Chapter 347: Chapter 240: The Dumbfounded Crowd

Innocence plea...

Innocent!?

In an instant.

The entire scene suddenly erupted, even the presiding judge Zhao Jiaqi was taken aback.

"Innocent? How can this be innocent!? This has already caused a death, the body is lying in the morgue..."

"The information provided by customs and the police is conclusive evidence, the smuggling route has been fully exposed, at least smuggling is a crime, and crime requires bearing criminal responsibility..."

"Crazy, that lawyer might have won a few cases before, but now he seems a bit out of his mind!?"

"Damn, fake drugs caused a death and yet innocent..."

"..."

The noisy voices came from the gallery.

Zhang Tao and Li Ye also thought it seemed impossible, exchanging looks with each other.

It’s not that they don’t trust Xu Liang, but... in this situation, only if the judge was bribed would there be such a verdict, and even if judged, it’s highly likely to be overturned, then given a suspension...

As to whether the judge was bribed?

You can tell from the look of presiding judge Zhao Jiaqi!

"Hiss..."

Zhao Jiaqi furrowed his brow, secretly shocked.

He had anticipated that Xu Liang might make a plea for leniency, but really hadn’t expected the other party to make a plea of innocence...

"Let’s hear his reasoning first," the judge beside him whispered.

Zhao Jiaqi nodded and then struck the gavel.

"Order!"

After restoring order, the people present became quiet.

But their eyes were intensely focused, breaths slightly rapid, their gazes fixed on Xu Liang with keen anticipation.

Zhao Jiaqi took a deep breath, then looked at Xu Liang, pondering:

"Defense, please continue."

Xu Liang nodded and then began to speak:

"First."

"The alleged smuggling of fake drugs as claimed by the plaintiff is purely exaggerated and does not align with the true nature of the case!"

"My client, Wu Fang and Kong Jian, have never smuggled fake drugs; the medicine they purchased, ’Imatinib’, is merely a generic drug!!!"

Smuggling fake drugs and trafficking...

This sort of thing is even more serious than endangering public safety, with the maximum penalty being death!

Of course, besides this point, the reason for this approach is also because...

This is the core of the case!

The crux of the case lies in whether the smuggled drug is generic or fake, which entirely determines the subsequent development of the case!!!

As expected.

Upon hearing this, Chai Shiring and Sha Jin among the plaintiffs squinted their eyes but did not react further, merely watching quietly.

Xu Liang ignored them.

He stood up, extracting a chemical analysis report.

"Respected presiding judge, this is a test report on the active ingredients of the ’Imatinib’ generic drugs involved in the smuggling."

"The criterion for determining fake drugs is: mismatched components, counterfeit products, deteriorated drugs, or unapproved."

"The drugs acquired by my client have a composition similarity of seventy percent with genuine ’Imatinib’!"

"There’s no counterfeiting, nor deterioration, and should only be considered as unapproved generic drugs smuggling, rather than the so-called fake drugs!"

Xu Liang directly refuted the claim of fake drugs.

What constitutes a fake drug?

For example.

Once there was someone who felt selling things had no future, seeing others smuggling drugs was highly profitable, but considered drug smuggling charges too serious, then he had a bright idea.

He substituted drugs with crystalline sugar!

That is the fake drug!!!

Which means pretending to be medicine, having nothing to do with actual drugs, completely fake!

While generic drugs are like mixing 10 grams of drugs with 100 grams of flour.

Would the law charge you for 10 grams?

No, it’s 110 grams of drugs!!!

No matter how many impurities you mix in, they’re still considered drugs, so they’re considered inferior drugs for punishment!

This is the difference between generic and legitimate drugs.

No matter how inferior, they still belong within the category of drugs, having nothing to do with fake drugs.

With this thought, a gleam flashed in Xu Liang’s eyes.

He launched a direct attack!

"It should be according to Article 142-1 of the Criminal Code, i.e., the crime of disrupting drug management!"

