If you were asked to file a lawsuit, how come you were not found guilty?

Chapter 223 Plea Bargain

"What, suggest we withdraw the prosecution?"

After receiving a call from Fu Zhongchao, Fei Yifan's heart suddenly "thumped".

"Well, this case has been discussed by our collegial panel and also submitted to the review committee for review. The opinion given by our court is that the condoms sold by Liu Qianli should be treated in accordance with the third paragraph of the 2014 judicial interpretation. To determine, that is 25 pairs, this number does not constitute a crime."

After hearing what Fu Zhongchao said, Fei Yifan fell silent.

Having said this, it shows that if there is really a verdict, Liu Qianli is not guilty.

If a case is prosecuted by the public prosecutor's office and the final verdict is not guilty, it will undoubtedly have a great impact on the performance evaluation of the prosecutor.

Fu Zhongchao gave him this call to tell him that your Public Prosecution Office can also choose to withdraw the case on its own initiative. Even if the case has not completed the trial process, it is relatively less passive.

But the problem is that even if the case is withdrawn, for Fei Yifan, the result will not be much better than the verdict of not guilty.

"So what do you think?"

Fu Zhongchao's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I won't withdraw."

Fei Yifan took a deep breath and gave his answer.

It suddenly occurred to him that Fu Zhongchao's call to him was not just for himself.

Although there are always people who say that the prosecutors are one family, this is only from the perspective of ordinary people. In fact, judges and prosecutors who handle the same case rarely discuss the case in private.

Although Fu Zhongchao's call was somewhat tinged with feelings from a fraternal agency, the fundamental reason was that they were not very confident in the outcome of this case.

Although Fu Zhongchao said that the case was submitted to the review committee for discussion and such a result was finally reached, this just shows that the process of reaching this conclusion was quite tortuous.

Even if Fu Zhongchao and the others are found not guilty in this case, if Fei Yifan files another protest, the second trial may change the verdict. At that time, the pressure will shift to Fu Zhongchao and the others.

After thinking about this, Fei Yifan immediately made up his mind and gave the answer not to withdraw the lawsuit.

"Are you sure you don't want to withdraw? Then we are ready to issue a verdict?"

Unexpectedly, Fei Yifan gave an answer he didn't want to hear so quickly, so Fu Zhongchao asked again.

"We here insist that the card sets involved in the case should be dismantled and calculated. This case should definitely be criminalized."

Hearing Fu Zhongchao's uncertain tone, Fei Yifan strengthened his mind: "I won't withdraw."

"If you think so, I'm sure you have a point."

Seeing that Fei Yifan persisted in refusing to withdraw the lawsuit, Fu Zhongchao immediately became a little angry, "Well, in order to make the judgment more rigorous, we will study it here and take the case to the Intermediate People's Court to report it to the superiors. What is the opinion of the agency? If our colleagues in the Intermediate Court agree with us, then we will directly make a verdict."

After saying this, Fu Zhongchao was ready to hang up the phone.

"Etc., etc."

Fei Yifan shouted quickly.

"Anything else?"

Fu Zhongchao snorted in his heart.

Fei Yifan couldn't sit still now.

He was sure that Fu Zhongchao might not be acquitted, otherwise he would definitely protest. But if Fu Zhongchao and the others directly reported the case to the Intermediate People's Court, and then there was a not guilty verdict, he would just protest. To no avail.

Even if you protest, the case will still go to the Intermediate Court for second instance. Will the Intermediate Court slap you in the face?

But to be fair, Fei Yifan neither wanted the court to rule Liu Qianli not guilty, nor did he want to withdraw the prosecution.

No matter which outcome, it would have an impact on his own work results. On the other hand, both options also denied Fei Yifan's views on the case, which made him very uncomfortable.

"What we are saying is, how about we each take a step back and come up with a result that satisfies all three parties: the prosecution, defense and trial?"

Fei Yifan hesitated for a long time, an idea came to his mind, and he spoke slowly.

Accompanying Liu Qianli to the court again, Ren Zhen felt somewhat confused.

Will there be a verdict today?

If a verdict is handed down, it will be clearly informed on the phone, and it shouldn’t be an appointment in the judge’s office, right?

Under the leadership of the secretary, Ren Zhen and Liu Qianli opened the door of Fu Zhongchao.

In the office, Fei Yifan and Bai Kunkun were already sitting there.

