Chapter 85: Chapter 73: Finally a Criminal Case! (Vote for us on Monday)
Director Liu hurried into the office, and Miss Xiao Yan beside him had already poured some water and took out a pen to prepare for recording key information.
In the legal profession, it\'s universally acknowledged that one should never trust one\'s memory.
Especially for such complex cases, creating case records is a must. Lawyers often handle many cases at a time, and without case records, you\'d soon forget the details of the cases yourself.
In addition to this method of on-the-spot recording, another approach is to use a recording pen to capture the conversation between the parties, then pass it on to a trainee lawyer or assistant, who later listens to the recording and organizes it into a case file...
Whoever does this kind of work will feel like hitting someone—don\'t ask me how I know. The client had such a heavy accent that you\'d have to listen to a sentence several times to understand it, damn!
"Old Tang, I just, I really don\'t know where to begin, I... how could my daughter ever do something like that..."
Director Liu had been speaking normally, but as he spoke, he couldn\'t help breaking into tears. Life was going well, and then it suddenly turned into this—a situation nobody could bear.
However, Old Tang in front of him remained calm, "Miss Xiao Yan, focus on taking notes!"
In criminal cases, lawyers absolutely must not be swayed by the emotions of the client or their family members.
"Director Liu, don\'t be anxious, take your time and talk. Start with what you know. You were notified by the school to go to the police station at noon today, right?"
"How did the school teacher talk to you? What did the police say when you went to the police station?"
When facing someone who doesn\'t know how to clearly articulate their issues, guiding them with leading questions is a good way to get answers.
Director Liu was also confused, but now with a clear target, he quickly said, "The call was from my daughter\'s homeroom teacher. She said my daughter stabbed someone with a spring-loaded knife and was taken away by the police. She told me to go to the police station ASAP."
"I went to the police station later, and a policeman with thinning hair received me, but he wouldn\'t tell me anything. I asked if I could see my daughter, but he said it was not possible due to the serious nature of her situation."
Not being allowed to see her already indicated a serious situation, suggesting that the public security agency had taken coercive criminal measures.
"Then what did the policeman with thinning hair say? How are the injuries of those involved? You didn\'t go to the hospital, did you? You didn\'t offer to pay for the expenses, did you?" Old Tang asked again.
"The police didn\'t say much, just that I could hire a lawyer to see my daughter, and then... then two people came to the police station, they started cursing at me as soon as they saw me, saying really nasty things, yelling that their child was in emergency rescue..."
"I haven\'t gone to the hospital yet—I was too anxious at the time and immediately came to find you."
Tang Fangjing\'s calm demeanor provided support, helping Director Liu to calm down a bit.
"In emergency rescue, I see... I\'ve understood the situation..."
As he spoke, Tang Fangjing suddenly paused, then continued, "Director Liu, so what is your plan now? Are you planning to engage me as your defense attorney?"
Director Liu nodded, "Of course, I definitely trust your expertise; I don\'t know any other lawyers."
Naturally, he trusted Tang Fangjing\'s expertise. In the eyes of a layman like Director Liu, whether it\'s criminal or civil matters, if the lawyer is capable, then he\'s capable in all areas.
And Old Tang had, right in front of Director Liu, put the previously impressive Elder Zhang in a position where he was lost for words and even caught Elder Zhang\'s mistakes, turning the tables with a counter-complaint.
This was the prowess Director Liu had witnessed!
One could only say it was Director Liu\'s good fortune that Tang Fangjing happened to specialize in criminal cases...
"All right then, Miss Xiao Yan, go prepare a contract. Remember, it\'s still the investigation phase," Old Tang instructed.
The type of contract depends on the phase of the case—it\'s a set procedure.
As Miss Xiao Yan left to prepare the contract, Old Tang continued, "Director Liu, there must be a reason for your daughter\'s actions. Have you noticed anything unusual about her lately?"
Director Liu had not expected the conversation to suddenly present a new task!
And it was even his favorite kind of criminal case. Since his transmigration, he had not yet handled a criminal case and was already itching to get involved...
Mission objective: Use legal means to educate the bully!
Task reward...
I can\'t even be bothered to look at the rewards anymore; a completion rate of 200 still only yields half a year of life. Ah, how pitiful.
