Chapter 79: Complete Victory

  As he watched the prosecutor return to his seat, Henry stood up and said to the judge: "Your Honor, may I present our new evidence to everyone."

  The old black judge crossed his hands under his chin and nodded: "Okay".

  Following Henry, he played the recording of Ju An again, and then said to the jury: "The previous section of the recording was recorded by my client Mr. Ju, did you notice that it is basically the same as the recording provided by the police, with only two more sentences of Chinese dialogue? Now I would like to ask, which member of the jury understands Chinese?"

  One middle-aged Chinese juror raised his hand and said: "I understand Chinese."

  Henry smiled and said to the juror, "Then please tell the other jurors what these two Chinese sentences mean."

  The Chinese juror translated: "Two defendants, one thought that Officer Cora was the kind of person who would introduce customers to hotels for consumption and then take a commission on the liquor, while the other thought that Officer Cora wanted to take them on a tour of New York, so they gave her fifty dollars as a deposit and let her take them on a tour the next night."

  "After listening, Henry waved his hand and said: 'If there are still doubts about the previous conversation, I think this conversation has solved all the problems. That is my two clients, both of whom have received good education. Mr. Ju, who came to New York last time, even donated to charity, while Mr. Wang, who has a tourism company in China, is now cooperating with several ranches in Montana to develop tourism. They came to New York just to take a look at the scenery and feel the charm of New York as the world's economic capital. However, I believe that these two gentlemen may not have much good impression of New York left, because from beginning to end, the police officers in New York have been making subjective assumptions about my clients.'"

  The prosecution immediately stood up and said: "We object, the methods adopted by our police are lawful. Our officer Cora made several sexual innuendos to the two suspects, but they did not explicitly refuse. The final tape recording also cannot completely deny their behavior, just like what the witness said earlier, old hands at buying sex are more cunning, perhaps it's just a way for the two suspects to get rid of the lawsuit."

  "The objection is overruled, counsel for the defense will continue."

  Henry nodded to the judge and continued: "Firstly, Officer Cora, when faced with two men inviting her into someone else's car, did not refuse and got in. The lady has already mentioned that normally a female officer would not get in. So why did our Officer Cora get in? I have Officer Cora's file here." He picked up a document from the table and handed it to the judge, saying: "She joined the police force less than a year ago, she's new, eager to gain recognition from her peers. Look at her supervisor's evaluation of her - it says she has a strong passion for fighting crime, but also that this month alone she received two complaints about her law enforcement methods, which didn't raise any concerns within our department. Sometimes zeal can turn into bias, and passion can become impulsiveness."

  The prosecutor, a man in his forties, immediately stood up again and loudly objected, saying: "We protest, this is an insult to the hard work of an excellent police officer, Your Honor!"

  The judge looked at Henry and said: "Objection sustained."

  "After listening, Henry shifted the topic: 'Let's take a look at the cases in New York that have been convicted over the past year. Here are dozens of cases where female police officers used themselves as bait to capture suspects and were sentenced.' He pointed to a thick stack of documents on the table: 'Your Honor, gentlemen of the jury, these cases all have one thing in common - the suspects had all taken off their clothes or had further physical contact before being convicted. The law allows police officers to make arrests legally under one condition - that there is further action, that is, conscious physical contact. However, my two clients, one was driving at the time, and the other, according to the police's own documents, did not mention that either of them had unbuttoned their clothes or had any physical contact with Officer Cola.'"

  The prosecution immediately defended itself by saying: "They were already caught before one of them had any contact."

  "Henry smiled at the jury: 'What was he arrested for? Flirting with a young and beautiful woman? Of course, assuming you didn't know that this young lady was a police officer who wanted to catch him and throw him in jail. The arrest itself was illegal. My clients showed no signs of wanting further physical contact with Officer Cora after handing over $50. Our evidence has proven that my clients were just gentlemen giving a ride to a woman who wanted to hitchhike. I don't deny that from the recording, one of my clients seemed to have a crush on Officer Cora. A young man admiring a young lady is God-given right, but our police want to use this as an excuse to put my clients in jail.'"

