stjorthotic Chapter 355 The Clash Officially Begins
Chapter 355 The Clash Officially Begins
Chapter 355 The Clash Officially Begins
Monday, August 1st.
At 7:30 a.m., Larry, with his camera slung across his chest, stood quietly waiting outside the Suffolk County Courthouse.
By this time, Courthouse Street in Boston was already bustling with activity. The summer morning sun shone through the sycamore leaves; it wasn't very hot yet, but it possessed a radiant, all-encompassing warmth.
"Wraps! Milk tea!" Dunbar walked over and placed the two bags in Larry's arms.
Larry smiled, took the bag, took out the food, and stood in front of the courthouse to eat and drink with Dunbar.
Five minutes later, a black four-wheeled carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the courthouse.
Larry stopped chewing his food and opened his eyes to observe the carriage.
Five people stepped out of the carriage: three professors from Harvard Law School, an assistant dean of the law school, and a young but sharp-eyed woman.
The woman was wearing a dark blue dress, holding a notebook, and had a small violet badge pinned to her chest.
Larry tossed the remaining food onto the marble table, touched the camera on his chest, took a few steps forward, and smiled.
"I'm a freelance reporter for The Boston Globe. May I interview the Harvard Law Observatory?"
Larry smiled and pulled out a notebook, pretending to be a real reporter.
The five men who alighted from the carriage then noticed Larry. One of them, with slightly graying temples, nodded. "I am Christopher Randall, Dean of Harvard Law School. And this is—"
Randall began introducing his companions, and when he introduced the lady, he made a questioning gesture.
After the woman nodded slightly in agreement, he said, "He is Alice Stone Blackwell, a famous feminist activist, editor of Women's Magazine, and also the daughter of Lucy Stone."
After the dean of the law school finished speaking, Ellis stepped forward and solemnly said, "I am here as a member of the citizen observer group! I will be following these three professors to observe this court hearing that concerns whether millions of immigrants will receive fair treatment."
Larry nodded in agreement, then asked, "Madam and professors from Harvard, what do you consider to be the most crucial piece of evidence influencing this case?"
Randall answered succinctly, "In my view, this case involves the boundaries of legitimate self-defense."
In addition, there are three cutting-edge legal issues: whether alcohol affects judgment, and how we can reconstruct physical evidence in the judicial process.
"
"So, you think the key isn't the identities of the deceased and the perpetrator, but the evidence, right?" Larry asked.
“Yes! The purpose of Harvard Law School here is to pursue the spirit of the law, not the color of people’s skin!” Randall said.
Ellis, standing to the side, stared directly at Larry. "Your media only write about a Chinese man committing murder, but you never ask the obvious question—why didn't he run away?"
Larry was taken aback, then quickly said, "I'd like to hear more!"
Ellis took a small notebook from his briefcase, flipped through a few pages, and said, "I visited all the crime scenes, and what I know is that the deceased provoked the Chinese seven times that night. He not only smashed up the shop, but also grabbed an old chef by the braid and hurled insults at him—"
Huang Meitang made three concessions because he was eager to save the person, which is why he approached the deceased.
Most importantly—after arriving at the scene, the police did not collect fingerprints from the broken bottle fragments, nor did they measure the angle of the bloodstains on the ground—they automatically assumed that the Chinese man who stood up to uphold justice was the murderer.
Larry nodded and took notes.
At this point, Randall added, "Miss Stone is right. If the prosecution cannot prove that the Chinese man pushed the deceased," then the key is that the deceased himself lost his balance due to intoxication. Therefore, self-defense should be established!"
Larry's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself that even Yung Wing hadn't fully grasped these details.
Meanwhile, at the horse station in front of the courthouse, a public carriage stopped, and 11 Harvard Law School students got off the carriage and stood next to the professor.
Larry continued to pretend to be a reporter, relentlessly asking questions to the professors and students at Harvard Law School.
Just then, another carriage pulled up beside them. District Attorney Barrett stepped down from the carriage.
He looked up and saw the group of people from Harvard Law School, and a smile immediately spread across his face. "Mr. Randall, you've arrived very early today!"
"Prosecutor! It's a pleasure to meet you." Randall greeted him familiarly.
After exchanging pleasantries with everyone at Harvard Law School, Barrett noticed the woman beside him with an unfriendly expression and asked in confusion, "Madam, how should I address you?"
Ellis, her face cold, said, "I'm the editor-in-chief of *Women's Magazine*, Mr. Prosecutor. I have a question for you. Do you support the principle that 'the law should be based on evidence, not prejudice'?"
