The Judgment Chief arrived with the Judge, and all stood up.
This gesture of standing up to greet the judicial officers is written in the "Court Rules," representing the dignity of the law and the solemnity of the courtroom.
The procedure began as usual, with the prosecution making the accusation, reading the indictment.
Next was the defendant's statement. Li Huaiqing stuttered, "Regarding the accused facts, I have no objection, but I dispute the charge. I was driving normally at the time, without any acceleration or deceleration."
"The victim jumped out of the car on his own; it was an accident..."
Then came the statement of the victim, except that the victim Fang Pinghui was unable to appear in court.
In Fang Pinghui's statement, he said he had forgotten everything and only learned about the accident after waking up.
After these procedures, the prosecution began questioning the defendant, and Li Huaiqing became even more nervous.
Although Lawyer Tang had coached him on how to respond, it was impossible to avoid the feeling of nervousness, especially since he hadn't even completed junior high school.
The previous questions were procedural, such as the identity of the defendant and the time of the incident.
Suddenly, the key question came. Fu Qiuhua stared at Li Huaiqing with a serious face, "Li Huaiqing, on the day of the incident, the victim repeatedly stated in the back that if you didn't stop the car, he would jump out. Did you know that?"
Li Huaiqing hurriedly said, "I knew it."
"Okay, then why didn't you stop at the time?"
Li Huaiqing replied, "The first time I heard him say he would jump out if I didn't stop, I turned back and saw that the victim had opened the car door, but was pulled back by a companion. So I locked the doors."
For instance, the surveillance footage provided by the traffic police department showed the location where the victim jumped out was in the middle lane in front of a traffic light, with solid lines on both sides.
That is to say, it was impossible to stop at the place where he jumped out.
Zhang had walked back a bit after getting out of the car and then discovered Fang Pinghui lying on the ground with a lot of blood, and called the police.
So, the core issue is whether Li Huaiqing was at fault.
Lawyer Tang spoke up, "I believe the defendant Li Huaiqing did not subjectively have the fault of causing serious injury to the victim Fang Pinghui."
"The whole incident was triggered by Fang Pinghui's refusal to pay the fare, and moreover, Fang Pinghui's refusal to pay and jumping out of the car despite his companion's advice were self-inflicted."
"Also, the evidence from the prosecution cannot prove that Li Huaiqing was subjectively negligent or overly confident."
Fu Qiuhua spoke up, "I object to the counsel's opinion. In this case, the victim had already mentioned several times before jumping that he would jump out if the car didn't stop."
"Furthermore, the victim was already drunk at the time; such unusual behavior under the influence of alcohol should have been foreseeable by Li Huaiqing, a driver; the possibility of jumping out was there."
"So subjectively, he does have the fault of negligence or overconfidence."
Old Tang immediately said, "The defendant Li Huaiqing, as a taxi driver, has the duty to drive safely, but stopping the car at the passenger's request is not a legal obligation."
"Moreover, what constitutes the obligation of safe driving? Is it to pay attention to whether a drunk passenger jumps out of the car in the back? No, I don't think so."
"So, as a taxi driver, Li Huaiqing should always be attentive to the surrounding driving environment and the flow of traffic. That is his primary obligation for safe driving!"
"In such a situation, it's impossible and not his duty to constantly watch the passengers in the back, nor to always monitor the passengers in the back seat."
A driver's most pressing responsibility is to drive safely, not to watch for passengers jumping out of the car in the back, obviously the former is more important.
"Based on normal logic of an average person, with the back door already locked and a companion present, it's impossible to foresee someone would jump out of a window."