The Mad Prosecutor Picked Up AI - Chapter 49
Only Noblemtl
Episode 49: A treasure has arrived in our department.
Manager Shin Hyo-jin said as she emptied her glass.
“Dogeomdo, you have to start working right away tomorrow, right?”
“yes.”
“You don’t have much experience in trials, so would you like to work with Pro Kang for a month? Or can you start right away? What do you think?”
There is a big difference between investigating a case and going to court. When investigating, the prosecutor is king. He can threaten or persuade suspects as he pleases. Suspects and witnesses who come to the prosecutor’s office are naturally intimidated by the prosecutor.
But it’s different in court. In court, the judge is king. He not only yells at the defendant, but also openly scolds the lawyers and prosecutors if he doesn’t like them.
In a courtroom, there are strict rules. The order of the trial is set, and what must be said is clearly specified. It’s almost like there’s a script.
That’s why people who aren’t familiar with this system may have a hard time.
‘I’ve only been there twice, following Senior Kim Hyun-chul, but should I ask him to give me some more time?’
[I think it will be okay. Didn’t you attend a trial when you were at the Judicial Research and Training Institute?]
‘Yeah, that’s true. Even when I was a prosecutor.’
[Then let’s get started right away. It looks like you have a lot of work to do. I think it won’t be a big problem if I help you.]
‘okay.’
“I’m a very fast learner. If you just leave it to me, I’ll get started right away.”
“Really? Hey, if you do that, we’ll be fine. Don’t worry. But since it’s your first time, you can start with things that aren’t too difficult.”
“You can give me something difficult. I’m going to jump up in court and say, ‘Your Honor! To this kid-.’”
“To the defendant.”
“Yes. It is my dream to say, ‘Please sentence the defendant to death!’”
I thought he was just happily eating meat and inhaling it, but Wi Jun-woo was listening to me and corrected my mistakes.
Manager Shin Hyo-jin nodded.
“I guess you’ve seen a lot of swordsman movies. But what can I do? In our department, there’s no need to say such lines.”
“why?”
“Cases big enough to sentence the defendant to death don’t even reach our department. They’re all handled by the previous departments. The cases that come to our 5th trial division are usually very small.”
“Is it small?”
“Not all ten million citizens living in Seoul commit serious crimes. This isn’t Gotham City. There are a lot more minor incidents that don’t even make it to the news. Eating without permission, making loud noises, illegal parking, etc.
“Those are minor cases that result in a fine or at most a few months in prison. That’s usually all that comes to our department.”
“ah.”
Kang Jin-gyu continued to explain.
“So, these are not cases where you can have evidence and say, ‘This is right or wrong,’ or argue legal arguments and say, ‘This is right or wrong.’ The charges are brought before the judge, the defendant asks for leniency, and the judge makes a ruling. That’s pretty much it.”
[It seems like Vice President Nam Woo-joong really completely abandoned the 5th trial.]
‘That’s right. I guess it’s not a joke. You’re being petty.’
For some reason, the atmosphere of the company dinner felt a bit stale, so I said something to cheer it up.
“It might be a little different now, since we have one more person. Aren’t there going to be a lot more difficult and complicated cases? Cases that could result in at least a year in prison?”
Manager Shin Hyo-jin snorted.
“That would be quite the case. Vice-Chief Nam Woo-joong? Unless he has a silver hair, it’s impossible.”
* * *
The next morning.
“It seems like the manager is being rude?”
“Oh. Look at this, sir. This is a robbery and assault case, this is a rape and murder case.”
“Oh my god, this is manslaughter.”
“What’s going on? Is it true that the sun rose in the east today?”
While not only Kang Jin-gyu, but also investigator Moon Seung-hwan and working-level officer Kang Min-hee were causing a ruckus, Chief Shin Hyo-jin was just smiling calmly.
