But it doesn't matter; there are photographs of both incidents from the plaintiff's litigation.
It doesn't matter where the photos came from (they were all taken by Ai), it doesn't matter.
The court only speaks of evidence and whether the evidence is legal.
Even if you were hit by a truck and managed to pull out your camera to take two sets of photos before dying in midair, no one would care. As long as the source of the evidence is legal, it complies with procedure.
This kind of continuous snapshot is not only direct evidence, but it also has a certain logic, making it irrefutable proof that can easily rule in favor of the plaintiff.
The judge nodded and was about to bring down the gavel.
But at that moment, Keisuke Kumiko suddenly spoke again.
"I request that witnesses be called and additional evidence be presented, as I still have some evidence and want to disclose it all in court."
The judge looked at him strangely and struck the gavel.
"Request approved!"
A short while later, a middle-aged, overweight woman appeared.
"This is Mrs. Bina, our neighbor who lives next door to Tatsuya Nagawa's apartment,"
Kumiko introduced.
"Now, please give your testimony, Miss Bina."
The overweight woman nodded and looked at Tatsuya Nagakawa with a fearful expression on her face.
"Every night, late at night, I would hear strange noises coming from the next room—like the hissing sound of a knife being sharpened, the sound of a hammer striking the floor, and a creepy laugh—all coming from this person's room."
Tatsuya Nagai grew anxious upon hearing this.
"You're spouting nonsense! I was sleeping at that time!"
The overweight woman ignored him and continued, "Your Honor, what I said is absolutely true! I don't know what this person does every night at such late hours!"
Nagai Tatsuya roared, "I said I was sleeping!"
The judge struck the gavel. "Silence!"
After the courtroom settled down,
the judge turned to Keisuke Kumiko. "Plaintiff's attorney, may I ask what connection the witness you summoned has with the facts of this case?"
"Of course there is a connection!"
Kumiko paused.
Then he spoke, word by word.
"We believe that the defendant is also suspected of planning other crimes, such as intentional homicide and premeditated rape."
As soon as those words were spoken, nearly everyone in the courtroom was stunned.
"You're slandering me! It's completely false!"
Tatsuya Nagai almost jumped up.
Premeditated murder? Premeditated rape?
He had this plan and had bought the necessary tools.
But he had never reported this plan. There was no such thing as sharpening a knife at night!
On this side, Kumiko ignored the furious Nagai Tatsuya.
"I request new witnesses to be called!"
Shortly after, several new witnesses arrived in court.
"This person bought some hardware tools from me. I remember he asked if the glass cutter was sharp. At that time, his smile was disgusting and obscene, so he left a deep impression on me."
This was a hardware store owner.
"Once, this person came into my store and bought lubricants and condoms. His expression at the time was as if he were about to commit a crime."
This was an adult store owner.
"This person has been to my store and bought some discs about harassment."
"This person has been to my store and bought some books about harassment."
These two were from a video store and a bookstore.
The more Tatsuya Nagai listened, the more sweat began to drip down his forehead.
Some of these witnesses' testimonies were indeed true. For example, he had indeed visited the hardware store and the adult store.
But the last two were completely made up!
"Here is surveillance evidence from a hardware store and an adult store, proving that the defendant visited these stores."
"Additionally, for several consecutive days, the defendant hid downstairs from our client's apartment and peeked at her. Here are the photos."
Keisuke Kumiko took out a USB drive with several attached photos.
The overwhelming barrage of evidence was dizzying.
All eyes were fixed on the defendant in this lawsuit, Tatsuya Nagai.
For a moment, everyone whispered among themselves.
Doubt, surprise—voices of all kinds followed one after another.
Nagai Tatsuya was drenched in sweat, panicking.
Finally, he understood.
The other party had come prepared!
Some of the evidence was true, some false, some deliberately fabricated—everything was meant to accuse him.
Beyond a civil compensation claim, they wanted him to face criminal charges and go to jail.
"Objection!"
His defense attorney, Saku, quickly stood up.
"The facts presented by the plaintiff are irrelevant to this case and should be filed as a separate lawsuit."
The judge looked at him and struck the gavel. "Objection overruled! Please continue presenting evidence!"
Saku couldn't help but sit down, disappointed.
Generally, in this situation, the judge wouldn't allow the plaintiff to continue speaking, because strictly speaking, this involved two separate cases—one civil and one criminal—which should be handled separately. Criminal cases could only be prosecuted by the state.
But this judge… no, rather, she.
She was a female judge.
Legally, she wouldn't favor anyone, but emotionally, she would side with someone of her own gender.
Not to mention that this was a premeditated case of rape and murder.
Interpretation of the law always belonged to the judge, leaving the defendant with no chance to fight back.
Then, Kumiko continued.
He brought out the final and most crucial piece of evidence.
"This is a photo of our plaintiff, Miss Miho Nishitani, taken from the ground floor of her apartment building."
The photo showed a partially unzipped blue-and-white sports bag placed in a very discreet spot on the dirt near the bushes.
Through the small opening, some tools could be vaguely seen.
For example, glass drills, screwdrivers, and other tools that could easily break through doors.
"As this is critical evidence, we have not touched the bag. We can ask the prosecution to collect the evidence later."
Keisuke Kumiko took a deep breath, then spoke in a loud, powerful voice.
"Given the logically consistent witness statements, we have sufficient grounds to suspect that this is the defendant's weapon. It is suspicious enough to charge him with premeditated murder and rape."
The courtroom erupted.
No one expected a small civil lawsuit to slowly transform into a criminal case!
Tatsuya Nagai, sitting in the defendant's seat, was drenched in sweat, his expression constantly shifting.
Suddenly, he stood up and desperately ran toward the exit, trying to escape.
The court officers on both sides reacted swiftly, capturing him in an instant.
"Let me go! I haven't broken any laws! You can't arrest me!"
Tatsuya Nagai struggled desperately, shouting as he fought.
But his strength was too weak against the well-trained officers, and he was quickly pinned against the table, unable to move.
Ai, sitting among the audience, watched the scene unfold.
Her expression was as calm as ever, but there was a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Before coming here, there was one thing she didn't understand.
If this was a civil lawsuit, with the two litigated incidents at the beginning, the two sets of photos she took earlier would have been enough to win the case. Strictly speaking, these photos were not falsified evidence but rather "fabricated" evidence, which was still within the bounds of the law.
So why did Kumiko insist on forging evidence, fabricating motives, and even inducing some witnesses to speak inappropriately?
For example, the overweight woman next door, the video store owner, and the bookstore owner—all were false testimonies induced by him.
The plaintiff's claim was merely a civil lawsuit.
Strictly speaking, putting the other party in jail was not truly part of the client's request.
Why did Kumiko go through so much "extra" work to obtain so much "extra" evidence, determined to build a criminal case against the other party?
Ai didn't fully understand. She was a little confused.
She could only go ask Keisuke Kumiko in person later.
(End of Chapter)