companion ghost

"Officer Barron," Shen Lie asked while sitting on the seat, "you took over this case from the beginning, right? I mean, from Louis at the beginning to Stephen now."

"Yes," Casey nodded, "I thought it was a car accident at first, but I don't understand why we called the Homicide Squad."

"At the beginning? That is to say, you later understood the reason?"

"That's right, Louis died not from a car accident, but from severe dehydration with signs of abuse and sexual assault."

"Did you conduct an in-depth investigation on this later?"

"Of course!" Casey insisted, "After our investigation, we locked down the suspect."

Shen Lie turned his pen: "Is the suspect you are referring to in court?"

"Yes," Casey looked coldly at the dock, "he's sitting there next to his lawyer, Vincent Osterley."

"Very good, next question," Shen Lie continued to ask, "are you the No. [-] witness Stephen Leiter who was found at the defendant's home?"

"Objection!" Klein stood up, "There is no evidence to prove that my house belongs to my client, and the prosecution is speculating maliciously."

"Let me put it another way," Shen Lie said calmly, "Did you rescue witness No. [-] from the house that was originally the defendant's house that was later given to his lover, and then according to his lover's testimony, he wanted to come back to use it for himself? Stephen Leiter?"

"Your Honor—"

"Quiet defense lawyer," Judge Parker glared at Klein, "I allow the prosecution's questioning, but I don't allow you to yell in my courtroom. Please pay attention to the scale."

Klein had to sit down, but Vincent didn't care, and patted his hand lightly to show comfort.

"Yes, when we found him, Stephen was locked in that defendant's house, covered in bruises, beating marks, burns, scalds, signs of sexual abuse were very severe. Between me and my partner Esposity He didn't wake up until the police officer sent him to the hospital for emergency treatment." Casey spoke clearly and described the scene of the day.

Shen Lie raised the question step by step: "Based on your five years of experience in Interpol and three years of experience as a police officer of the New York Homicide Squad, why do you think Stephen Leiter would make the same behavior in court as he did before? Testimony to the contrary?"

"He suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, he will unconsciously defend and even rescue those who hurt him—"

"Objection!" Klein stood up again regardless of the previous judge's objection, "Why didn't I know that Officer Barron is also a professional psychologist?"

"The objection is valid." Judge Parker looked at Shen Lie sternly, "You should also pay attention to the scale, prosecutor."

"There are no other questions." Shen Lie signaled to the judge, tilting his head to Klein, "The witness is yours."

Klein acted politely, stood up, buttoned his suit, and asked politely, "Officer Barron, isn't this the first time we've met? You're still as handsome as ever."

"Objection," Shen Lie lazily said, "Can the defense stop the pretense and start asking questions as soon as possible?"

"The objection is valid. The defense lawyers should get to the point as soon as possible." Judge Parker would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been sitting on the bench.These two lawyers are both young talents, with quick brains and sharp tongues, and he is also unlucky for such a case.

"Alright, Your Excellency," Klein didn't get angry, and was still very gentle, "Officer Barron, do you like men or women?"

Casey choked: "...This is my privacy."

"Okay, then let's assume you are heterosexual." Klein did not force Casey, "How do you feel about my client flirting with you?"

Kathy is a little dazed, not quite sure why he's asking this: "I don't know, and... I don't think that's really flirting either, actually."

"Really? According to my client, you feel very uncomfortable about it."

Shen Lie, who was sitting in the prosecutor's seat, understood what Klein was going to say the moment he asked the question, but Casey didn't go to law school, so he didn't hear Klein's trap: "I don't I'm used to being approached by men."

"So you don't like it?"

"Yes."

"Objection!" Shen Lie said, "What exactly does the defense lawyer want to ask? At present, these have nothing to do with the case."

"Prosecutor," Klein said before the judge could speak, "Can we be patient? I'm going to ask about it soon."

Shen Lie rolled his eyes.

"Can I understand it this way? My client feels very uncomfortable with you because of the strike-up." Klein lifted the curtain of the question layer by layer, "So you don't like my client."

Casey vaguely felt that this was a trap, but he could only bite the bullet and answer: "Yes, but—"

Klein interrupted him: "That's why you already have a preconceived sense of dislike for my client, so you'll stick to Vincent in the follow-up investigation, and you didn't even list the extra suspects?"

As soon as Casey opened his mouth, and Shen Lie even made the mouth shape of O【Note】, Klein said calmly: "Of course, I will withdraw it. There is no problem."

