Chapter 488: A Battle in Court

It was Wilfrid’s turn to ask questions. He did not speak immediately; instead, he walked up to the front of the witness stand and stared sharply at Officer Lori. It made Lori feel somewhat uneasy.

Finally, Wilfrid asked, “Officer Lori, according to your description, you heard the gunshot when you pulled the injured person back, is that right?”

“Yes,” Lori said while nodding.

“Then did you see the shooter firing at you?” Wilfrid continued asking.

“No,” Lori answered.

“Then were you shot?” Wilfrid asked again.

“No,” Lori continued answering.

“When you heard the gunshot, did you see where the bullet hit?” Wilfrid asked again.

“Also, no,” Lori replied.

“Then since you didn’t see the shooter fire, your body wasn’t shot, and you didn’t know where the bullet ended up, how did you know the target of the shooter was you from just the sound of a gunshot alone?” Wilfrid asked with a serious tone.

Officer Lori thought for a moment and said, “The surrounding area was empty, no one else was there, so we were the only possible targets.”

“Then have you ever thought of the possibility that the shooter was only shooting at an object, and his target wasn’t you?” Wilfrid continued asking.

“Objection! I object to the defense lawyer asking a hypothetical question. The witness doesn’t have to answer this question.” Reese immediately stood up.

Wilfrid smiled instead. “Your honor, based on the evidence shown at the scene, the shot made by my client did not hit anyone, it hit the tire of the police cruiser. He did indeed shoot at an object. That is the truth, not a hypothetical question.”

The judge nodded. “Overruled. May the witness answer the question of the defense.”

Officer Lori thought for a few dozen more seconds before finally saying, “I did not think about the situation that you’ve mentioned. We were the only ones there, and I made a judgment based on my experience. The shooter’s target would be the people at the scene and not some random object.”

“Which means that you confirmed that you were being assaulted from your deduction?” Wilfrid’s tone was still solemn.

Lori immediately said, “Under those circumstances, with someone already shot and on the ground, any normal person would think that…”

“You only have to answer yes or no, did you determine you were being assaulted from just your deduction,” Wilfrid interrupted Lori.

“Yes,” Lori could only answer.

Wilfrid nodded in satisfaction. He had gotten the answer he wanted. He then asked, “When did you discover the shot did not hit anyone, but hit your car tire instead?”

“After I brought the injured person to the back of the car, my partner told me that my car tire was hit,” Lori said.

“Then, when the gunshot rang out and you got down, how far were you from your car?” Wilfrid continued asking.

Lori thought for a moment and said, “Maybe around ten meters!”

Wilfrid laughed mockingly and asked, “Only ten meters? You had a recording device, didn’t you? It should be able to clearly show how far you were from the police cruiser.”

“I don’t really remember. It was really chaotic, maybe it was more than ten meters,” Lori immediately changed his words.

Wilfrid took a piece of paper from his assistant instead. The picture was a screenshot taken from the law enforcement video equipment. He pointed at the screenshot and said, “This is a screenshot from the law enforcement video recorder for when Officer Lori got down. From the screenshot, we can clearly see that Officer Lori was between 35 and 40 meters away from the police cruiser. This shows that the target of the shot made by my client was not Officer Lori or the injured person, it was the police cruiser located 40 meters away.”

“Obviously, being 40 meters apart, this shows that my client had no intention of harming Officer Lori. His target was the police cruiser. It was only to grab the attention of the police. He used it as a means of calling the police.” As Wilfrid said that, he received a photograph from his assistant. On the picture was a police cruiser, a few bullet holes could be seen on it.

“The bullet holes on this police cruiser were created by my client, and they were also the product of the few gunshots after the backup that Lori mentioned just now arrived. After my client fired the shots, not one police officer was hurt, and this photo also proves that my client’s target was the police cruiser, not the police officers at the scene. His objective was the same, to call the police, not to assault the police. So the ‘police assault’ charges brought up by the prosecutor have no grounds to be established. The so-called ‘police assault’ is just the feeling of the police officers who were there, it isn’t the truth.”

As Wilfrid spoke, he glanced provocatively at Nick Reese, seemingly telling him that he was going to lose this lawsuit.

The judge also glanced at Reese with a peculiar look. From his perspective, the police assault charges brought up by Reese indeed did not have sufficient evidence.

Prosecutor Reese was, however, very calm. It was as if he did not suffer from any sense of defeat.

…

As the victim of the case, Sam Gardner sat on the witness stand.

“Mr. Gardner, please describe in detail what happened that day,” Nick Reese started with the same question.

Gardner was already at home with answering that question. He had already been interviewed by various reporters, and every single reporter asked him to talk about that day. Gardner had long since memorized what he wanted to say.

