193: How many buffs are stacked?

The meeting ended, and the Police Officer led Lü Xinhao back. Probably to prevent the other party from having other thoughts, he casually asked, “How was your talk with the lawyer just now?”

Upon hearing this, Lü Xinhao said blankly, “That lawyer said he didn’t want to take my case after he heard about it.”

Wh-… what? The Police Officer immediately fell silent. He had been at the Detention Center for so many years, and he hadn’t seen this situation much!

Lawyers, as a group, almost never refuse a case after taking it. A common saying among them is that even the most heinous suspect has the right to defense.

This time, he really didn’t know why the lawyer would refuse!

After a long pause, the Police Officer finally said, “It’s alright. Actually, lawyers from Legal Aid are also good; many people have used them.”

Of course, that’s great. They start by advising you to plead guilty and accept punishment, with more force than a prosecutor. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was a prosecutor too.

Meanwhile, outside, Yang Junhao had already met Lü Dehai, who had just been released from the Detention Center.

“Mr. Lu, I’d like to inform you now that your son is doing well. He just constantly wants to come out and misses home, but overall, he’s fine.”

“And then, I can’t take on your son’s case going forward.”

Originally, the contract he signed with Lü Dehai was not a full-service contract, but only for the investigation stage.

Veteran criminal defense lawyers are all like this; generally, the contract will clearly state that they are only responsible for the investigation stage, including one or two meetings, applications for release on bail, understanding the specific case from the Public Security Bureau, and so on.

As mentioned before, each stage has its own price: the investigation stage, the review and prosecution stage, and the trial stage are all separately charged and contracted.

There are many benefits to doing this. If it’s an all-inclusive package, and you quote too high a price for one case, many people will choose to find other lawyers.

But if the three stages are separated, it’s different.

If an all-inclusive package costs 100,000, then is it too much for me to charge 50,000 for each stage? And because I handled the previous stages, I understand the case very well.

So, the subsequent stages will almost certainly still be handled by me…

Lü Dehai was stunned upon hearing this. “No, Lawyer Yang, we agreed before that you would handle the subsequent stages. How can you change your mind now?”

Yang Junhao directly said, “Mr. Lu, you didn’t clarify the case details with me earlier.”

“Your son isn’t just guilty of robbery; they also gang-raped a female classmate. You didn’t tell me any of this!”

“So, although I promised you earlier that I would handle the follow-up, firstly, we didn’t sign a contract, and secondly, you didn’t tell me all the details of the case, so you breached the contract first.”

This cannot be considered a disclosure of case information because it was obtained from the client.

Originally, Lü Dehai was already a bit angry and was thinking of having a big argument with this lawyer.

But then he heard that his son had done such a thing, and he was completely stunned.

“You, are you telling the truth? My son, he, he really…”

Yang Junhao nodded. “It’s true. So you keep saying your son is still young, but he’s not young at all. That’s how it is. I think Legal Aid lawyers are also very good; you can find them.”

With that, Yang Junhao left directly, leaving Lü Dehai standing there with a bewildered expression.

… … … …

It was another sunny day, and Zhou Yun sat up from the hotel bed. When you work on a case, you tend to lose track of time.

He planned to review the files today, still electronic review, and then combine the evidence to give his opinion.

He got up, washed, had a quick bite downstairs, and then Zhou Yun began reviewing the files.

Two cases: one was the “Guo Zihao Intentional Injury Case,” and the other was the “Lü Xinhao and Others Robbery Case.”

As the victim’s lawyer, he also had the right to review the files, could offer opinions during the review and prosecution stage, and could also participate in the trial.

Soon the review began, but as he read, Zhou Yun was stunned.

“Rape? And gang rape? And the victim is a classmate?”

Subconsciously, Zhou Yun began to calculate the stacked buffs here.

The target is under fourteen years old, which itself warrants heavier punishment.

For gang rape by two or more people, the starting sentence is ten years, with a maximum of death penalty!

Good heavens, Mr. Zhou himself was utterly shocked. He had originally thought that if he really couldn’t convince the Procuratorate to classify it as an evil force, he would change his strategy and do his best to argue for excessive self-defense, trying to avoid prosecution.

If prosecution was unavoidable, he would aim for a guilty verdict but exemption from punishment.

Because they are minors, their criminal records can be sealed, meaning that in normal circumstances like this, they can obtain a certificate of no criminal record after adulthood.