Ning Yuan's eyebrows were frowned into small knots. Klein, the defense lawyer, is indeed the chief lawyer promoted by the lawyer team, and he played tricks and routines in the trial.Shen Lie had explained to him about the retraction before: You made biased arguments and instilled them in the jury, formally you did retract them, but it was impossible for you to retract those arguments that had entered the minds of the jury.

Thinking of this, Ning Yuan couldn't help but looked at Shen Lie worriedly. The latter saw his concerned eyes. Shen Lie carelessly stretched out his right hand to cover Ning Yuan's hand on the table. Very cold.Ning Yuan was stunned for a moment, looked down at the two hands that were both virtual and real, hesitated for a moment, turned his palms lightly, and turned into a virtual and real hand that was held together.

Seeing this scene, Shen Lie felt a little relieved, and stood up: "Apply to ask the question again, Your Excellency."

"I allow."

Shen Lie stood up, looked into Casey's green eyes, and said calmly, "Quick question and answer, Officer Barron, you just need to answer yes or no."

"Do you have a view on homosexuality?"

"No."

"Is it possible, in your experience, that Stephen Leiter had voluntary sexual relations with the accused?"

"Impossible."

"During your time with Stephen Leiter, did you feel that he was being controlled by the accused?"

"Yes, including body and spirit." Casey stared coldly at Vincent, who was sitting in the dock, and the latter even gave him that provocative smile.

"Last question." Shen Lie paused, "Do you think Vincent Osterley hurt Stephen Layton and killed Louis Sprouse?"

Casey didn't look at Shen Lie, but turned to the jury on the left, looked at each of them with eyes as clear as lake water, and said firmly: "Yes, I firmly believe so."

After confirming that both the prosecution and the defense had no questions, Judge Parker announced: "The prosecution and the defense will begin their closing statements."

Gloria, who was sitting in the jury seat, turned her head inadvertently, and caught sight of a person out of the corner of her eye.She elbowed Jerry. "Why is she here?"

Jerry followed her gaze and replied in a low voice: "You didn't come two days ago, but she was there every time the trial was held. It's not difficult to understand, after all, he is the murderer of his own child, and he always wants to see him brought to justice." of the law."

Gloria snorted: "I'm curious why her brother or mistress or whatever didn't come with her."

"If I were Lily, if I were killed, I wouldn't be in contact with the brother who sold my child to a pedophile. It would be fine if I didn't kill him." Jerry shrugged, and Klein was just about to start After making the closing statement, he made a silent gesture to Gloria.

Klein stood up, buttoned his suit, and slowly walked to the jury to begin his closing statement: "We are very sorry and sympathetic to what happened to Louis, but it was not my client's fault. A reliable witness, In this courtroom, he confessed that he murdered Louis and not Vincent. And this witness is the victim of multiple crimes that the prosecution accused my client of statutory rape and torture!"

"I couldn't help thinking: Why did such a terrible and unimaginable crime appear on Vincent?" He turned sideways and opened his palms to Vincent in the dock, "Dear jurors, please Look at my client, he is the CFO of a multinational company, he has money and status, and even the respect and love of everyone, he has not even been issued a speeding ticket! It is true that my client did one thing wrong , that started a consensual DBSM relationship with Stephen Leiter a year ago without looking at his ID."

Klein's deep blue eyes looked at the jury sincerely: "Here, I sincerely ask the jurors to acquit my client so that he can continue to do more for this community, this city, and this country. thing!"

Ning Yuan couldn't believe his ears: "How can there be such a persuasive person in the world who talks nonsense but is so convincing?"

Shen Lie curled his lips mockingly, and wrote on the paper: Welcome to the world of law.

Seeing that Klein finished speaking and returned to his seat, Shen Lie also stood up, walked to the jury in the same way, and said slowly: "Dear jurors, I am very sorry that you were selected to judge this case, because this case The most disgusting, heinous and unbearable case I've seen in my five years as a prosecutor. I showed you how Louis died and I showed you the bruises on Stephen, they were all abused , got hurt, raped over and over again, by Vincent Osterley."

He looked at the dock and dismissed Vincent's still smiling smile: "As the defense lawyer said, the defendant has money and status, but he doesn't have the most basic humanity! Controlling Stephen, controlling him as a sex slave for ten years; He even put the blame on his victims for the sake of his own exoneration! A person like him, unless he is put in prison, he doesn't know what it means to stop. How can we trust him to Contribute to our society and country?"

"I am here to hope that you, all of you, will convict Vincent Osterley so that no life will be lost to him in the future."