Too Bad I Take Things Seriously-Chapter 427 - 189 I Still Like Your Untamed Look_4
However, he realized... Unwittingly, he had offended everyone in the courtroom. He had criticized the members of the collegial panel yesterday. He had also confronted the prosecutor yesterday. The pro bono lawyer... had resorted to a vow of silence, not uttering a single word. And the spectator gallery? Completely empty. Not a single person was there. Those relatives from the village... not one had shown up, as if they had abandoned them. For a moment, he suddenly felt as if the entire world had abandoned him.
「Half an hour later.」
「Nursing home.」
"Why does he look like he’s about to cry? He suddenly stopped talking?"
"I was looking forward to his brilliant performance, but he unexpectedly backed down."
"This part is really boring. He suddenly stopped confronting the prosecutor and the collegial panel, and I’m not used to it."
"I feel sleepy watching this."
"..."
Zhang Qingyuan and the others yawned, looking at the live broadcast screen with a sense of disinterest. Disappointment filled their expressions.
For a full half hour, there were no spectacular moves from Chen Daoguang. Even his original defiance was gone. The free debate segment turned into a one-sided debate by the prosecutor, who spent the entire time accusing Chen Daoguang and the others of their criminal conduct. Chen Daoguang’s side, on the other hand, did not mount any substantial resistance—whether verbally, spiritually, or physically. They all seemed very mediocre.
When Zhou Quanmin saw that the debate was about over, he temporarily announced a recess.
"Xiao Qin, is it time to announce the verdict now? How many years will they get?" Wan Zhongyuan turned his head to look at Qin Mu beside him.
Qin Mu nodded. During the recess, the collegial panel would discuss the sentencing. Based on his experience, Chen Daoguang and the others had almost no mitigating circumstances this time. Every factor pointed towards a heavier sentence. For the seventy-eight individuals, each person’s sentence would probably be increased somewhat. In legal terms, "heavier" wasn’t just a phrase; it meant adding a couple more years during the sentencing phase.
Qin Mu thought for a moment and replied, "Chen Daoguang should be looking at a ten-year maximum sentence, while the others... might get up to five years."
"That high? A collective sentence increase?" Upon hearing this, Wan Zhongyuan involuntarily gasped.
A total of seventy-eight defendants. If each person’s sentence increased by one or two years, that would add up to more than a hundred years in total! And this was all achieved through the sole efforts of Chen Daoguang.
Qin Mu paused and added, "Besides this, there’s also the ancillary civil litigation. Each person has to compensate the Chen Qi Family for emotional distress, lost wages, nutritional expenses, and so on—at least 2,000 yuan and up to 5,000 yuan per person."
In legally stipulated compensation for emotional distress and other damages, the range is generally from 2,000 to 5,000 yuan. Throughout the entire trial, Chen Daoguang had focused only on the issue of imprisonment and paid no attention to the civil lawsuit. As a result, the collegial panel would regard this as a tacit admission of the civil compensation claims. As long as the prosecutor’s proposed civil compensation plan was not outrageous, it would be approved.
"’That’s not too bad, 2,000 per household isn’t much,’ Wan Zhongyuan murmured upon hearing this.
Compared to that, the sudden increase of over a hundred years in prison sentences still seemed more frightening.
「Not long after.」
「The recess ended.」
Zhou Quanmin led the members of the collegial panel out. Everyone stood up.
He began reading the verdict: "After four hours of proceedings, the court will now pronounce judgment in the case of illegal detention and picking quarrels and provoking trouble involving Chen Daoguang and seventy-eight others.
"Following the in-court trial by the collegial panel, the presentation and cross-examination of evidence by both the prosecutor and the defendants, and the lawful verification of the case details, the facts have been clearly established, the evidence is conclusive, and there are no doubts regarding any aspect of the proceedings.
"This court finds that the actions of Chen Daoguang and others—gathering a crowd to cause a disturbance—disrupted the order in Chen Family Village, endangered the normal lives of others. These actions also infringed upon the freedom of movement and tranquility of Chen Qi’s family of eight, violated criminal law, and constituted the crimes of illegal detention and picking quarrels and provoking trouble."
"The following sentences are now pronounced:
"Chen Daoguang is found guilty of illegal detention and picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and is hereby sentenced to ten years of fixed-term imprisonment. He is also ordered to pay the victims, the Chen Qi family, 5,000 yuan as compensation for emotional distress, lost wages, and other related costs."
"Chen Ergou is found guilty of illegal detention and picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and is hereby sentenced to five years of fixed-term imprisonment. He is also ordered to pay the victims, the Chen Qi family, 4,000 yuan as compensation for emotional distress, lost wages, and other related costs."
"Chen Qin, as a principal offender in the crimes of illegal detention and picking quarrels and provoking trouble, is hereby sentenced to four years of fixed-term imprisonment..."
In front of everyone in the courtroom, Zhou Quanmin solemnly declared the sentences for all seventy-eight individuals one by one. Each person, according to their different circumstances, was sentenced to between two and five years of fixed-term imprisonment and ordered to pay appropriate compensation to the Chen Qi family.
The solemn voice continued to echo in the courtroom.
Fifteen minutes later, all the sentences had been read.