The legal basis is the “Implementation Measures for Sealing Criminal Records of Minors” jointly issued by “Two Highs” and “Two Ministries.”

Of course, it’s not as many people imagine, where anything can be sealed; there are conditions.

Article 4 of the “Implementation Measures” stipulates that criminal records of minors who were under eighteen at the time of the crime and were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of less than five years or exempted from criminal punishment shall be sealed in accordance with the law.

It needs to be clarified here that many explanations regarding this on the internet are currently very confusing. The simplest point is whether sealing a criminal record affects military service, civil service exams, employment, etc.

Firstly, sealing only means confidentiality, not that it cannot be checked. Article 16 of these “Implementation Measures” stipulates that judicial organs, for the needs of handling cases, or relevant units, can apply to inquire about criminal records in accordance with national regulations.

That is to say, for example, if you take a civil service exam, for certain strictly regulated positions, an investigation will definitely be conducted.

For instance, the simplest example is certain central-level units that implement differential political vetting, meaning they screen people through political vetting.

Or the public security, Procuratorate, and Court systems, where they can directly check internally, and the political vetting for these systems is inherently stricter, based on regulations like the People’s Police Law.

This falls under “inquiring about criminal records in accordance with national regulations.”

However, for general civil service positions, those who have participated in the review generally know that you usually just need to provide a certificate of no criminal record yourself.

And after sealing, this certificate can be issued.

Similarly, military service is the same. Article 9 of the “Implementation Measures” stipulates that minors whose criminal records have been sealed are exempt from the obligation to report criminal records when enlisting or seeking employment.

Of course, after all that talk, these are just regulations. The specific implementation in various localities is another matter. These regulations were implemented in 2022, and the actual implementation in various provinces and cities needs to be specifically observed.

Law is far from being a matter where the state issues a law, and then all provinces below can immediately strictly enforce it. It’s not like that at all. Law is law, reality is reality, and policy implementation takes time.

This was Zhou Yun’s previous thought, but now that things have come to this, there’s no doubt that it must be classified as an evil force.

Time came to the next day. Zhou Yun stood at the entrance of Fengxian County Procuratorate. This was his first time here, but it didn’t matter; he would get familiar with it after visiting more often.

Upon arriving, he dialed the number Old Wu gave him. Old Wu was a good person, although when he called yesterday, it felt like he was trying to pass the buck.

The call connected, and Zhou Yun quickly said, “Hello, may I speak with Procurator Chen Yinghe? I am Guo Zihao’s defense lawyer, Zhou Yun.”

“Officer Wu from the Public Security Bureau told me the case has already reached the Procuratorate, so I wanted to inquire about the situation…”

Inside the Procuratorate office, Chen Yinghe’s face immediately showed a hint of unnaturalness upon hearing this. She often commented under Zhou Yun’s videos, after all…

Sometimes, she would even argue with internet trolls over certain issues, but she never expected the person himself to call directly.

She tactically cleared her throat and said, “Oh, Lawyer Zhou. You’re at the Procuratorate entrance? Alright, come on in. Hmm, office 412 on the fourth floor. I’m here now.”

At the Procuratorate entrance, Zhou Yun hung up the phone, feeling a bit uncertain. He hadn’t expected Procurator Chen to be so accommodating, letting him go straight up.

Don’t think lawyers can just casually meet judges and prosecutors. Some people are difficult, and meeting them is truly hard.

Providing defense opinions, right? Fine, you can provide them in writing.

But it’s well-known that talking in person and written opinions have completely different effects.

Otherwise, why would the Court have a courtroom debate session? It’s to have a live clash of ideas, making it easier for the judge to assess the situation.

Otherwise, both sides could just submit a written opinion, and there would be no need for a hearing at all.

Thinking about these random things, Zhou Yun arrived at the office on the 4th floor.

Soon, he saw a woman in her thirties walk out, her face expressionless, and she asked, “Lawyer Zhou Yun?”

Zhou Yun nodded, “Yes, that’s me.”

“I am Chen Yinghe. Let’s go inside and talk.”

Entering the office like this made Zhou Yun breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that this Prosecutor Chen probably hadn’t seen his videos, or perhaps she didn’t like his working style.

In the past, those within the system would usually greet him with something like, “Lawyer Zhou, I’ve long admired your reputation.”

It seemed that when he brought up his opinions later, he would have to have a good chat with this Procurator.