“I was on my way home, and I decided to use a shortcut. So I passed through the scene of the incident. I then heard a gunshot, I felt a pain in my leg, and when I lowered my head, I found out that I had been shot. Then I fell on the ground, and I called the cops. After a while, a police cruiser came to the scene, two police officers got out of the car, and one of them came and helped me move behind the police cruiser to hide. They then called for backup. An ambulance and the police backup came quickly. After that, I was put on the ambulance and sent to the hospital.” Gardner described everything that happened on the day of the incident.

“Mr. Gardner, after you realized you were shot, did you feel scared?” Reese asked.

“Yes, I was indeed quite scared,” Gardner answered.

“Did it ever occur to you that the shooter was shooting at you?” Reese asked.

“Yes, I thought of it,” Gardner answered honestly.

“Then, have you ever wondered if the shooter wanted to kill you?” Reese continued asking.

“Yes, I did.” Gardner nodded.

“When you were injured and lying on the ground, was the wound on your leg still bleeding?” Reese asked again.

“Yes, the wound was bleeding,” Gardner continued answering.

“Then did you worry that you were hit in an important artery and that you might die from blood loss?” Reese asked.

Gardner took a deep breath and continued to reply, “I had such a worry.”

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“Your honor, I’ve completed my questioning.” Reese returned to his seat.

Wilfrid had prepared a long time ago. After Reese finished his questioning, Wilfrid was immediately in front of the witness stand.

“Mr. Gardner, according to the diagnosis of the hospital, was your gunshot wound lethal?”

“It wasn’t lethal.” Gardner shook his head. “The doctor said it was only a flesh wound, and that it would heal up quickly after the stitching.”

“Then after this shooting incident, how much did you spend on medical fees?” Wilfrid asked.

Reese had guessed what Wilfrid wanted to say, so he immediately raised his hand to signal, “Objection! The defense lawyer is bringing questions completely unrelated to this case.”

“Your honor, I’m guessing not a lot of the people here are doctors. I want us to get a better assessment of Mr. Gardner’s injury through the amount spent on medical fees. This should be useful in clarifying the case,” Wilfrid argued.

The judge hesitated slightly but nodded his head in the end, “The basis for the defense lawyer to raise the question is reasonable, objection overruled. However, the treatment expenses are considered personal privacy, the witness may choose not to answer.”

“I’ll answer,” Gardner said immediately. “I didn’t spend a single cent, Mr. Li paid for all my medical expenses.”

“Then what about the rehabilitation that came after? The cost of rehabilitation should be rather expensive, was it not?” Wilfrid continued asking.

“I also didn’t spend any money. My rehabilitation fee was also paid for by Mr. Li. And Mr. Li also gave me 200,000 dollars as compensation. It directly helped me get out of poverty,” Gardner said.

“Then, is the Mr. Li that you speak about in this room?” Wilfrid continued with his question.

“He’s here. He’s there sitting in the defendant’s seat,” Gardner answered.

Wilfrid showed a satisfied smile. “I think the truth is clear. First, although my client shot Mr. Gardner, he did not aim at his vitals. This shows that my client did not want to kill Mr. Gardner. He never had the intent to murder Mr. Gardner, he only wanted Mr. Gardner to help him call the police.”

“Besides that, because my client feels sorry for hurting and injuring Mr. Gardner, not only did he pay for his medical fees and rehabilitation fees, he even gave him a huge sum of financial compensation. From this point, one can tell that the defendant is a kind person, and he was forced to shoot at Mr. Gardner. That is why the accusation of the attempted first-degree murder is completely baseless.”

After Wilfrid finished his sentence, he bowed to the judge. “Your honor, I’ve completed my questioning.”

“Prosecutor, do you still have any question you want to ask the defendant or anything else to add?” the judge asked Reese.

“No, I have no questions, and I have nothing to add.” Reese shook his head without hesitation, his expression was still very calm.

Reese’s display made Wilfrid frown. Nick Reese was way too calm.

…

Edward Snow also appeared on the witness stand.

“Mr. Snow, you were also a kidnapped hostage, and you were also stuck in the room. You personally witnessed the entire process of the shooting. Can you please describe everything that happened then?” Nick Reese started in the same manner.

“We were stuck in the room, and the kidnappers were everywhere outside. Mr. Li locked the door so the kidnappers outside couldn’t enter, which provided us with temporary safety. The room we were stuck in had no window so we couldn’t escape. We wanted to call the police, but there was no phone reception. Later, we opened the exhaust vent and hoped to call for help through the vent, but there was no effect. We were too far away from the people passing by, they couldn’t hear our call for help.”