Management crime!?

Suddenly, those understanding the implication of these words raised an eyebrow.

How is this crime different from the fake drug crime?

The fake drug crime has a high ceiling and a low floor.

The maximum is the death penalty, the minimum can be exempt from criminal law, whereas management crime is almost nailed to below seven years, even often within three years!

In some cases, even if smugglers profited millions, the final sentence may just be a mere one or two years.

Just that...

"Purchasing?"

Presiding judge Zhao Jiaqi suddenly realized something.

He quickly caught on a key point, which was what Xu Liang referred to as ’the purchased drugs.....’

Reading from the indictment, the plaintiff’s demand was... sale and profit!

But how did it become so-called purchasing from the defendant’s perspective?

You must know that these two are different, and the laws they represent differ significantly.

"Defense, please explain truthfully why it is ’purchasing’!?"

Zhao Jiaqi furrowed his brow, carefully asked.

Xu Liang nodded, having prepared for this.

After organizing his thoughts, he began to speak:

"Respected presiding judge."

"The distinction between selling and purchasing primarily lies in the subjective intent and the behavior pattern."

"According to the opposing counsel, my client has been purchasing since November 2004, enough to have done it three times, over sixty boxes of medication, over seven hundred bottles of generic drugs!"

"And among them, my client..."

Saying so.

Xu Liang paused, then took a deep breath, emphasized, and said:

"Never made a single cent of profit!"

The straightforward way to tell selling from purchasing is on whether there’s profit and the buyer’s identity.

The former’s primary subjective intent is profit.

A genuine medicine bottle costs forty thousand, they acquire it for five thousand, possibly selling at twenty thousand a bottle.

Anyone can buy, the more buyers, the better!

But Wu Fang and Kong Jian...

"According to police investigation, my client acquired at a price of three thousand a bottle."

"And subsequently provided to others at the same price of three thousand a bottle."

"And the people are limited to relatives, friends, and others with the same illness!"

"This does not constitute the so-called crime of selling."

"Furthermore, the generic medicine has seventy percent efficacy of the original version, the defendant’s intention was to use the medicine for treatment, therefore, we request the presiding judge to dismiss the charge of ’producing, selling, or providing fake drugs’!"

With these words,

Xu Liang paused, then took out some documents and handed them out one by one.

"These are the records of the people using the drug, showing the changes in their health since they started using it last November."

"From these, it is clear that the drug’s effects can indeed improve health!"

The documents in his hand were all data about the health of members of the Mutual Aid Association.

Feng Nan and the others were not fools.

A medicine that costs three thousand per bottle is very hard for them to afford.

If it didn’t work, how could they continue to take it?

Let alone for half a year!

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jiaqi immediately instructed the clerk to bring over the test reports, and then he, along with the other judges, frowned and examined them carefully.

The data on leukemia is straightforward.

As long as there is Imatinib to suppress it, the improvement in the body is visible to the naked eye!

The health information submitted by Xu Liang clearly showed, even to a fool, that the drug was indeed effective.

"During this period, the only factor in the physical changes is the Imatinib generic drug!" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"During this period, the patients did not receive any other medicinal treatment, so it could only be the result of the generic drug’s efficacy..."

Xu Liang did not speak to the presiding judge this time.

He faced the public in the audience instead!

After his speech,

the crowd was instantly swayed.

To be honest, the reason the public opinion in Qingshi City is currently so intense, aside from the deliberate manipulation by Chai Shiring and Han Chengguang,

is primarily because Li Guang "ate himself to death" with the medicine!

Few people believe that a desperate patient cannot smuggle generic drugs for consumption.

But even fewer think that someone seeking profit would extort excessive fees from a group of terminally ill patients, and give them nothing but fake medicine in return!

This is a fundamental difference.

If what Xu Liang said is true, and Wu Fang and Kong Jian are indeed selling real generic drugs...

