Both Flren and Neil are in finance, and when there is no big market, they are not very busy. Especially now they can't keep busy.

In the afternoon, they don't want to have fun in Las Vegas. Fren proposes to go to Hans's farm and see the wells.

But they couldn't see the huge fountains anymore, only the fresh water flowing from the metal cover.

Even Neil had to envy Link's good fortune: "I heard that these wells can bring you tens of millions of dollars every year!"

Link smiled and said, "Luck comes, the earth's crust can't stop it." I can't help it!"

Because all the artesian wells are blocked by the metal cover outside the generator set, there is nothing to look at.

Flon then proposes to go fishing in Lake Mead. "There's not much fish there, and there's a lot of restrictions," Link said. Why don't you go fishing in my fishpond? ”

It doesn't matter if the fish in his pond are an inch long. What's more, there are a lot of big fish in his fish pond.

Fren also felt that the wind on the lake was a little strong now, so he didn't object: "That leaf lip fish is really good." Looks like you're good at cooking, catch one and cook tonight?"

"Absolutely. ”

Link asks Benjamin to get them a beach chair. The three of them sat on the edge of the pond and fished, and it didn't take long to catch several leaflip fish.

The fish in the pond are dense and have never been caught, making it too easy to get hooked. After fishing for a while, they lost interest.

However, the sunshine in March was still very good, and they did not leave the edge of the fish pond immediately. Lying on a beach chair and chatting.

Flon suddenly asked, "Why did your lawsuit drag on until now?"

Link is going to New York with them tomorrow. It was because his case against Hul Donald for defamation was about to go to trial

"The process dragged on a bit long. Moreover, the defendant twice asked for an adjournment of the trial, and the court agreed. Link can't help it. He first sued in the district court, but because it involved residents of two different states, the district court transferred the case to the federal court. As a result, the federal court was heard in the New York court.

Neil also said: "Now public opinion is a little unfavorable to you!"

"I'm used to it!" When did American public opinion favor him?

During the pre-trial phase, he went to New York three times. One is a pre-trial conference and the other is discovery. At the pretrial conference, Matthew filed a res judicata, but the defendant's defense lawyer presented evidence that was insufficient to prove the charge of "unfair commercial competition" in his case. The motion for res judicata did not pass.

Hull Donald's lawyer approached Matthew and him before that and offered to reconcile. Hull Donald pleads guilty to defamation, but not to unfair business competition.

If Link agrees, he gets an apology and compensation. But that's not what he wants. He wants everyone to know that he's not to be messed with.

So his case against Hul Donald for defamation and unfair business competition went to a jury verdict. The case also attracted some attention at first, but not many people paid attention to it. However, in the past month, there has been a noticeable increase in media coverage of the case, and most of the media coverage is biased towards the defendant Donald.

Link's West Hollywood media and his social networking sites certainly can't compare to those in the East. In terms of public opinion, he is at a disadvantage.

It is not difficult to see that Hull Donald intends to use the pressure of the media and society to force a verdict in his favor.

Link can't find a countermeasure in this regard for the time being. However, he believes he can win because his evidence is "strong".

"I've heard that the claim against the court is more than $100 million?" Flon said with a frown. "Such a case could drag on for a long time. ”

"It's okay, I'm still free during this time! I think the defendant will be even more unable to drag it out. ”

Neil said, "I'm more worried that the verdict will be against you!" The jury thing wasn't completely impartial.

Once in court, the judge largely upholds the proceedings, and the final verdict of guilt or innocence can only be made by a jury. At best, the judge can give the jury guidance on what kind of law to apply to the case. Once the jurors have reached a verdict, the judge can conclude the case in accordance with the established law.

And jurors are still very subjective, especially when there is social and public pressure – and of course the judges are also the same. When there is too much pressure from the outside world, even if the jury makes a guilty verdict, the judge may use the law at his disposal to give a lenient sentence.

Link isn't in court for the first time, so he's not nervous about it. He laughed and said, "The most I can say as a witness is a few words." The rest of the time it's just a scarecrow. ”

He really didn't care much about time. He's really not busy.

Early the next morning, Link took two bodyguards and flew to New York on Neil's private jet. This time he didn't know how much time it would take to end the lawsuit, and when the lawsuit was over, he could just call his plane to fly over to pick him up.

Matthew, McCully and Bella had arrived in New York two days earlier to prepare. They review all the evidence one last time and communicate with the witnesses one last time.