“Later, Mr. Li had an idea. He suggested that we shoot at the people passing by. As long as someone was injured, someone would call the police, and then the police would arrive. I thought that the method would work, so Mr. Li stood and waited beside the exhaust vent. As soon as a passerby appeared, he shot at the person and injured the passerby.”

“Surely enough, the passerby called the police just like we expected. Not long after, I heard the police siren, and Mr. Li fired at the police cruiser, and the police then called for backup. Mr. Li fired for the third time as he hoped to use that to inform the police of our location, and the police did discover us. They fought against the kidnappers and finally saved us.”

Reese pondered for a couple of seconds and asked, “Mr. Snow, based on your description just now, it was Mr. Li who suggested shooting at the people passing by, is that correct?”

“It was indeed his idea.” Snow then added, “And I also expressed agreement. I felt that given the circumstances, it was the only way to get to the police.”

Reese did not pay any attention to Snow’s additional remarks and continued, “Based on this, the action of shooting at a passerby performed by the accused was an action that was planned before execution.”

Just as Snow wanted to defend Dai Li, Reese asked again, “Mr. Snow, shooting at the police, did Mr. Li suddenly bring it up, or was it pre-planned?”

“It was part of the plan. We needed to use this method to get the attention of the police,” Snow said.

“Which is to say that the police assault was also a deliberate act of the defendant?” Reese asked immediately.

Wilfrid stood up immediately. “I object! My client has not been convicted, the prosecutor’s use of the word ‘police assault’ is directional.”

“Sustained. Prosecutor, please be wary of your words,” the judge reminded.

“Alright, I take back my previous question and ask again. Mr. Snow, may I ask if the action of attacking the police with a gun a deliberate action of the defendant?”

“Ugh, yes.” Although Snow felt that this answer would negatively affect Dai Li, he still gave a firm answer. He could not falsify his testimony.

“Alright, I’ve finished questioning.” Snow returned to his seat.

The few questions targeted at Snow were within Wilfrid’s expectation. Before the court session began, he had already guessed that Reese would utilize the words “deliberate action” a lot. And the case of Dai Li shooting at and injuring Gardner, as well as his shooting of the police cruiser, were indeed actions performed after planning. They could also be regarded as deliberate actions.

However, Wilfrid already had a method to deal with that. Although he could not deny Dai Li’s deliberate action, he could defend Dai Li from another perspective: Dai Li’s motive.

In a criminal case, sometimes the motive for committing a crime was more important than the actual act of committing the crime. For example, if a terrorist wanted to perform a terrorist attack at a public place, even if the terrorist didn’t succeed in the end, and there were no casualties, his motive was enough to have him sentenced to life in prison.

And what Wilfrid had to do was to let everyone feel that Dai Li did not have a motive to hurt anyone. Then, even if his actions were considered a crime, he could be acquitted.

Wilfrid reached the front of the witness stand and asked, “Mr. Snow. When you were trapped in the room, if you were unsuccessful in calling for help, would your life have been in danger?”

“If we failed to call for help, we would surely die. The metal door could only hold the kidnappers off temporarily. They could use bombs or cutters to cut open the door. Besides, there was no food or water in the room, so we couldn’t have lasted long,” Snow answered.

“Then what kind of condition were you in?” Wilfrid asked further.

“I was in a terrible condition. After being kidnapped, I hadn’t drunk any water for two days, and I hadn’t eaten anything either. Also, I suffered torture at the hands of the kidnappers. I was covered in wounds, my body had lost a lot of blood, and I was feverish. In that situation, without food and water, a normal person might be able to hold out for three days, but I might not have lasted another 24 hours,” Snow replied.

“That is to say that if you didn’t receive help in a short amount of time, all of you risked losing your lives. In comparison, the defendant’s body was in better condition. The defendant could have waited two to three days, but your condition did not allow that. Your life was in imminent danger, and if you didn’t receive treatment, you would die. Is my understanding correct?” Wilfrid probed further.

“Yes.” Snow nodded.

“So, under such a circumstance, my client could not help but utilize an extreme method to call for help. He used a gun to injure Mr. Gardner, and he also shot at a police cruiser. The motive for him doing all of those things was so that the near-death Mr. Edward Snow could receive treatment as soon as possible. At the same time, it could also lead to his freedom.” Wilfrid paused, and continued in an affectionate tone, “Without a doubt, my client’s actions were performed based on a plan; however, my client had no motive to commit a crime. Everything he did was to help a stranger he had just met. In my opinion, he is a selfless hero, but now, this life-saving hero is sitting here, receiving judgment!”

Wilfrid’s tone and expression touched the hearts of many people. Even Dai Li thought he was a great person after hearing that.

To become a fantastic lawyer, acting skills were crucial.