– Now that we have more personnel, shouldn’t we take on some real cases? We’ve been working too hard. We’ve only been handling easy cases. Isn’t that right?
It was the words of the deputy chief Nam Woo-joong. He wondered what was going on when he was called to the deputy chief’s office so early in the morning. It turned out that he was now going to hand over the proper cases. Since they had just hired another person, the excuse was good.
But Director Shin Hyo-jin knew.
‘You said you’d buy me a delicious steak, but then you told me I had to eat five bags of popcorns before I could eat the steak. What’s the difference? Are you telling me to eat steak? You’re telling me to eat popcorns until my stomach explodes.’
If you’re going to pass on important cases, you should’ve reduced the number of cases. Each of those cases requires a ton of material to read and review, and there’s also a ton of testimonies and witnesses to organize.
But, like before, they keep passing on so many small issues and now they are asking me to take on important cases as well.
“Should I laugh or cry?”
Manager Shin Hyo-jin sighed and said.
“Let’s leave these materials here for now. I have a trial until 3 PM today. What about Pro Kang?”
“I’ll be done around that time too.”
“Then let’s all get together at 3 PM and decide how to handle the new cases that come in and who will take charge of them.”
Do Hyun-kwang raised his hand and said.
“Can I look at the cases first?”
“A sword?”
“Yes. If we just sort out the simple issues first, it will be easier to have a meeting in the afternoon.”
“hmm.”
Chief Shin Hyo-jin thought for a moment. If only the simple cases were organized as he said, then it would be much more helpful and save time since only the important cases would be discussed in the afternoon.
But he is still a rookie prosecutor in his first year. What’s more, it’s his first time in the trial department. How much can someone like him do? It’s only been three or four months since he became independent. Even if it’s past the time to teach him one by one by staying by his side, it’s still difficult to trust him with work.
It meant that there were still no great expectations for the sword.
“Are you okay alone?”
“It’s okay because I’m not alone.”
“what?”
Do Hyeon-gwang, whose gaze had been focused on the empty space for a moment, was momentarily flustered and then tried to cover it up with a laugh.
“Uh, well. What I mean is, the manager is here with us. Ha. Haha.”
And what about that out-of-the-blue way of speaking? Given her personality, speaking directly didn’t bother me that much. However, the way she mumbled to herself or occasionally stared blankly into space, lost in thought, didn’t look normal at all.
‘If I just do my job properly, then whatever.’
“Since you have to get used to the work here anyway, then read the files from the simple cases here. You can also ask Chief Moon to look through the files from cases that have already been closed. You can learn a lot by looking at how the cases are handled, how the trials are conducted, and how the documents are finalized after the trials.”
“yes!”
Do Hyeon-gwang answered vigorously with shining eyes, but Manager Shin Hyo-jin checked the time with a calm face.
“Then I guess I’ll go to the morning trial. See you this afternoon, everyone.”
“Yes, have a nice trip.”
“I’m going too. See you in the afternoon.”
“take care.”
Director Shin Hyo-jin and Kang Jin-gyu left the room with the lawsuit materials loaded onto a cart.
… …
3pm.
When Chief Shin Hyo-jin returned to her office after the trial, she saw neatly organized case files on her desk. In front of her, Kang Jin-gyu was holding one of the case files and reading it.
“Pro Kang, you came early?”
“Manager, you’re here.”
“What is this? Have you already sorted out the cases?”
I came up to the desk and took a quick look, and it was quite impressive. The many case files were organized very systematically.
“Did Pro Kang do it? It’s much better than before.”
“No. I just got here. This is what the sword did.”
“A sword?”
Manager Shin Hyo-jin’s eyes widened.
‘You’ve already looked at and sorted out all these files while we’re still in court?’
On one side were the important cases that the three of them would have to handle in the future, and on the other side were the small cases that didn’t require much effort. These small cases were also divided into several piles.
Kang Jin-gyu, who had arrived first, answered with a slightly bewildered look.