But this mission target instantly sparked an idea in Old Tang. School bullying, always a hot topic claiming strict management, yet it continues to persist.
Of course, even if the mission hadn\'t pointed it out, Old Tang had already considered it. He had met Director Liu\'s daughter, a girl who seemed very well-behaved—in this respect, Old Tang still trusted his judgment.
So when a middle school girl suddenly becomes violent and seriously injures someone, it\'s obvious there had to be a reason.
That\'s why it was necessary to ask Director Liu about the situation before—there must have been some signs of school bullying.
But these were just signs. One of the reasons school bullying is hard to deal with is the factor of minors; another is the difficulty in collecting evidence.
Schools, too, usually try to downplay these incidents, aiming to smooth things over rather than deal with the problem, adhering to the philosophy that less fuss is better.
The moment Director Liu heard this, he began to think, but after a long while, he still came up empty. Just then, the office door opened and Miss Xiao Yan walked in, followed by a woman.
"Brother Tang, this lady says she is..."
Tang Fangjing cut her off, "Xiao Yan, no need for introductions, this is Director Liu\'s wife. You go back to your tasks."
Director Liu\'s wife, too, looked anxious, but after being chatted up by Director Liu, she finally sat down.
"Sister-in-law, the questions I just asked Director Liu, I need you to think about them as well. The incident has already happened and being anxious or busy won\'t help. We have an issue, so let\'s solve it, right?"
Director Liu\'s wife spoke up, "Liu Yan said before that she was being bullied by other students in her class. I was quite busy at the time and didn\'t ask in detail, but I did send a message to her homeroom teacher."
While talking, Director Liu\'s wife took out her phone and opened WeChat.
"Look at this, I mentioned it to her and she replied with a \'Hmm\'. After that, when I asked her again, she didn\'t respond, and Liu Yan didn\'t mention it afterwards, so I let it go…"
Tang Fangjing couldn\'t help but shake his head; parents are always the first to be responsible. Director Liu thought that by providing his daughter with ample material comforts, it was enough, while neglecting her psychological issues.
The truth is, once parents discover a bullying issue at school, they should take immediate action. Take, for example, the big brother whose child was cornered in the restroom by older students, demanding cigarettes.
The big brother directly bought five cartons of cigarettes, found someone to record it, and stood at the school gate shouting for those students to come down and take them. If no one came down, he\'d call for the principal to come down and pass them on, offering to buy anything else they wanted as long as they stopped hitting his child.
How could the principal ignore such a scene?
However, now wasn\'t the time to talk about this. With a problem at hand, it definitely needed to be solved. Old Tang immediately called out, "Miss Xiao Yan, once you have the contracts ready, take this lady to have the WeChat conversation notarized, and swing by the notary office to get an affirmation."
Although the system mission was only to deal with the bully, Old Tang never played by the rules.
Once all the necessary questions were asked, Old Tang said, "Okay, you two head back now. Be careful not to have any contact with the other party for now. Wait until I\'ve cleared things up on this end."
"I\'ll apply for a visit with Liu Yan right now, and I\'ll strive to see her within the next couple of days."
This is the advantage of being an official lawyer; otherwise, Elder Zhang would\'ve had to accompany them.
After seeing off Director Liu and his wife, Tang Fangjing began to prepare the relevant documents. The review time for a meeting was not to exceed forty-eight hours, but it still required waiting.
Upon reaching the police station and looking around, he immediately spotted a familiar face.
The familiar person was none other than Elder Zhang, who had a vivid memory of Tang Fangjing, mainly due to the unprecedented "mouth-stuffing" style of calling the police which he had never seen before. That case was the simplest one he had ever handled.
No overtime was needed; the case was settled quickly.
"Lawyer Tang? What brings you here?" Elder Zhang asked.
"I am now acting as Liu Yan\'s attorney. Has she been transferred to the detention center yet? I would like to apply for a visit," Tang Fangjing replied with a professional smile.
Hearing this, Elder Zhang said, "She hasn\'t been moved yet, but she will be taken to the detention center shortly. I\'ll make a call; you can go directly to the detention center to apply."
Half an hour later, at the Bright District Detention Center, Tang Fangjing walked out, having submitted the application materials; he would just have to wait for the notification of the visit time.
Next, he needed to visit the hospital!