Chapter 219: Xiao Wen, you can make your point, but is this really necessary?_3
One is the bail pending trial with which we are familiar. Article 67, paragraph 3 of the "Criminal Procedure Law" stipulates that bail pending trial may be granted to those who suffer from serious illnesses and cannot take care of themselves, pregnant women, or women who are breastfeeding their own infants if no social danger is likely to arise.
Of course, for someone like Ding Deshui who is certain to be arrested, bail is generally not an option. However, given his poor condition, it would be normal to employ another compulsory measure: residential surveillance!
Many people are unfamiliar with residential surveillance. According to the "Criminal Procedure Law," residential surveillance usually takes place at the suspect's home and is executed by the public security bureau.
Without authorization, you cannot leave that place, nor can you meet or communicate with anyone.
To put it more simply, you stay at home where you can't see anyone, and you can't use your cellphone or anything like that.
This is still tolerable, but if you're given designated residential surveillance, many people can't stand it.
The environment at a detention house is worse than prison, and designated residential surveillance is even worse. Many criminal defense lawyers have said they'd rather stay in a detention house than be under designated surveillance.
In a detention house, you can at least talk with others, but with designated surveillance, like being confined to a hotel room, you are all alone without anyone to chat with. You can imagine what that's like.
But in practice, residential surveillance is mostly used for special cases or when the bail period has expired and the case remains unclear, so the compulsory measure is changed.
For example, if your bail pending trial has lasted a year, you can't be bailed anymore, but if the public security bureau still suspects you and can't close the case, they might change it up. The period for residential surveillance is six months, and this gives them another six months.
The reason it's not widely used is that, compared to bail, residential surveillance is more expensive and labor-intensive.
For residential surveillance at home, you need at least surveillance equipment and personnel on watch. For designated residential surveillance, you need at least a bed and a bathroom, all of which cost money.
This is especially true for female suspects, who need female police officers to watch over them in shifts.
Therefore, in practice, residential surveillance is relatively rare, except in some special cases.
For this reason, after a specific discussion, Lincheng decided that Ding Deshui could be granted bail pending trial.
Think about it, a person in the late stages of cancer may not be able to take care of himself and needs care. Finding a place for residential surveillance and being responsible for his treatment, at the very least, you cannot let the person die.
Furthermore, ever since he was brought in, he has behaved very well, cooperated in every way, and even volunteered information that the public security bureau did not have. There is basically no social danger, so there is no issue with granting him bail pending trial.
The next day, Lawyer Zhou received a call agreeing to Ding Deshui's bail pending trial!
Now, Lawyer Zhou was proud. Look, even such a case could be bailed pending trial with his handling—it's a matter of capability.
Soon, Lawyer Zhou, accompanied by Ding Deshui's wife, went to the detention house. Normally, bail pending trial takes place at the residence, which is overseen by the local public security bureau, so they had to return to Changlu County.
But after waiting for a long time with no one showing up, Lawyer Zhou made a call to inquire and found out that Ding Deshui was at the city hospital!
The two rushed to the hospital, and upon seeing Ding Deshui, both were stunned. Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire
"No way, what's going on here? He was fine before he went in. How come now..." Ding Deshui's wife couldn't hold back and cried out.
Now the man lay on the hospital bed looking as if he might not see tomorrow. It made anyone subconsciously wonder if something untoward had happened to him inside.
A staff member handed over the medical report and said, "You must be Ding Deshui's wife, right? After examination, Ding Deshui has been diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer."
What? Ding Deshui's wife couldn't accept it and said, "Late-stage liver cancer? How is that possible? My husband has always been in good health. How can he suddenly have cancer? Did you all..."
Before Hua Mei could finish, Ding Deshui, lying on the hospital bed, spoke up: "Stop shouting. Shut up. I'm telling you, it's all fate, all fate."
After learning of his late-stage cancer, he too felt like a bolt from the blue, went crazy, and even attempted self-harm. But afterward, he realized that it was truly fate.
Lawyer Zhou remained silent; he seemed to understand why Ding Deshui was granted bail...
After arranging transportation, Ding Deshui was taken back to Changlu County. According to the doctors, given his current condition, treatment wouldn't make a difference.
In the car, Ding Deshui began to feel pain again. He could usually walk like a normal person, but when the pain hit, it made him break out in cold sweats.
His wife hurriedly told him about their son's success in becoming a civil servant, attempting to distract him—after all, Ding Deshui had always wanted his son to be a civil servant.
Indeed, at the mention of it, Ding Deshui perked up immediately: "Are you saying Yong Qiang became a civil servant? Where, in The Capital?"
"Good, good! Wife, let me tell you, it's all fate. Look at my condition now, it's indeed not good, but our son has made something of himself. I could die right now and still be content!"
The atmosphere in the car improved, and Ding Deshui felt less pain in his body, but his mind wasn't clear. He had a feeling that he was overlooking something important.
Meanwhile, Lawyer Zhou watched the couple's happy appearance and still chose to remain silent.
At the same time, in Changlu County at home, Ding Yongqiang was puzzled; he had returned to find his parents not home and nobody at the old house in the village. He didn't know where they went, and calls wouldn't go through.
Just as Ding Yongqiang was wondering whom to ask, his phone rang. Upon answering, his expression changed drastically.
The call was from an organizational department official who was conducting political review, but the words from the other end left Ding Yongqiang frozen.
"You're saying... my father is now a criminal suspect, and this affects my political review? No, my dad is the village committee director, how could he possibly be a criminal suspect?"
"And besides, aren't we no longer doing this kind of guilt by association?"