  "Both of my clients are graduates of top universities in China. Although I don't know much about Chinese universities, I looked it up and found that the admission rate for this university is one in twelve, far higher than Harvard or Yale. Their records are spotless, not even a single speeding ticket. Mr. Ju buys car insurance at the maximum discount. My two clients are law-abiding citizens who have received good education and value quality of life, they are kind-hearted people. They currently reside in one of the most luxurious hotels in New York. What's the likelihood that someone like them would be interested in a street girl from the lowest rung?"

  Living in comfort, Henry is a bit hard to understand. Can't rich people find street girls at the bottom? What kind of logic is this? You're supposed to defend us as not guilty, but you bring up living standards and good education, what does that have to do with anything?

  "Look at the previous cases, out of so many cases, not a single female police officer got into the suspect's car and made the suspect convicted. Now look at Officer Cora, facing two young, strong males, in a situation where most female officers wouldn't even get into a car with one male driver, she decisively got into my clients' car. Why? Maybe Officer Cora thought to herself that my clients were harmless, looked like two well-educated gentlemen, so she got in the car and started spinning a web of deceit against my clients with her Brooklyn accent that many native-born Americans can't even understand. As for the recording, the only thing clear is 'service' and 'make you satisfied', what kind of crime is this? When did the English dictionary define 'service' as prostitution and 'make you satisfied' as a woman selling her body? Am I old, did I sleep for decades last night?"

  "The lawyer for the defense is speculating about the witness's thoughts, it cannot be used as evidence, your honor."

  "Your Honor! What prompted this Coral Gables officer to get on the bus? Was it because my two clients looked Asian?"

  "Your Honor! I object, we have shown no racial bias whatsoever in the enforcement process, and the defense attorney's accusations are completely slanderous."

  "Watch your words, counselor," the black judge said. "If you have evidence that there was even a hint of racial prejudice on the part of the police in this case, we will hold another trial and I would be delighted to see those racists punished."

  "I apologize, your honor, I didn't mention racial profiling, I was just making an assumption, what drove Officer Cora to get into my two clients' car."

  "The judge replied: 'Put aside your argument, you know racial discrimination is much more serious than this case.'"

  Wang Fan heard this and asked in a low voice: "Is the charge of racial discrimination very serious?"

  "Reality is widespread, for example, people of color are not as easy to find jobs as whites, and so on. But you can't say it, you can only do it. If you say it out loud, it's a big trouble."

  "Sorry," said Henry, "but even according to the police's own account, at that time my two clients had not taken any further action. They were arrested with their clothes on and this arrest itself was illegal. The police department did not think about its own actions and wanted to impose the consequences they created on my two clients. Even after we presented the most favorable evidence, the prosecution is still looking for excuses, trying to pin the crime on my two clients. What they care about is not justice, but rather their image. They only write down what they imagine in their minds, hang it around someone's neck, and then send that person to prison. Then they can tell the public, 'Look, we've caught another criminal.' Gentlemen of the jury, look at these two men's records - pure as a blank sheet of paper. I rest my case."

  After finishing speaking, Henry walked over to the long table and sat down.

  The judge looked down and said, "Recess for ten minutes. The verdict will be announced in ten minutes. Both lawyers will come with me." After finishing speaking, he knocked the small hammer and turned around to leave the courtroom.

  "Henry smiled and asked Ju An, 'My proposed conditions are: no record of the case will be kept, the police department will apologize, the litigation costs will be borne by the police department, and each person will receive $2,000 in compensation. What do you think?'"

  "Compensate you as you see fit, the rest is a must." The nearby Wang Fan also nodded in agreement.

  Henry nodded and went out of the courtroom, into the judge's chambers. The prosecutor also followed him there.

  When the court reconvened, the judge first asked the jury to deliver its verdict. The jury delivered a unanimous decision: Ju An and Wang Fan were both not guilty.

  The judge then pronounced the verdict: "Messrs. Ju An and Wang Fan are acquitted and released, the police department apologizes to both gentlemen and bears all litigation costs, compensates each of the two gentlemen with $3,500, and the judgment takes effect immediately!" As soon as the judge's small wooden hammer fell.