After the plea of not guilty, Brooklyn announced the time to submit a list of evidence. That's when Harvey filed an application for a closed hearing.

According to the regulations, a non-public application needs to be submitted by one party and can only be completed with the consent of both parties. Unless the documents involve state secrets or other inconvenient content to be disclosed, the trial will be considered open by default.

There are many 'tacit' principles in court hearings, such as whether the trial is public, whether a jury is needed, and whether recusal is required...... These are all in accordance with the principle of 'no denial is acquiescence', as long as the parties do not exercise their rights, they will be subject to the ordinary case trial by default.

Of course, above the court, the judge is the greatest, and all principles cannot be bypassed the judge, even if the parties reach an agreement and exercise power, the judge has the power to dismiss.

Given the existence of the Daddy tapes, and in line with the principle that more is better than less, Brooklyn also believes that a closed trial should be held.

It wasn't brought up because the matter wasn't serious enough to require Brooklyn to use the authority of the judges.

Well, now Harvey thought of these things intimately and brought them up directly. It can only be said that he is worthy of the barrister of Pearson Law Firm, and he is worthy of the fees charged to Winston.

Brooklyn followed the usual practice and asked Patti for advice. Not surprisingly, this time Patti's side did not back down, and Sheila did not accept a closed trial.

"Your Excellency, this article does not deal with the reasons why a private trial is necessary, and we do not think that there is a need for a private trial." Sheila was straight to the point.

Harvey explained

"However, this case involves the personal privacy of my client, and my client also holds the position of governor of New York State, and to a certain extent, he represents the government of New York State, and no matter what the outcome of this case is, it will cause a huge whirlpool of public opinion, which is very unfavorable to both the defendant and my client."

"The privacy of individuals is not a reason to have to be heard in camera." Sheila insisted

"We also do not see the need for a closed trial." Xavi had been put on the table in the previous debate, and now he does not intend to give up on it, and continues to explain the need for a closed trial from multiple angles.

In order to achieve his goal, he even drew on the history of jurisprudence and talked about the inhumanity of the public execution of prisoners in the classical courts of medieval Europe.

He insisted that judicial trials should be very private in the first place, and that irrelevant persons should not be invited to observe except for the parties, although this can show the public the impartiality of the judiciary and play a role in education and publicity to a certain extent, but more importantly, it exposes the privacy of the parties to the public without reservation.

In order to state the facts, the parties had to choose between the possibility of losing the case and exposing their privacy. Harvey was well prepared, citing a long list of precedents that have basically concerned situations where a party chooses to conceal factors that can affect the outcome of a trial because certain facts are too difficult to disclose, or because they are unwilling to expose their privacy in public.

Through these precedents, Harvey continues to argue for the enormous impact of public hearings on the fairness of justice. But no matter what he said, Sheila insisted on biting the bullet and not agreeing to the closed trial.

Sheila's attitude made Brooklyn smell something unusual. Sheila's insistence on not agreeing to a closed trial should be that she knew about the existence of the Daddy videotape!

She thinks that Winston would not dare to make the Daddy tape public, and for the sake of his own face, Winston will not even mention the Daddy tape.

As a result, Winston will not be able to explain why he agreed to participate in Russian roulette at a follow-up trial.

If he already realizes that this D-Bo is a threat to his life, why not stop it? Why do you have to participate?

The problem is not explained clearly, and the whole chain of arguments on Winston's side will collapse. It's a nail that Sheila has nailed to the plaintiff's territory!

In addition, the public trial would also prevent Winston from obtaining the Daddy tape through legal means.

The tape is still in Patty's possession, and if it doesn't make it through this trial, Winston's operation can basically be declared a complete failure.

Even if Winston ultimately wins the case, Patty can still continue to make small moves with the Daddy tape.

The method of bringing the Daddy tape to the public is simple, and Winston only needs to submit a supplementary evidence to the court, adding the Daddy tape to his list of evidence, and affirming that the Daddy tape plays a vital role in this case.

As long as the judge didn't have a leg with Patty, he had to sign a decree requiring Patty's side to hand over the tape, and Patti's side couldn't refuse at all.

Because the tape was originally illegal, it was not Patty's lawful private property and would not be protected by law.