As soon as Ren Zhen and Liu Qianli came in, the small office suddenly seemed a little crowded.

Three judges, two prosecutors, plus the two of them, each person only has an average of one or two square meters. Can it not be crowded?

"Hello judge, did you call us here today?"

Seeing this was true, several speculations flashed through Ren Zhen's mind.

"Lawyer Ren, Xiao Liu, please sit down."

Fu Zhongchao motioned them to sit down on the sofa, each took a paper cup and poured them a glass of water.

"I'm calling everyone here today. It's about our case. In some cases, I want to sit down together and discuss it to see what everyone thinks."

After making a simple opening remarks, Fu Zhongchao tactically picked up the water glass and took a sip, then looked at Ren Zhen and Liu Qianli:

"Now this is the case. When we held court before, the biggest focus of controversy was whether the card sets involved in the case should be counted as 'vice' or 'piece', that is, whether they should be counted according to the first paragraph of that judicial interpretation. Whether it’s the third paragraph or the fourth paragraph, we don’t really have any disputes about the rest, right?”

Ren Zhen and Fei Yifan both nodded.

"Now after deliberation by the three judges of our collegial panel, we have also submitted the case to the review committee for discussion. The preliminary opinion is that we want to calculate it according to the 'vice'. In other words, the matter of Xiao Liu is It's possible that he won't be guilty."

Hearing this, Liu Qianli was overjoyed, but Ren Zhen knew that things would not be that simple. Otherwise, it would have been better to just sentence them. Why call them here?

There are definitely buts next.

really.

"But."

Fu Zhongchao's turn of events made Liu Qianli suppress his new joy: "The prosecutor insists that the card sets involved in the case should still be calculated in terms of 'pieces'."

"Then what do you mean by calling us here?"

After saying a few words, Ren Zhen probably guessed the next lines.

It should be a plea bargain.

"After communicating with the prosecutor, what the prosecutor means is that if we acquit him, then they will definitely protest the case, which means that 80% of the case will have a second trial." Fu Zhongchao rubbed his hands. You definitely can't say this outside, but today in his office, as soon as the door is closed, some things can be put on the table:

"But if there is a second trial, then everyone will have to spend more time and energy on this matter, especially this client, who is a senior this year, right? The school is expected to be busy with a lot of graduation matters, so we thought, Let’s see if we can try our best to digest this case in the first instance.”

Ren Zhen glanced at Fei Yifan, his face turned to one side, expressionless.

“So we now have two options. The first one is that we take the case to the Intermediate People’s Court to report it, and make a judgment on this case based on the guidance of the Intermediate People’s Court.

The second option is that we sit here and discuss it, come up with a plan, and try to make all three parties satisfied with the result. What do you think? "

Although the prosecution and defense were being questioned, if Fei Yifan's side didn't agree, they wouldn't be sitting here today.

"Then please tell me what the plan is first."

No matter how stupid Liu Qianli is, he can still tell that the highlight of today is this plan.

"This plan is that we will sentence you according to the crime charged by the prosecutor, but we will not impose a real sentence. In the end, we will give you a sentence of immunity from criminal punishment. What do you think?"

Hearing Fu Zhongchao's words, Ren Zhen frowned: "The sentencing recommendation given by the public prosecution agency is three years. If this case is really sentenced according to 'Zhang' in Paragraph 4 of the Judicial Interpretation, he should even be suspended." It’s not applicable, right?”

"You don't have to worry about this."

Ren Zhen did not refuse, which made Fu Zhongchao see hope and said quickly:

"We have studied this material several times. After the case was transferred from the customs to the local area, the defendant took the initiative to cooperate with the investigation, right?

This is actually surrendering. If there is a mitigating circumstance of surrendering, there is no problem in lowering the statutory sentencing range.

In addition, the defendant is a first-time offender or an occasional offender and does not have a clear understanding of the illegality of the items involved. We will take these into consideration.

You and the public prosecutor will reach an agreement, plead guilty and accept punishment. The public prosecution agency will issue a sentencing recommendation that exempts you from criminal punishment. We will adopt the public prosecution agency’s recommendation.

What do you think of this plan? "

And this kind of operation?

As the only layman present, Liu Qianli was dumbfounded.

Walking out of the court, Liu Qianli asked blankly: "Lawyer Ren, can the plan given by the judge today really be implemented in this way?"

"Theoretically it's possible."