Barrett's face quickly turned cold, and she snorted heavily, "Oh, feminist activists—I know you, you always think this is discrimination, that is wrong. As if the stable social order arranged by God was meant to be broken by you."
"You haven't answered my question yet?" Ellis's tone remained sharp.
Barrett waved his hand. "I'm sorry, but based on procedural and impartial principles during the trial, I cannot answer your question."
As he spoke, Barrett hurriedly said goodbye to Randall and strode into the courtroom.
Randall glanced at the sulking Ellis, then turned to the law students, "Students, we must remember our place. Harvard Law School is here to observe the proceedings; we cannot interfere with any judicial process in court—"
After receiving everyone's agreement, the dean of the law school turned to Larry and asked, "Mr. Reporter, do you have any other questions? If not, we'll proceed as we see fit."
Larry knew this was his last chance, and hurriedly asked the crucial question, "Professor, as you just said, if a drunk man throws a punch at someone and falls to his death due to loss of balance, is this considered 'death by pushing' or 'self-inflicted risk' under the law?"
Randall's eyes widened in shock upon hearing the question.
I wonder what the other law students around them are thinking, but the two professors' eyes are already fixed on Larry, their eyes showing surprise.
This is a question Larry has carefully crafted. On the surface, it explores legal concepts, but it actually embeds details of the case, making it a very subtle hint.
Legal scholars can naturally recognize that the establishment of "self-defense" depends on whether the attacker has the actual ability to cause harm.
In Anglo-American law, if the victim voluntarily enters a dangerous situation, the defendant's liability may be reduced. Crucially, in this case, if the accusation of self-inflicted danger is plausible, it essentially means the deceased intended to attack, which unwittingly proves Huang Meitang acted in self-defense.
Randall is known in the American legal community for his case-based teaching method. He values "how facts determine the application of law" the most. In this case, if Tom lost his balance during an active attack, then his death was a natural result of the attack and not caused by Huang Meitang's violence.
This directly undermines the foundation of the "manslaughter" charge.
Before Randall could answer, Ellis suddenly interjected, "Wait—you said it was due to his own loss of balance? Doesn't that mean the damage stemmed from his actions, not from the defender's retaliation?"
Larry smiled sheepishly and didn't answer.
Randall pondered for a moment, then whispered to Ellis, "—We overlooked the physical continuity of the attack—"
After speaking, Randall turned to Larry, "Mr. Reporter, your question is excellent. We can answer it after the trial. That way, you'll have a case to compare your question to—"
Larry smiled and closed his notebook. "Thank you, Professor. I wish you a successful observation!"
After saying goodbye to the professor and Alice, Larry turned and left, thinking to himself: The bell has rung; now we must wait to see what the echo will be like.
The most skillful guidance is to make the other person believe that the answer comes from their own heart.
At the same time, Adams III's carriage also appeared at the courthouse entrance.
After the carriage stopped, he didn't get off immediately. Instead, he lit a cigar in the carriage and smoked it quietly.
After a while, there was a knock on the carriage door. "Sir! Mr. Shii has come to visit."
"Please invite him up here to speak!"
A short while later, the carriage door opened, and Shii, dressed in a light gray suit, climbed in and sat opposite Adams. She gestured with her hat, "Good morning, Senator!"
Adams gave a mysterious smile. "Good morning, future senator."
Shii paused for a moment, then smiled and replied, "Thank you! It's a pity that the Democratic senator position was given to that red-haired kid four years ago."
Adams smiled and waved his hand, "Once this case is over, he'll be disgraced. The senator's position will be back in your hands sooner or later."
"That would be ideal. Also, Mr. Adams, can you assure us that we can mobilize enough manpower for the subsequent projects? Now, it's not just the Boston subway that we can do general contracting for; if we have sufficient manpower, we would even like to take on the Southport Industrial Area redevelopment project."
Adams chuckled and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Don't worry. Kennedy's influence is limited to his district. But to deal with him, I've already reached behind him. If you can get the community to abandon Kennedy, or get the Democrats to vote no confidence in him—I guarantee you'll get enough workers."
Shii smiled. "Of course I'm not worried about that! After all, you're the former president of Union Pacific; when it comes to organizing labor, no one in the entire United States has a say! — So how about a 50/50 split?"
Adams laughed. "Sure! But sir, remember this: the crux of the matter is how to ruin Kennedy's reputation—once he's removed from his senator position, he can't have absolute power in the underworld, no matter how influential he is."
Shii hesitated slightly, "But right now, the Democratic Party still has a very good opinion of him—"
That's your problem.
"Alright! Oh, by the way, Mr. Adams, are you going to the court hearing later?"