Private property is sacrosanct, provided that this private property is legitimate. Sheila wasn't the kind of passionate lawyer Brooklyn thought she was at first, and like most lawyers, she was just fighting for her clients.

In a way, Harvey's reasoning is correct. Sheila is taking advantage of Winston's inability to expose her privacy in full.

But Sheila underestimated the conflict between Winston and Patty, and Winston was not afraid of a public trial if it was really necessary.

Harvey and Sheila were still arguing over whether a private trial should be held, while Jerry in the gallery focused on Winston and Patty.

When Harvey once again mentioned the harm of the public trial to both parties, Jerry couldn't sit still. He stood up and said

"Your Excellency, allow me to speak." Jerry's sudden interjection surprised everyone.

Winston was a little worried, and couldn't help but look back at Jerry. Patty, on the other hand, looked cold, her gaze wandering back and forth between Jerry and Winston.

Brooklyn nodded and agreed to Jerry's request. Jerry walked over to the plaintiff and took a deep breath.

"I know what the hell you're arguing about." Surprisingly, Jerry did not speak incoherently, or cry and plead with both sides, but calmly explained his thoughts.

It made him look more like a choice made out of impatience to listen to the arguments continue. Rather than harboring unrealistic fantasies, or simply wishful thinking.

"Your Excellency, Judge." Jerry pointed at Patty and said to Brooklyn

"The defendant was in possession of an indecent video recording of the plaintiff playing cards. For some purpose, the defendant had shown me the footage. ”

"It was precisely because of the existence of this tape that the plaintiff was threatened by the defendant and had to participate in Russian roulette."

"When the defendant first proposed Russian roulette, the plaintiff strongly objected." Patty, Sheila, Winston, and Brooklyn all looked at Jerry in surprise.

Only Harvey looked determined and immediately followed, asking for a closed trial on the grounds of the existence of the Daddy tape.

In Harvey's view, it's normal for a client to hide something from a lawyer. Especially considering Winston's status as governor of New York.

A governor who recruited J to play cards by himself, and let the video of J girl calling herself Daddy was seen by his son, and he refused to say this kind of thing, Harvey said that he could understand it too much.

But Jerry's words have an extraordinary understanding for the other four. Of the four, Patty and Winston were first-hand witnesses, and they naturally knew exactly what had happened that day.

Sheila and Brooklyn were listeners to each person's unreserved account of what had happened, and they knew what had happened that day.

At the beginning of Patty's proposal for Russian roulette, Winston did say that he would not participate, and after Winston's statement, Patty did threaten with a Daddy tape.

Patty not only threatened with the videotape, but also provoked him with his own experience of cheating. The double stimulus, combined with Winston's improvisation, led to Russian roulette.

If I had to say, what really made Winston decide to play Russian roulette with Patti is that Patty's own cheating experience is more reliable.

According to Winston, the anger he showed at the time was not adulterated at all, and he even had to suppress his anger in order not to cause an accident.

Winston's exact words were

"I just wanted to shoot that Bichi's head with one shot." Since Jerry chose to stand up and find out the real reason why Sheila and Harvey went around, according to his thinking, he should focus on the latter reason.

In the eyes of the Brooklyn trio, Jerry should think that Winston chose to agree to Russian roulette in anger after Patty reported his cheating experience, and couldn't stand the insults and irritation.

This is in line with Jerry's thinking. But Jerry seems to have suddenly opened his mind overnight, and instead of choosing this seemingly more plausible reason to make a statement, he goes straight to the main point of this book - the Daddy videotape.

When Winston told Brooklyn, he thought that his agreement to participate in Russian roulette was a brilliant choice for reason over emotion.

But in Brooklyn's view, even Winston himself didn't know what he was thinking. Brooklyn prefers that at that moment, he was manipulated by shame and anger to recklessly agree to Russian roulette.

From both a practical and logical point of view, it makes more sense that a wife who can't stand it, even an ex-wife, who can't stand it and who reports her cheating experience and participates in Russian roulette.

As for the Daddy tape, this is what Winston has adjusted to the facts after the incident.

It stands to reason that Jerry shouldn't have thought of this layer! But Jerry acts like an omniscient prophet and directly disrupts the existence of the Daddy tape.

