Moreover, they were constantly watching the defendant’s bench, only to find that Zhao Dezhu was quite composed when the prosecutor spoke. He displayed not the slightest panic or shame, as if these matters had nothing to do with him. Conversely, Zhang Wei and Wang Dachui looked extremely disturbed, rendered speechless by the prosecutor’s statements. It was almost as if they were about to give up resisting.

"It’s a sure thing! I’ve seen this expression before: shock mixed with a bit of frustration, helplessness tinged with some anger."

"Then they’re definitely getting additional time, but I wonder how much?"

"I just heard the prosecutor’s sentencing recommendation. It seems that for Zhao Dezhu, the most culpable among them, they only suggested five years of fixed-term imprisonment." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Isn’t five years too little? Even if it doesn’t constitute robbery, it could still qualify as theft, intentional destruction of another’s property, and picking quarrels and provoking trouble!"

...

Amidst their excitement, the crowd couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed. The sentence recommendation provided by the prosecutor was just too low, completely different from those whom Qin Mu had personally sent to prison before. Those individuals had each received sentences of at least a decade. The most extreme case had even reached the maximum of twenty years! Now, only a life sentence or a death sentence was needed for Qin Mu to complete some unspoken achievement.

"Xiao Qin, what exactly is going on here? Did the prosecutor make a mistake in the recommendation?" Zhang Qingyuan and the others couldn’t figure it out, so they turned to Qin Mu. Even Wan Zhongyuan looked towards Qin Mu with a questioning gaze.

"AHEM. This involves the principle of ’Concurrent Sentences for Several Crimes,’ which is about addition and subtraction within ten. It’s quite complex," Qin Mu said, looking at everyone and seriously explaining.

"What does that mean?" Everyone was utterly confused.

"It’s like this: in criminal law, ’Concurrent Sentences for Several Crimes’ is a sentencing principle applied when a person commits multiple crimes," Qin Mu elaborated. "It involves two methods: ’subtract first then combine’ and ’combine first then subtract.’ Each case requires specific analysis."

However, everyone still wore blank expressions, not understanding the so-called ’subtract first then combine’ and ’combine first then subtract’ at all.

"’Subtract first then combine’ and ’combine first then subtract’ are complex. Let’s just simply talk about the calculation method for the total sentence of multiple crimes," Qin Mu said patiently after a moment of thought. "Take Zhao Dezhu as an example. According to the charges from the public prosecution office, he is suspected of theft, robbery, intentional destruction of another’s property, and picking quarrels and provoking trouble. That makes four charges."

"These four charges occurred at separate times and were not the result of a single act, so they call for concurrent sentences."

Zhang Qingyuan and the others listened, nodding unconsciously. Having watched the trial for so long, they understood this aspect very well. For instance, if someone was beaten and died as a result, the perpetrator committed both intentional injury and intentional homicide, and the sentence for intentional homicide would be imposed according to the law.

"According to the principle of ’Concurrent Sentences for Several Crimes,’ the final sentence should be the sum of the penalties for the four crimes. We can directly calculate the maximum possible term for each individual," Qin Mu continued. "For theft with general circumstances, the sentence is typically less than three years. For robbery, less than ten years. For intentional destruction of property, less than three years. For picking quarrels and provoking trouble, less than five years."

"Adding them up, the maximum cumulative term is twenty-one years."

"However, when combining fixed-term sentences, if their sum is less than thirty-five years, the maximum imposable sentence is capped at twenty years."

Qin Mu then added, "As for the minimum sentence, it must be greater than the minimum for the most severe of the committed crimes. In this case, that means it’s determined by the robbery charge."

"Robbery is sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years."

"Thus, the final sentencing range for Zhao Dezhu should be not less than three years and not more than twenty years. Any sentence within this range is considered reasonable."

Upon hearing this, everyone was even more confused.

"This sentencing range is really wide! It goes up to twenty years at most, but could be as low as only three years!"

"Then why did previous defendants Qin Mu dealt with usually get sentences heading straight for the twenty-year maximum?"

"I feel like my brain isn’t working properly."

"I can barely keep up with addition and subtraction under ten anymore."

...

Everyone’s eyes widened, feeling that something was amiss, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on it.

"The specific number of years sentenced depends on the analysis of the specific crimes," Qin Mu said with a smile, patiently explaining. "Based on the value of the pumpkins Zhao Dezhu stole, the sentence should be no more than three years. However, considering he is elderly, he would receive a lighter sentence. Let’s assume one year for this."

"Next, for the robbery, the sentence should be between three and ten years. But, since no actual violence occurred, let’s assume a sentence of three years."

"For intentionally destroying property, the damage was only a few hundred yuan—a minor amount with general circumstances. The sentence should be no more than three years. Let’s assume six months."

"For picking quarrels and provoking trouble by organizing people to storm a grassroots law enforcement agency, the sentence should be no more than five years. However, no severe losses occurred, and most assailants were elderly, so the punishment shouldn’t be too harsh. Let’s assume six months for this as well."

"Adding these four sentences together, Zhao Dezhu’s total term would be five years."

Having finished, he looked up at the crowd, which had fallen silent. He discovered Zhang Qingyuan, Li Weiguo, Song Tiancheng, and others repeatedly blinking, seemingly pondering something.

After more than ten seconds, they all looked at him with expressions of disbelief, starting to voice their confusion all at once.

"So you’re saying the sentencing range is three to twenty years, but it ends up being five years?"