Suddenly, the crowd hesitated, their stances wavering, unsure of which side to lean towards.

Wang Hao felt anxious; he didn’t want to see the truth, only Xu Liang being besieged. But under Zhang Tao’s watchful gaze, he didn’t dare act rashly, only staring at Chai Shiring with resentment.

Zhao Jiaqi certainly wouldn’t act like him; his stance was far more impartial.

After a brief consideration, Zhao Jiaqi shifted his gaze to the defendants.

"Defendants Wu Fang, Kong Jian, have you two ever profited?"

Upon hearing this,

the two in the defendant’s box expressed anxiety:

"No! They’re all patients; who has the money to buy at a high price...."

Kong Jian said, "Our bank accounts, and even our homes can be searched by the police, records included!"

"Neither Wu Fang nor Li Ye nor myself ever engaged in profiteering, not even for travel expenses, which we paid out of our own pockets..."

No profits...

How could there be no profits and yet they’ve been procuring for half a year!?

To determine if a drug is fake, only the patients know.

A patient who can purchase for half a year... coupled with those data, can only prove that this drug isn’t fake but a real generic drug!

Only...

"Your Honor, we request to submit a piece of evidence!"

In the confusion,

the plaintiff’s Sha Jin suddenly spoke, staring straight at Xu Liang.

They couldn’t let the other side continue talking.

Or rather...

They couldn’t let the people on-site believe the other side!!!

How to lower trust?

The natural way is... to discredit!

While speaking,

Sha Jin didn’t wait for the presiding judge Zhao Jiaqi’s approval; he directly pulled out a... business card?

Yes, it was a business card!

"During our investigation on April 21, the defendant’s lawyer met with us."

"During the meeting, the other party attempted to bribe us with sixty percent of the commission as an incentive!"

"When the bribery failed, they handed me a business card, saying we could make a deal anytime."

With that, he handed over the business card.

This business card...

It was something Xu Liang barely gave out!

This was... what was given to Sha Jin when he went to the detention center!!!

As soon as he finished speaking,

Zhao Jiaqi immediately became serious and asked the clerk to bring forth the business card.

The audience was stunned, their faces full of shock.

Bribery?

Are they trying to resolve the case outside the courtroom!?

Sixty percent of a fifty-thousand commission, that’s thirty thousand!!!

A normal person would have to not eat or drink for close to thirty years to earn that!

"What’s going on!? How is there an under-the-table deal?"

"Could everything he said just now be false? If it was true, there’d be no need for secret dealings..."

"How did the case change again!?"

"...."

Everyone was in shock and began to speak to each other, disregarding the order in the court.

Even Zhang Tao and Li Ye were stunned.

They felt something was wrong, a slander, since business cards were easy to forge.

But seeing Sha Jin’s confident expression, they hesitated.

Just as the scene was boiling over and everyone began to doubt the evidence Xu Liang presented....

"Your Honor, we also wish to submit a piece of evidence."

In the confusion, Xu Liang suddenly spoke.

Also submit?

The crowd paused, then instinctively looked over, and upon seeing it, they were immediately stunned.

They saw that Xu Liang was holding... a card!

This is.... a business card!?

Before the bewildered crowd could collect themselves, Xu Liang continued:

"During our investigation on April 21, the plaintiff’s lawyer met with us."

"During the meeting, the other party attempted to bribe us!"

"When the bribery failed, they handed me a business card, saying we could make a deal anytime."

"Now, I am reporting to the court in accordance with the law, that the plaintiff’s lawyer Sha Jin is involved in significant misconduct and is attempting to..."

"Bribe us!"

Xu Liang spoke forcefully.

These words immediately left everyone on the scene stunned, their minds blank.

Presiding judge Zhao Jiaqi was dumbfounded; he looked at the plaintiff’s stunned Sha Jin, then at the defendant’s Xu Liang, and finally....

Zhao Jiaqi: ?

No...

Who bribed whom!?