CH 204

The prosecutor, Alan Gaunt, stood up and nodded at the judge and at the jury, but ignored the defence table.

In general, animosity wouldn’t be thick at the beginning of the trial, and both prosecution and defence would maintain basic courtesy in a show of ceremony. 

But it wasn’t so this time. Lawyer Gaunt instilled a subtle antagonism and contempt even before he made his statement.

This was actually an action that could easily receive flak, but for a case like the Elderly Bobblehead, there would be no such misgivings, for the masses watching the trial were naturally on his side from the outset.

“I’m sure that no one here is unfamiliar with this case. You may already have read some elements countless times in various articles, but I still have to reiterate some of it today.”

Gaunt said, “On the evening of October 3 this year, in 1256 of the Emma Gregorian calendar, one of the victims in this case, Mike Alden Sr, was fishing on the northeastern outskirts of Selenium Lake, Redstone. There was no surveillance around and few that frequented the area. Mike Alden has no children and currently lives alone. This meets the defendant’s criteria for selecting his victims. Thus, the defendant took advantage of an elderly man’s innocence and trust, luring him to a driveway outside the woods and knocking him out with a relatively easy-to-obtain RK-type ether compound. He stuffed him into his car and took him to a medium-sized warehouse in 9 Black Rock District…” 

“…Given the examination of the various traces at the crime scene, the results show that the cage used to contain Mr Mike Alden had been brought to the warehouse a few days prior. There were other unused cages in the warehouse as well, and the same applies to the other crime scenes in this case. It is reasonable to infer that the selected victim is not determined in advance, but the defendant had acted with premeditation.”

This might have been the longest opening statement ever made, but no one showed any signs of impatience.

Whether it was the judge, the jury, or the people who had applied to sit in the gallery, and the many others following the livestream…

Even including the defence lawyers.

“…This is actually a difficult case to wrangle, for the victims had suffered varying degrees of mental impairment, to the extent that they have difficulty clearly articulating the facts and, legally, are even unable to tell the public what they had been through. Fortunately, on hand, we have scene documentation, witness testimonies, and oral confessions from the defendant himself which we can use to restore the truth.”

Lawyer Gaunt surveyed the room, then said grimly, “It has been a long time since the start of the case. Whenever this case is brought up by articles or word of mouth, the victims have been referred to as the Elderly Bobblehead. I believe… this includes the defence lawyers?”

His line of sight snapped to the defence table, sweeping over Dane, the defence lawyer for the first defendant, and then landing on Gu Yan. He said slowly, “But I want everyone to realise one thing. The term Elderly Bobblehead lumps all the victims together. It can even create a psychological cue, making people subconsciously feel as though there is only one victim whose nickname is Elderly Bobblehead, easily written off as two words.”

“But that is, sadly, not the case.” 

“I must stress in court today that there are 327 victims implicated in the Elderly Bobblehead case. Some live alone, some are homeless, but they each have their own name. And they are each living, fully independent individuals, not an ‘Elderly Bobblehead’ whose introduction is glossed into two words. I hope… today, right here, the judge, every member of the jury, and everyone watching, whether or not you’re sitting here with us, can see reparations made to them.”

The courtroom was silent.

After concluding, Lawyer Gaunt stood there silently for a moment, then dropped his gaze and nodded, taking his seat again.

It took several more seconds before the gallery was buzzing with chatter, and some of those who were moved by his words even started to clap. 

But they swiftly realised that it was inappropriate for the venue and stopped.

From the gallery, Miller Manson glanced back at the clapping spectators. He scanned a few others then turned to whisper in his brother’s ear, “I’ve never liked a lawyer sent to court from the prosecutor’s office so much.”

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Social responsibility and sympathy?

Irrelevant to our interests?

Miller Manson’s eyes crinkled, as if he found it laughable. But to keep up appearances, this emotion stayed only at the corners of his lips. 

Just as he shifted his gaze away to elsewhere, he locked eyes with someone else a short distance away.

It was Devore Yves.

“Spring Ivy’s Old Fox is watching us.” Miller mumbled from the corner of his mouth.

Brewer Manson said, again, “Sit properly.” 

And then, he himself turned his head and looked over.

Devore Yves’ grey-blue eyes were obfuscated behind his lenses, and, as always, he carried an air of wise nobility around him. He smiled faintly at the Manson brothers and nodded at them, like an ordinary elder acquaintance.

Brewer Manson returned the nod.

While the undercurrent was surging on this side, at the second row of the central section of the gallery, twenty First-Class Lawyers whose names were on the Alliance Wall of Honour had come, filling two rows. 

These bigwigs were watching the trial from a different perspective from everyone else. They were also able to discern a lawyer’s ability and technique from every passage uttered.