Not only that, but his speech is clear and logical, which is very different from the two fools who once stood in the courtroom.

"For a long time, the defendant has been using this video tape to blackmail the plaintiff and obtain improper benefits through this video tape. But in fact, they were divorced when this tape happened. The plaintiff is single. ”

"The videotape was recorded by the defendant without the permission of the plaintiff and another party. Procedurally, it is inherently illegal. Although it is not as good as Sheila and Harvey, this level of expression is already clear and logical for Jerry.

After listening to Jerry's speech, Patty's face completely cooled. She turned her head away from Jerry and Winston, the father and son, and began to whisper to her lawyer.

Jerry's speech has already indicated his attitude. He was on Winston's side. In his speech, he directly singled out the source of the Daddy tape and accused Patty of using the Daddy tape for unjust enrichment.

You must know that Winston was a member of parliament before, and with Patty's use of the tape to threaten Winston with unjust enrichment, all of Winston's inappropriate behavior from the date of the inception of the tape to the present becomes understandable.

He's been threatened by Patty! And this accusation is very bad for Patti. Again, for that reason, Winston is a government official.

Patti threatens government officials and may be suspected of infringing on the interests of the government! Jerry's speech opened up a new main battlefield for Winston.

On this main battlefield, Winston is free to fire at Patty, while Patty can only passively bear and cannot fight back.

Both Brooklyn and Winston looked at Jerry with strange eyes. Not only them, but even Nelly and others.

Because he didn't do Jerry at all today!

"Your Excellency, Judge." As Brooklyn and the others were startled, Sheila spoke again

"We need to apply for an injunction to exclude Jerry Winston from this witness."

"We ask the court not to admit any of Jerry Winston's testimony."

"Because Jerry Winston is related to the plaintiff."

"His testimony may have been emotionally biased, which in turn concealed the facts." Winston couldn't sit still.

He stood up at once, pointing angrily at Patty, but could not speak.

"Against!" Harvey immediately came to his employer's rescue

"The law does not stipulate that kinship needs to be excluded from witnesses. Jerry Winston's testimony was lawful and reasonable, and there was no reason for the court to exclude Jerry Winston. "Harvey wasn't stupid enough to argue with the argument 'Jerry is also the defendant's son'.

Because to refute it with this reason, it happened to fall into Sheila's trap. As soon as Harvey says this, Sheila immediately follows that 'the witness is related to both the witness, and this relationship is more likely to make his testimony as a witness less credible'.

"Your Excellency, Judge." Sheila got up again

"Since the plaintiff's divorce from my client, Jerry Winston has been paying all of his expenses from the plaintiff, and until now, we still cannot rule out the possibility that Jerry Winston has accepted gifts of money from the plaintiff. Jerry Winston and the plaintiff are not only related, but also have a stake. "Jerry finally exited the 'prophet' state, his mouth slightly open, and he looked at Patty in disbelief, his expression dumbfounded.

Patty sneered back, scarlet spurted into a straight line. Harvey was still arguing, but Brooklyn had already sounded the gavel and made a decision.

"Alright."

"Jerry Winston is the child of the plaintiff and the defendant, and the relationship between the child and the parents is not dissolved by the dissolution of the parents' marriage. At the same time, the special relationship between the child and the parents determines that the exchange of interests between the two parties cannot be quantified, and should not be used as a reason for the prohibition of evidence. This is immoral and dehumanizing. ”

"Therefore, Jerry Winston can participate in this case as a witness."

"Due to the complexity of the case and its deep involvement in the privacy of both parties, it is considered that the trial process may lead to a deeper excavation and exposure of the privacy of both parties." After a pause, Brooklyn continued

"At the same time, considering the social influence of both parties and the original intention of the public trial, I believe that this trial is more suitable for private hearing."

"Miss Greece, please let me finish." Brooklyn glanced at Sheila, who was standing up, and continued

"At the same time, the video mentioned by Jerry Winston is one of the important pieces of evidence in this case, and the defendant is requested to hand over the master tape and all copies to the court without retention."

"Defendant, if you don't have the video in your hand, you can declare it to the court now." Brooklyn concluded.