"Of course!" Adams exhaled a puff of cigar smoke, a smile spreading across his face. "I'd like to see how this case is decided. If a white man dies and the perpetrator goes unpunished—wouldn't that cause public outrage?"
They both laughed.
Just then, the carriage was knocked on again.
"Sir! There are a lot of people outside the courthouse—" a voice said urgently from outside the door.
Adams frowned. "Who is it?"
"—Many people, they look like ordinary citizens from Boston, and some immigrants," the voice outside the door said.
The two people in the carriage were surprised when they heard the news. They immediately looked out the window, and through the velvet window, they saw a large group of commoners dressed in formal clothes, gathered in twos and threes on the street in front of the courthouse.
It is clear that a gathering is taking place here.
"How dare they! What are they trying to do? Interfere with the U.S. judiciary?" Adams said sternly.
While the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, the areas are selective. Streets leading to courthouses or fire lanes must not be blocked.
In addition, holding assemblies also requires police approval.
If the police determine that "it may incite riots," they can use violence to disperse the crowd. When the iron fist of capitalism strikes, it doesn't care about "freedom."
Whether or not it will "incite riots" is up to the police to decide.
Sheehan suddenly realized something, her face turning extremely grim. "—The police are in Kennedy's hands. Could he organize people to exert influence outside the courtroom? If there are too many people—it would affect the jury and the court?"
Adams waved his hand. "No problem! I'll go to the police station and tell them that this illegal assembly is seriously obstructing court order! They won't dare disobey such a public demand."
After saying this, Adams looked out the window, his face still grave. "But what exactly is he up to? Does he really want to interfere with the judiciary? Shouldn't Kennedy be cutting ties with his Chinese subordinates right now?"
He even organized a community event—does he really want to associate himself with the Chinese community? What benefit would that bring him?
By this time, a sign had been displayed among the onlookers: "We watch, we judge!"
Justice cannot be bought or sold!
Although there were many ordinary people present, they were orderly. Volunteers were also there to maintain order. Even more strangely, some Catholic clergy were also present.
Shee's face was also full of confusion. "Has Kennedy gone mad? Also, what does the sign 'Justice cannot be bought or sold' mean?"
Adams frowned, then suddenly picked up his cane and tapped on the wooden planks of the carriage.
The voice outside the door quickly asked, "Sir, what can I do for you?"
"Have you seen Patrick Kennedy? Or any of his men?" Adams asked coldly.
"I see it—wait, in fact, Senator Kennedy is walking toward our carriage!" The voice outside the door suddenly became urgent.
Adams and Sheepy exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
After a while, Kennedy's characteristic, slightly accented, steady voice came from outside the carriage, "Hello, I'd like to see Mr. Adams!"
"—Don't let him see me," Shii whispered to Adams.
Adams nodded slightly, lifted the window curtain, and revealed his face.
"Mr. Kennedy, what brings you here? I'm on my way to observe a court hearing," Adams said, feigning nonchalance.
Kennedy, standing outside the carriage, raised his hat in a gesture of respect to Adams. "Mr. Adams, it's a pleasure to see you here."
Adams sneered and pointed to the crowd outside. "If I'm not mistaken, you hired all of them, didn't you? Are you treating the courtroom like a circus?"
Kennedy smiled. "This is citizens exercising their right to civil liberties—I overheard some people saying as I passed by that they weren't supporting anyone, but exercising their civil rights. Others were saying that the courts belong to the people, and we have the right to see how they operate."
Adams scoffed. "Who would believe such nonsense?"
Kennedy chuckled and said, "I don't know that. But actually, I'm here to inform you of something else. The Massachusetts State Legislature is holding an emergency meeting to consider and pass a temporary bill—I'm here to let you know to attend!"
"What bill?" Adams had a bad feeling.
Kennedy calmly said, "It's an emergency concerning public safety! You'll see when you get here—"
Adams said coldly, "If I'm not mistaken, you are the one who proposed this bill, aren't you?"
"You guessed right! So I'm here to see you on urgent business." Kennedy's face was full of smiles.
Adams fell silent.
Kennedy was not visiting in a private capacity, but rather in a semi-formal political announcement in his dual official capacity as a state senator and the proposer of the emergency plan.
In the current context, he represents the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
Adams would have no way to refuse if he was notified in this way.
After a few seconds of thought, Adams said with a straight face, "I will go, but could you tell me what your urgent proposal is?"
Kennedy pulled a document from behind him and waved it in front of Adams.
The speed was a bit fast; Adams only saw the beginning of the "Public Safety Transparency Act" —
"Let's go!" Kennedy slapped the documents in his hand and said with a smile, "You'll see when we get there!"
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