At the time of the trial, Link was represented by Matthew alone. But in this case, in fact, all three of them were Link's lawyers.

Upon learning that Link had arrived in New York, the three lawyers came to his hotel room together.

Tomorrow is the day of trial, and they need to communicate with Link one last time about the trial strategy.

Link does not intend to abandon his claims in this case: "I know that the key now is Hull Donald's charge of unfair business competition. I wonder how sure this charge is?"

At first, Hull Donald wanted to reconcile with him, saying that he could accept Link's other claims, but he just didn't want to admit unfair business competition. Because that's the crime that most likely ruined his career.

Matthew is going to appear in court, so this question is the only one that he can answer best: "Link, you know that the trial verdict has a certain subjectivity. Although our evidence is quite sufficient, it is difficult to define acts of unfair competition. After all, this is a civil case. ”

Civil cases are not the same as criminal cases. There is no way to rely on administrative means to collect evidence in civil cases, so it is impossible for them to obtain some of the evidence they want to obtain. Even if you get it, it can't be used as valid evidence.

Under U.S. law, illegally obtained evidence is invalid. For example, in a criminal case, if the police search without a warrant, no matter how much evidence they obtain, that evidence will be invalid. If this evidence is the key evidence, as long as the defense lawyer proves that it was obtained illegally, then the defendant basically wins.

Now they are civil cases, but in litigation, the plaintiff is also required to take evidence. The defendant only needs to prove that the plaintiff's evidence is insufficient to prove the charges against him.

McCully also said: "The point is that public opinion is now tilted in favor of the accused. New York prosecutors also claimed in interviews that they had not gathered enough evidence to indict Hull Donald for unfair business competition. There are no plans to criminally hold Hull Donald criminally responsible. In fact, this has given society a kind of tendentious public opinion guidance. ”

"Isn't our evidence sufficient?"

"Evidence is only part of the trial. And not always the evidence is crucial. ”

Link said, "In that case, let's do what we can." "He wanted to kill Hurl Donald, but he knew he couldn't control everything.

Bella said, "We've done everything we can prepare. For example, in the selection of juries, we rejected three court-selected jurors, but the defense lawyer also rejected one. The current jury has four blacks. And we do not accept inconsistent verdicts. This should help you win the case to some extent. ”

Link had heard about it before he came. Although blacks and yellows are not the same skin color, in the past few years, in the increasingly serious racial antagonism in American society, blacks have been discriminated against more severely than before. According to the evidence they gathered, there were four black juries, which really helped him win the trial. Even if a white juror wanted to lean toward Hull Donald, as long as one black juror disagreed, the case would not be over.

Again, he has time to drag Hul Donald. The situation now is in his favor.

"It's better that way!"

"Link, can you remember the prediction we made based on the questions in the transcript of the confession?"

"Most of them can. ”

"That's good. If the defense lawyer asks you a question that you don't know how to answer during your testimony, you can leave it out for a while. I'll find a way to oppose it, and you can also have time to prepare. If the judge upholds my motion to disagree, you certainly don't have to answer it. ”

Because there is a transcript of the testimony, the questions that are usually asked by the lawyer are actually answered in the past. He had to remember his previous answers, otherwise the inconsistency between the testimony given in court and the written testimony would be a retraction of the confession and would be considered dishonest. However, the lawyer may also ask questions that have not been asked before. Those questions may not need to be answered, or they may have to be answered. This depends on the lawyer's understanding of the law and the ability to respond.

Next, Matthew and the others make some predictions about some of the questions that the defense lawyer might ask in response to Link's answers, and at the same time suggest how Link should answer those possible questions.

These are all things that a lawyer should do before the trial. The purpose is to try to avoid being caught by the opposing lawyer when testifying.

That's why wealthy people hire a team of lawyers when they encounter lawsuits. Not all of the lawyers were going to go to court with him. Rather, it is to make various judgments and estimates in the evidence and in the trial, and to analyze the case, so as to seek the jury to make the most favorable verdict for themselves.

It can be said that Link is actually very economical because he has three lawyers to handle this case together.

This is also the reason why he feels that his evidence is sufficient, and in this case, if he cannot win the case, it is also a lawyer's problem.

The three lawyers did not leave the hotel until almost the early hours of the morning. They also left a note from the mock questioning, hoping that Link would remember more before going to court in case the defense lawyer suddenly asked similar questions.