Law and Love (Showki fanfic)

Ch. 36: Clue

A/N: To reiterate, the legal knowledge in this fanfiction is not 100% accurate... =)

Kihyun

~the next day~

~in the court room~

I readjust my robes as I waited for the defense to come into the court. I smooth down the sash that indicated that I am a prosecutor absentmindedly and open the file which held my argument for this case. The defendant is being tried for twelve counts of murder. It should not be a hard case as I had gathered all the evidence I need to get a guilty conviction. 

*door opening*

In comes the defendant, his attorney, and the families of the victims. They all take their seats in the respective areas of the court room. I looked across the room and inadvertently locked eyes with the defendant. The defendant smirks and nods at me. I maintained a calm expression and pushed up my glasses, which had slip down the bridge of my nose.

*another door opens* 

"All rise," the baliff announces. Everyone in the court rises as the three judges walked in and stood in front of their seats.

"Please take a seat," says Senior Judge Jeon, the one in the middle. With that, everyone did. "Today, we will going over the case Lee Junhyeon vs the People of South Korea. Let's...have the prosecution go first," he continues to say.

"Thank you, Senior Judge Jeon," I said as I rose my seat and made my way to the center of the court. "The defendant is being charged for tax invasion and insurance fraud....," I began to start my case against him. As I neared the end of my opening argument, I saw him smirk from the corner of my eye. What the fuck is wrong with him... is there something on my face? Brushing that aside, I continued on for a minute or two more before sitting back down and letting the defendant's attorney do her job. 

I sort of paid attention to what she was saying in order to rebut her claims later on, but something else caught my attention. I noticed that there was a tattoo on Junhyeon's neck, but I could not quite make it out as his orange jumpsuit was in the way. I clicked my tongue subconsciously and tuned back into what is being said at the moment. 

"My client is innocent. He did not know how to fill out those forms correctly...," the public defense attorney says. I snorted a little to loudly which caused everyone who heard it to look at me. I coughed awkwardly and dragged a hand through my crimson locks. They looked away after a few seconds. 

~five minutes later~

"Now, you may cross examine," says Associate Judge Choi. 

"So, you claim that your client did not know how to fill out those forms, right," I asked.

"That's right," she replies.

"Then, don't you think he could have sought help from professionals or say the internet?"

"Yes, but..."

"But, nothing. Even if he didn't know how, there is a very low possibility that he would unintentionally not disclose vital financial information from the forms. The forms do have instructions on them and words that prompt certain answers. Don't you think so, Public Defense Attorney Kim?"

"I can see where you are coming from, Prosecutor Yoo. But, we also need to keep in mind that we are all human and we make mistakes. My client is definitely not excluded from making human errors."

"Then is this to say that because he supposedly did not know better, he should be let off? What about him purposely sitting his company on fire to get insurance money? How do you explain that," I asked as I cleaned the insides of my finger nails on my left hand. "Please do enlighten me," I said as I looked up from my hand. Just as I did, I managed to see half of the tattoo on his neck. It was a bit marred, but I still managed to figure out what the tattoo was.