“Lawyer Gaunt has a firm grasp of tempo.” A bigwig with the surname Parveen said from beside Yan Suizhi, “He knows when to speak faster, when to slow down, when to raise his volume and when to dial it down. Even the breaks are done nicely.”

“Yeah.” Yan Suizhi’s curled fingers touched his chin, his gaze still directed towards the well. After a while, he said, “It was a good speech, his words moved me.”

Parveen, “…” 

“What?” Yan Suizhi deigned to avert his gaze from the front of the courtroom, sliding a sidelong glance at the contemporary. “Is there anything wrong with what I said?”

“Isn’t that your student on the defence council?” Parveen said, “Honestly, with the unprecedented attention to this trial and us all sitting here, aren’t you even nervous for your student?”

Yan Suizhi went “oh” and said, as if holding back a smile, “Who invited all of you here?”

Parveen, “…” 

He opened his mouth, about to speak, then saw Yan Suizhi hold a finger to his lips, motioning for him to keep quiet.

“Don’t drag me into discussing Gu Yan. After all, I’m the one who needs to abstain from the First-Class Lawyer vote,” said Yan Suizhi, the corners of his lips upturned.

Parveen opened his mouth again.

Yan Suizhi didn’t set down his finger. He said softly, “Also, don’t distract me from watching my student.” 

Parveen, “…”

He had lost all mood to talk.

Ahead, the first defendant, Fred Chia, sat in a glass-enclosed booth. Unlike the image in past articles, at this time, he was still and quiet, head bowed, looking depressed and contrite.

Even at this angle, one could see the dark circles drooping from his eyes to his cheeks. He looked haggard and exhausted. 

His defence lawyer Dane was making his opening statement, with no more substantive arguments being mentioned. After all, it wasn’t appropriate to throw them out right off the bat, either.

Dane simply and succinctly spelled out that Fred Chia was not the principal perpetrator in this case.

“As a healthcare practitioner, like many of his counterparts, he has always revered life. My client might have made some less than flattering remarks before, and those remarks were further distorted and rendered out of proportion by the media, causing much controversy and accusations. But I implore you to consider it from another perspective. It was, in fact, an instinctive self-defence. I believe anyone can understand that when a person is unjustly accused of a crime that he did not commit, it is natural for him to lash out. On the contrary, doesn’t this obliquely show that he is being wronged?”

“…Anyone with a shred of sympathy will feel sorrow for the victims of this case.” Dane pointed to the defendant’s dock and said, “My client does as well. I believe that everyone has the discernment to see this clearly for yourselves.” 

There was even a subtext to this statement, which was: Look, in contrast to my client, the other defendant Horace Lee is a textbook example of someone with no sympathy. He doesn’t look depressed or contrite at all.

It was obvious that many had picked up on this subtext. Many in the courtroom looked at the first defendant then at the second defendant, immediately after showing an expression of disgust.

At this time, their feelings of revulsion were carried over to the defence lawyer.

Court was all about telling hard facts, not forming friendships. 

What was more, although they were both from Southcross Law Firm, each practising lawyer merely had a cooperative relationship with the firm. They worked independently, plus Gu Yan and Dane were never friends to begin with.

When there were more than one defendant in a case, there was inevitably a tendency to pass the buck to each other.

Not only the defendants did this, but their defence lawyers as well.

Some lawyers would keep stressing the vileness of the other defendant to weaken their own client’s culpability, which was a tactic that some lawyers were fond of falling back on. 

But that was not Gu Yan’s style.

When Dane ended his statement, the judge nodded his head in Gu Yan’s direction. “Lawyer Gu, you may begin your opening statement.”

At this, the Manson brothers in the gallery unconsciously leaned forward.

It wasn’t out of nervousness or worry, but that in their impression, Gu Yan had a bad habit that had been passed down to him from that law school dean, which was that he never played by the book in the opening statement. 

Isn’t it good enough to talk about the client, talk about the case, and talk about your points of defence?

Assuredly not.

So, when it was Gu Yan’s turn to speak, even Brewer Manson’s ears pricked up.

Gu Yan nodded and rose to his feet. He calmly said: 

“Respectfully, I’d like to remind everyone that the Alliance Criminal Code stipulates that as long as there are flaws in the evidence, it is not possible to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. In that tangent, one cannot completely rule out the possibility that the accused has been wrongfully accused, and that is the reason defence lawyers exist. I hope you can cast aside all preconceived judgements formed prior to the trial, and reacquaint yourselves with this case. For only then will the true perpetrators confess their guilt and be sentenced for their crimes, and thus will justice be done for the 327 victims.”