Ren Zhen nodded: "Although it may sound a little incredible to you, the plan given today is all within the scope of the judge's discretion."

What is discretion?

Liu Qianli didn’t fully understand and hesitated for a long time: “Lawyer Ren, do you think we should accept this plan?

Or insist on asking for a court ruling? "

"I can't make this choice for you."

Ren Zhen sighed: "I can only analyze for you. The judge gives the pros and cons of these two options, and then you decide which one to choose.

The first is that the judge reports the case to the Intermediate People's Court. If the Intermediate People's Court determines that the sister-in-law should be counted as a "vice", then you are not guilty. Even if the public prosecution agency protests after the judgment is made, there is a high probability that you will still be not guilty in the second trial.

But if the Intermediate Court believes that the calculation should be based on ‘Zhang’, then you will face a prison sentence of more than three years. Similarly, even if we appeal, the result of the second instance will not change.

In fact, the judge should be leaning towards your innocence, but they are not sure. If they make a direct verdict, either the result will be very unfavorable to you, or the result will be very unfavorable to the Public Prosecution Court. No matter what the result is, if the second instance changes the sentence, it will be very detrimental to the prosecutor. The three judges were also very unfavorable, so they called us here today to see if we could resolve the case through discussion. "

"It's obviously such a serious matter, why are we still discussing it?"

Liu Qianli didn't quite understand and muttered something softly.

"Justice, sometimes, is a process of compromise and compromise."

Ren Zhen smiled, in fact, isn't the system of admitting guilt and punishment the most vivid manifestation?

If the defendant pleads guilty, the sentencing recommendation given by the public prosecution will be lighter, and the court will generally impose a lighter sentence.

It’s just that the legal systems of some countries call it a more straightforward plea bargain, while the domestic name is a little more euphemistic and calls it plea bargaining.

But the essence is the same. The prosecution and defense each make certain concessions in exchange for a result that is relatively acceptable to both parties.

“Either zero points or full points, these are the two results of the first option.

As for the second option, the result is very certain. If you plead guilty and accept punishment, the court will eventually find you guilty, but you will be exempted from criminal punishment, no jail time and no fine.

As a lawyer, I definitely want to fight for your innocence, but I can't make this decision for you. After all, fighting for an acquittal is full of risks and variables. Even if the judge is closer to our side now, the case still remains. It doesn't end here.

If the case really goes to the Intermediate People's Court for a second trial, I can't guarantee what the outcome will be. Once you fail to fight for innocence, you will sit in jail. I can't bear it for you, so you still have to think about it yourself. "

Should I fight for the possibility of innocence, or accept a definite conviction and avoid prison sentence?

Liu Qianli was silent.

After waiting at the entrance of the court for a while, Liu Xinyuan drove to pick up his son.

After explaining the situation to him, Liu Xinyuan reacted for a while: "Lawyer Ren, if you choose to be convicted and exempted from prison sentence, it means you don't have to go to jail, right?"

"Correct."

Ren Zhen explained: "On the surface, this method will not have any impact on Liu Qianli, but it will leave a criminal record, which means it will leave a criminal record. If nothing else, he will not be able to pass the civil service exam."

"He's such a badass, and he still wants to take the civil service exam? I would burn my ancestral graves, but they wouldn't come out with this kind of green smoke!"

Liu Xinyuan glared at Liu Qianli angrily: "Just choose this one. You don't have to go to jail. If you have a criminal record, you have a criminal record. I can't afford it anyway.

From now on, just stay at home and play with your anime wife, and don’t go out to cause trouble for me again, do you hear me? "

Liu Qianli lowered his eyelids slightly and turned to Ren Zhen: "Lawyer Ren, I also think this is the way to go. It would be great if you don't go to jail."

"I respect your choice. If you have thought about it, I will talk to the judge later."

Ren Zhen nodded without any objection.

Lawyers are originally the advocates for their clients, and they should make their own decisions.

"By the way, since this is a matter of discussion, can you discuss it with them again and ask the school not to expel me?"

They were already on the bus, and Liu Qianli suddenly thought of something: "I will graduate in a few months. Even if I can't take the public examination or anything like that, I still want to get this university diploma."

"Okay, I'll contact the judge and we'll discuss it after you go back. If the decision is made, I will send a reply to the judge tomorrow."

Ren Zhen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't remember anything else, just a transaction, right?

(End of this chapter)