Over at Old Tang's side, Dong Liping's family was arguing fiercely, but they visibly stepped back when Old Tang pulled out his credentials.
Of course, they still talked tough.
"Even the mentally ill can be lawyers now, huh? Fine, you just wait, I'll definitely complain about you, I'm going to see to it that you can't be a lawyer, I'm going to file an official complaint against you!" Dong Liping shouted there.
"Exactly, if the mentally ill can be lawyers nowadays, then we can be lawyers too, we must complain about him, I don't believe there's no place to reason with!"
On the side, Zheng Lingfen was originally trying to persuade them not to argue, but helplessly she couldn't stop them. When some people lose their temper and the crowd grows, they simply become reckless.
Why do people always say there's strength in numbers? Normally, one might be timid alone, but when the crowd grows, they feel emboldened, daring to say things they wouldn't before, and do things they'd previously fear to do.
On Old Tang's end, the strategy was to remain unshaken, you say your piece and I'll say mine. When it comes to arguments, avoid them if you can, and if you can't, don't follow their rhythm.
Resultantly, a remark from Fu Qiuying immediately silenced the continuously shouting family of Dong Liping.
Old Tang wasn't too surprised; while prosecutorial appeals weren't common, there was always a reason for each one.
Being acquitted without signing a confession and penalty agreement might be appealed, and being acquitted after signing is even more likely to lead to an appeal.
It can only be said that the prosecutor's understanding of this case was indeed very different from both his own and the court's.
Well, since there is an appeal, that's just an appeal, it simply means an additional second instance trial.
On Dong Liping's side, after being silent for a while, an older relative spoke up, "What's an appeal for?"
Before Fu Qiuying had the chance to speak, Old Tang quickly said, "An appeal, you see, by its literal meaning, is to resist the lawsuit."
"That means the prosecutor's office thinks the judgment in this case was unfair, so they want to exercise legal supervision procedures and ask a higher court to review it. Do you understand now?"
After finishing speaking, Old Tang turned to look at Fu Qiuying who was beside him, puzzled, and said earnestly, "Prosecutor Fu, no need to thank me, it's only right for a legal worker to educate the public about the law."
"Let's go, let's go; the case is finished, the courthouse doesn't provide food, hurry up and leave."
Old Tang said this and picked up his briefcase, heading out.
That's right, the court indeed doesn't provide meals, and these days, places in the political and legal system that include board and lodging are scarce.
Dong Liping's family watched the two leave, with a complex look towards Tang Fangjing. This man... is he crazy!
But almost immediately, they gathered around Fu Qiuying, wanting to ask her about the decision she found unfair...
Zheng Lingfen also left. Now that the verdict had been given, her team had to hurry to publish the news so that the online onlookers could have their fresh gossip.
Stay tuned with M V L
Indeed, many people online were awaiting updates on this case, mainly because, based on the online reports alone, it fit the narrative of the "perfect victim" perfectly.
There's no helping it, these days, not only celebrities and internet influencers create public personas, but even ordinary people wanting to take advantage of public opinion begin to craft personas.
What kin of persona? The "perfect victim."
In fact, in many criminal cases, the victims are not necessarily perfect because the incidents happen so quickly that one can't have the perspective of a deity at the time.
So, making certain errors is perfectly normal.
However, when the story is shared online, they deliberately cover up those elements that might cause issues, only mentioning what's to their advantage.
This gets traction very fast, but of course, it has a downside too—once a twist occurs, the persona can collapse startlingly quickly...
For instance, right now, Zheng Lingfen doesn't care if your persona crumbles or not; they run a program-based media platform, and where there's traffic, there's everything.
Accordingly, the verdict was quickly made public online, and they deliberately didn't broadcast the news about the prosecutorial appeal at first.