Before Gu Nianzhi could retaliate, the judge banged his gavel, "Agreeing to the defendant's lawyer's request. Court will be adjourned until both parties find a neutral third party to conduct another autopsy."
Huo Shaoheng nodded, "That's fine, I hope it won't take too long."
After the court adjourned, Gu Nianzhi followed Huo Shaoheng and the others to the military's van to return to the base.
In the van, Director Wang, who had been silent all this time, actually praised Gu Nianzhi, "Miss Gu is indeed smart and quick to react. I believe you will become a good lawyer and help us win this case."
Gu Nianzhi quickly expressed humility, "I'm just speaking my mind. I'm not mature yet and need more practice."
Although she said that, the condescending expression on her face was full of arrogance.
Huo Shaoheng glanced at her and turned to Director Wang, "She's still young, Director Wang is too kind."
Gu Nianzhi immediately hid the arrogance on her face and lowered her head to reveal her snow-white neck. The gentle curve stretched out before Huo Shaoheng's eyes, and he paused for a moment before falling silent.
…
After returning to the base, Gu Nianzhi hurriedly took a shower. When she came out of the bedroom, she saw Huo Shaoheng sitting on the sofa in her small living room, staring at her computer in a daze.
"Huo Shao, I … I locked the door." Gu Nianzhi scratched her head helplessly, wondering if she had forgotten to lock the door again.
Huo Shaoheng didn't turn around, "You did, I opened it with my key."
Gu Nianzhi was speechless, not knowing what to say.
She awkwardly sat down next to Huo Shaoheng and saw him looking at the pictures of the evidence in Director Wang's bag on her computer. She shook her head slightly.
"Because this case happened so long ago, almost all the evidence was destroyed. What we're looking at now is already second or even third evidence."
"Yes, it's really a pity." Huo Shaoheng sat up straight, his long legs stretching under the coffee table, "As the first crime scene, the bedroom has been completely renovated. There's no value in using it as a reference."
Gu Nianzhi remembered Huo Shaoheng's soundproof suite in the Huo mansion, "Huo Shao, your suite was renovated during those years?"
"Yes, more or less." Huo Shaoheng played with a round gold coin in his hand. "After I left home, the Huo family began to renovate and rebuild."
"In that case, even if we don't have direct evidence, indirect evidence will do." Gu Nianzhi was deep in thought. She stroked her chin with one hand and held the mouse with the other to quickly search for legal information. "I remember there was a case where there was no direct witness or material evidence, but the case was won in the end."
"What kind of indirect evidence?"
Gu Nianzhi opened the case file and glanced at it. She mused, "For example, who requested that the deceased's room be renovated? Who took the job? The renovation and reconstruction of the Huo residence cannot be done by an outside construction team. It can only be done by the military. "
Huo Shaoheng understood immediately. "I'll ask Little Ze to find information on the construction team and send it to Director Wang. He's the best at identifying evidence."
Gu Nianzhi smiled and looked at the evidence on the big screen. She felt even more friendly. "Although this evidence isn't first-hand evidence, it can still explain a lot of things. Director Wang is really good. The first person he found was Luo Xinxue's psychiatrist. "
"Hmm? Really? "
"The medical records from her psychiatrist also showed that Luo Xinxue needed sleeping pills to sleep after her husband died. Therefore, she has a record of habitual use of sleeping pills. " Gu Nianzhi pulled up a medical record. "However, these medical records and prescriptions show that the dosage of sleeping pills prescribed to Luo Xinxue wasn't high. Of course, if she had planned this for a long time, it's also possible that she slowly saved up the sleeping pills and took them all at once. "
"So this case is going to be very difficult." Huo Shaoheng straightened his back. His brows furrowed even more.
First, they had to prove that Luo Xinxue hadn't swallowed the sleeping pills herself. That was already very difficult. They had finally gotten approval, but the other party had requested another autopsy.
Now they had to prove that Luo Xinxue, who had a long history of taking sleeping pills, didn't have suicidal tendencies. No matter how they looked at it, it seemed impossible.
And even if the first two "impossible tasks" were possible, they still had to prove that the sleeping pills had something to do with Bai Jinyi. That was even more difficult.
Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo Shaoheng sympathetically.
Suing Bai Jinyi for delaying Song Jinning's treatment, causing her condition to worsen and almost die, and causing huge losses to the country was much easier than suing Bai Jinyi for Luo Xinxue's murder.
But the former wouldn't be enough to punish Bai Jinyi.
"… Huo Shao, who did you want to be the lead defense lawyer to sue Bai Jinyi for Luo Xinxue's murder?" Gu Nianzhi asked quietly.
"The military's lawyer." Huo Shaoheng casually played with the round gold coin between his fingers. "Luo Xinxue was my uncle's widow. Her death was related to my uncle's death, so they took over the prosecution."
Gu Nianzhi thought of someone. "What about Director Bai? She's the director of the Special Operations Forces' legal department, and also Bai Jinyi's niece. With a relationship like that, shouldn't she avoid arousing suspicion? "
"Yes. That's why I thought we shouldn't use anyone from the legal department at all. We might as well let you do the entire defense. "
So it was the next best thing.
Gu Nianzhi was displeased. She nodded slowly. "… I see."
She didn't say anything else. Huo Shaoheng looked at her and smiled. He ruffled her hair and said affectionately, "Little girl, you sure have a lot of inner drama."
Gu Nianzhi's expression was blank. Huo Shaoheng had already seen through her careful thoughts …
"Huo Shao, I need to borrow someone from you to testify in the next court session." Gu Nianzhi was a bit embarrassed. She could only change the topic and talk about their case.
"Who?"
"Huo Jialan." Gu Nianzhi pointed to the evidence on the computer. "She's in charge of keeping your uncle and aunt's belongings. Her testimony is crucial."
The next step was definitely going to be a debate about the evidence.
Gu Nianzhi was very confident in Medical Examiner Zhu. She didn't think any neutral medical examiner would be able to challenge his conclusions.
If there was, Gu Nianzhi planned to challenge this neutral medical examiner's "independent" qualifications and practice qualifications.
Huo Jialan hadn't appeared in public for almost a month since she was taken away by Huo Shaoheng for a lie detector test on New Year's Eve.
"Huo Shaoheng, did you test her?" Gu Nianzhi asked with concern. "How is she?"
Huo Shaoheng sighed. "We did, but didn't find anything wrong."
Gu Nianzhi: "…"
She was that good?
Or was there really nothing wrong with her?
"… We can't say there's nothing wrong with her." Huo Shaoheng mused. "Maybe we asked the wrong questions. She's not a convicted person, nor is she an enemy of the country. Therefore, we can't use many methods on her."
Lie detector tests were very subjective, and the results couldn't be used as direct evidence. It could only be used as an indirect reference.
But to be able to not reveal anything in front of the Special Operations Forces' lie detector, even if she asked the wrong questions, it could be said that Huo Jialan was a strong-willed person, even if she wasn't as strong as Huo Shaoheng.
Gu Nianzhi nodded. "I understand. Then I won't see her in advance. I don't want her to be on guard. "
…
Time passed quickly. The Bai's quickly found a neutral medical examiner. Huo Shaoheng looked at his background and agreed. He arranged for the autopsy to be approved by all three parties.
Because it was an urgent matter, the medical examiner took all the time he could and quickly produced an autopsy report.
A week later, the Imperial Capital Intermediate Court was in session again.
The independent medical examiner's report was basically the same as the military Medical Examiner Zhu's, especially the spasms of the throat muscles. There were obvious scratches and abrasions. This conclusion was almost identical to Medical Examiner Zhu's.
This meant that Medical Examiner Zhu's previous report was completely correct. The possibility of Luo Xinxue being murdered was much higher than a suicide.
The Bai family's Jin Dazhuang had only managed to delay them for a week.
Therefore, during the second session, the focus of the debate was no longer on the autopsy report.
Gu Nianzhi requested the court to summon an important witness, Huo Jialan.
In order to prevent Huo Jialan from being mentally prepared, Gu Nianzhi didn't meet her in advance. She didn't ask her any questions in advance.
※ ※ ※
This was the first watch. A reminder of the monthly votes and recommendation votes!
The second watch was one in the afternoon.
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