang Junhao's idea was that if the robbery charge was handled, there would be no problem.

Although Lü Xinhao and others may have committed many acts, not every instance of assault and extortion can be classified as robbery.

Forcible taking could be provocation, or it could be extortion. In short, as long as it is not classified as robbery, there will be no problem.

This is also why he took on this case.

Compared to other cases, this was much simpler. As long as the conviction was changed, he would be directly acquitted and released.

Lü Xinhao tearfully began, “I, we, before, um, we, um, had relations with a girl in our class, and then they said we raped her…”

This first sentence directly broke Lawyer Yang's composure, leaving his face utterly bewildered.

No, wasn't it agreed before that it was a robbery charge? How did it turn into rape now?

He quickly composed himself, just about to say something, when Lawyer Yang Junhao thought of two details in the recent statement.

“Wait, wait a moment, don’t speak yet. I ask you, a girl in your class… how old is she?”

There was nothing he could do; Lawyer Yang's mind was in turmoil at this point. Although he could figure out the answer by using his imagination, he still asked.

Lü Xinhao stammered, "Four... fourteen."

Lawyer Yang Junhao took a deep breath: "Good, very good. I'll ask you again, you said 'you all,' so that means it wasn't just you alone?"

"Yes, the three of us together…" Lü Xinhao said.

Lawyer Yang Junhao got up and paced back and forth, finally as if he had thought of something: "Right, when did you do it? At that time, did the other party not report it?"

Lü Xinhao thought carefully and said, "It's been over a month. We scared her at the time, and she didn't report it."

Hearing this, Lawyer Yang Junhao breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, before he could react, Lü Xinhao on the other side spoke again: "It's just, it's just… we took a video at the time, and they found it…"

Lawyer Yang Junhao froze, and then remained silent.

Lü Xinhao became a little anxious, saying, "Lawyer Yang, Lawyer Yang, please say something! What should I do about this? I don't want to stay here anymore. Can I please be let out first?"

After shouting a few times, Lawyer Yang Junhao finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "I'm not taking this case. Yes, I'll go find your parents to terminate the contract later."

He really couldn't handle it. For a case like this, even his law firm director from the imperial capital would come and remain silent after seeing it.

Minors, sequential sexual assault, robbery, provocation—these words put together would make one's vision blur.

He had previously thought about getting the upper hand on Zhou Yun, but now it seems that if this case were to be posted online by the other party after it's over, his own reputation would probably become utterly notorious…

So, he decided to give up.

Lü Xinhao was stunned upon hearing this. "Ah… my lawyer is going to run away?"