20: Obstructing public service?

Under the eager gaze of the live stream audience, Zhou Yun’s voice remained as calm as ever.

“Don’t worry, criminal cases cannot be rushed. Please tell me the entire situation. How was the forced demolition carried out? Who carried it out? How did your son get into a conflict at the time? Please explain everything clearly.”

In the live stream, when this netizen spoke, the audience was immediately a little surprised.

Because the other party’s voice sounded like an elderly person, at least someone over sixty.

However, no one said anything now; everyone was quietly listening.

“Lawyer Zhou, my family is from Dashan County, Ning City. It was about two years ago, I think. The place we lived in was slated for demolition, and we were all happy at first, but then we found out that the money offered was simply not much…”

This is also a misconception many people have now, thinking that demolition is still like before, where you can get rich overnight once your house is demolished.

But a very realistic point is that with the economic downturn, many places are experiencing economic problems.

The reason demolitions used to give a lot of money was because housing prices were high then. Current housing prices cannot be compared to before, which also leads to current demolitions not offering high prices.

If the price is not high, those who are being relocated will certainly not be satisfied.

Some places still use the old approach: if you disagree, you are a troublemaker, and they will proceed with forced demolition!

It’s just that you don’t see this type of news now; if you search carefully, you’ll find that it still exists.

The elderly person in the live stream was still speaking; the case, when explained, was very simple.

Her family did not accept the compensation for the demolition, so the other party began forced demolition. During the forced demolition, the elderly person’s son, Sun Weitao, forty-eight years old, couldn’t help but resist when several people forcibly removed him.

And when he resisted, he was holding a mop.

The result of the resistance was that three of the forced demolition personnel sustained minor injuries, and Sun Weitao himself also sustained minor injuries.

Having understood the general situation, Zhou Yun spoke: “How was the verdict later? Did you hire a lawyer in between? What exactly happened?”

The elderly person said: “We hired a lawyer at the time. That lawyer advised us to actively compensate and for my son to plead guilty and accept punishment, saying that this way he could get two years less.”

“And if we didn’t cause trouble, the demolition money could also be slightly more.”

“We listened to them at the time, paid a lot of money, and in the end, it was said to be the crime of obstructing official duties, and he was sentenced to three years.”

Hearing this, Zhou Yun asked curiously: “Then since he pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, and has already served two years, why are you looking for me now?”

The elderly person’s voice revealed helplessness: “Lawyer Zhou, we felt wronged before. The money they gave was too little, and they just demolished it without allowing us to resist. Why should that be?!”

“It’s just that there was no other way back then. The lawyer, and those other people, all advised my family not to get entangled anymore, saying that further entanglement might lead to a longer sentence, so just accept it.”

“But now it’s different. My grandson is graduating and wants to become a police officer, but now they say that because his father committed a crime, he cannot become a police officer; the political review won’t pass.”

“There’s no other way, Lawyer Zhou, that’s why I found you…”

He understood. Although what the elderly person said was a bit disorganized, Zhou Yun still understood.

He felt wronged before, but back then, there was nothing he could do even if he felt wronged; he could only accept his fate.

Additionally, with so many people advising him that pleading guilty might reduce his sentence by two years, for various reasons, he pleaded guilty in a muddled way.

This type of case is a minor case, and Zhou Yun could be one hundred percent certain that, basically, after Sun Weitao pleaded guilty, the Court directly proceeded with a summary criminal procedure.

As for being sentenced to three years, that’s hard to say. If it were truly according to criminal law, Sun Weitao was armed during the resistance, and being armed is an aggravating circumstance.

Now, his grandson wants to become a police officer, and this has forced him into a corner again.

The elderly person on the other end was still rambling: “My daughter-in-law passed away early. My husband and I raised our grandson, hoping he would have a good future.”

Zhou Yun said: “Please don’t be too anxious, elder. Since I haven’t seen the judgment yet, I’m not entirely clear about the specific situation. I have a question I’d like to ask you.”

Lawyers absolutely cannot easily trust the words of their clients; this is an experience from many years of practice in his previous life!

It’s a simple truth: no matter who it is, when they encounter a problem, they will subconsciously portray themselves in a better light.

If you don’t believe it, go and see; it’s really like this. Now, online essays are rampant, and basically, they all follow this pattern.

They avoid talking about their own problems or downplay them, only focusing on the other party’s issues.

Usually, it’s fine, but when these people do the same when consulting a lawyer, the problem becomes more serious.

Lawyers and doctors are very similar.

If you go to a doctor but don’t tell the doctor your true condition, how can the doctor diagnose you?

It’s the same for lawyers; without understanding the case, they simply cannot proceed.

Zhou Yun had already spoken: “I’ll just ask one question: at the time of the forced demolition, was the demolition money transferred to your family’s account?”

The audience in the live stream was a bit confused. What kind of question was this?

Soon, someone posted a bullet comment in the live stream: “This question is a bit outrageous, isn’t it? How could demolition possibly give money in advance these days?”

“Exactly, I’ve never seen money given in advance…”

In Shanghai, Zhou Xinyao was also a bit strange. Although she also studied law, she didn’t understand why Zhou Yun would ask this question.

The elderly person quickly said: “No, the money was not given at all. As I just told you, after that incident, the local people told my family not to cause any more trouble, and they could give a little more money.”

“Lawyer Zhou, what could we do at that time? The house was already demolished, so we could only agree. They said if we didn’t agree, we could go to Court.”

“But the family had no money at all, so we couldn’t sue, and therefore could only agree to that demand…”

Zhou Yun’s voice sounded: “Oh, then it can now be confirmed that the other party did not give money at the time of the forced demolition.”

“I see many people in the live stream don’t understand, so I’ll briefly explain: a lawful forced demolition must involve compensation first, then relocation.”

“Article 27 of the ‘Regulations on the Expropriation of Houses on State-Owned Land and Compensation’ stipulates that house expropriation should be implemented with compensation first, then relocation.”

“Note, this is a legal regulation, which means compensation must come first!”

This is a very important point. Although the actions of many places in reality… well, everyone knows, but if there’s a regulation, then that regulation can be used.

It’s like the “Labor Law” and “Labor Contract Law” which have been criticized countless times.

Labor arbitrations are becoming more and more frequent now, to the extent that many companies have already made “whether there has been arbitration” an important background check, which proves one thing: if the law is there, it certainly has an effect.

At the very least, it’s much stronger than what many people call waste paper.

“Having confirmed this issue, the case temporarily has a direction. The charge is obstructing official duties.”

“Then we will start from this official duty. If this official duty is illegal, then is it still an official duty?”

“If it’s not even an official duty, then does this act not count as obstructing official duties?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Xinyao in front of her phone was stunned.