“That’s right. It’s true that we’ve divided up the cases. So, those are important cases. We can decide who will take charge of them during a meeting later. This side… … .”
“What’s this? Why are you looking so dazed?”
“Ha, Manager, please take a look yourself.”
Chief Shin Hyo-jin picked up one of the case files placed in front of Kang Jin-gyu.
‘Huh? What is this?’
It wasn’t just that the files were simply categorized. Based on the indictment handed over by the prosecutor, the indictment summary, analysis of existing case law, and even the sentencing were all organized, and important parts were even highlighted with a highlighter, so you could just take them straight to the courtroom.
Originally, when going into trial, you have to recite the entire contents of the indictment, but it takes a long time and judges who don’t like to be bothered sometimes ask you to just state the main points of the indictment. Rather than struggling to summarize it at the time, if you write down the main points of the indictment in advance, you can handle the work more easily.
Manager Shin Hyo-jin, who had been standing there in surprise for a while, finally opened her mouth.
“Pro Kang. Did a real sword do this?”
“Yes, that’s what happened.”
“Oh my gosh.”
A first-year prosecutor sorted out all these cases in a few hours without any help from a shooter? Is there a genie in the lamp or something?
“Manager Moon. Did you help me with this?”
“No. Both Prosecutor Do and the investigator above did it.”
Detective Moon Seung-hwan ran over as if he was waiting for a question and then answered.
“I saw earlier that you and Detective Wi Jun-woo were really getting along well.”
“I heard you worked together at Gunnae-myeon branch office. I guess you work well together.”
“As soon as the manager left, he said, ‘Okay, let’s show off our skills,’ and then suddenly said, ‘Charge!’ and ran towards the documents.”
“Charge?”
“It’s just a breeze. All I have to do is say something and the investigator above will find the information for me.”
Kang Min-hee, who was listening from the side, also chimed in.
“I wonder how well he types. He seems to be faster than me, who types all day long. He reads case files, investigates them, analyzes them, and types them in. How can he be so fast? If someone who didn’t know saw him, they would think he was just typing what someone told him to do.”
Isn’t it not easy to just type as you are told? No, from morning to 3 PM right now. Even if you just type as you are told, the time is tight. And you organized all those cases while analyzing the case law?
Director Shin Hyo-jin’s mouth opened again.
“They said it was a cancerous lump. A treasure has come to our department, a treasure has come.”
At that moment, the door opened and Do Hyun-kwang and Wi Jun-woo appeared. In their hands were her favorite cafe latte and chocolate muffin.
“You’re here? I thought you might be hungry in the afternoon, so I brought it. How about eating it and then having a meeting in the afternoon?”
The eyes of Manager Shin Hyo-jin looking at Do Hyeon-gwang were filled with admiration and affection for his junior.
* * *
[Is this finally your first case?]
‘Yes. It’s my first time going into a courtroom alone as a formal prosecutor.’
It’s already been a week since I moved to the 5th trial division. It was a department that was said to be in a state of turmoil due to the large workload, but thanks to my efforts, the workload within the department was gradually returning to normal.
Since Aliotta already knew a lot of case law and had a lot of information stored in it, the speed of paperwork was unparalleled. All I had to do was type what Aliotta dictated.
Thanks to that, I was liked by Manager Shin Hyo-jin and Kang Jin-gyu was also grateful to me.
[Isn’t it all thanks to this Aliotte!]
There was a downside to having to endure Aliotta’s bluff and show-off. Anyway, thanks to that, most of the minor cases were almost finished. That means that I was now at a level where I could take on a slightly bigger case and go to trial.
My first case was one that Kang Jin-gyu quickly passed on. A group of high school seniors were playing pranks at an academy when one of them fell down the stairs and died. The two friends who were with them at the time were transferred to the case on charges of negligent homicide.
‘What kind of prank did you play that killed someone?’
I started reading the case file again from the beginning.