Kim Ho-joong, a drunk hit-and-run, does not drink alcohol requesting the second trial to reduce the sentence, and the prosecution's conclusive argument
Feb 12, 2025
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The Seoul Central District Court's 5-3 Criminal Department (Chief Judge Kim Ji-sun, So Byung-jin, and Kim Yong-joong) held its first hearing at 10:30 a.m. on the 12th on the appeal of Kim Ho-joong, who is accused of violating the law on the aggravated punishment of certain crimes (hazardous driving injuries).
As for the reason for the appeal, Kim's lawyer explained that "it is not a false admission of the case or a dispute over the denial of the crime" and then explained that "there is a heavy part of the judgment of the original trial.""
The lawyer then explained that there is a typical pattern in which drinking alcohol is impossible to accurately measure after drinking hard alcohol when drinking alcohol is expected to be measured in order to avoid drinking alcohol, and denied that the defendant already knew that the manager would turn himself in instead and did not know that he would go to the police to perform a sobriety test.
"If it was 'Drinking', I would have drunk strong spirits instead of canned beer" " It is hard to understand that a healthy 30s would choose this kind of alcohol to increase blood alcohol concentration", he explained.
The lawyer also argued that `It seems that even the investigative agency did not suspect the suspicion of drunkenness' and"the prosecution categorically mentioned the suspicion of drunkenness' in the main point of appeal.
Earlier, Kim Ho-joong was arrested and charged with violating the central line while drinking and driving on a road in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, at around 11:45 p.m. on May 9 last year, causing a contact accident with a taxi on the other side of the road and fleeing. Kim Ho-joong, who denied drunk driving immediately after the accident, admitted to the crime 10 days after the accident. However, the prosecution excluded the charge of drunk driving at the prosecution stage because it was difficult to determine the drinking level.
In a final hearing held in September, the prosecution raised public resentment by committing serious and systematic acts of obstruction of justice," he said, asking the court to sentence Kim Ho-joong to three and a half years in prison.
At the time, in his closing statement, Kim Ho-joong apologized to the victim. I'm going to reflect on myself. Having come this far, I regret my choice even more that day""I will try to live a life that does not repeat the same mistakes rather than a life that does well 10 times." I reflected a lot in the detention center. I'll do my best," he said, appealing for leniency. Since then, Kim Ho-joong has submitted three letters of apology to the court.
Kim Ho-joong was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at the first trial held on November 13 last year.
At the time, the court said, "Kim Ho-joong was driving under the influence of alcohol and shocked the victim's driving taxi, causing human and material damage, but he ran away irresponsibly.""Furthermore, he conspired with the head of the agency and the head of the headquarters to falsely surrender to the manager on his behalf, causing confusion in the initial investigation and wasting police investigation power.""
"As an adult, it is questionable whether he/she has any guilt for the wrongdoings he/she has committed," he/she said. "The circumstances after the crime are also poor, such as making excuses that are difficult to understand even though he/she seems to be stumbling due to the influence of alcohol by CCTV, which is objective evidence."
However, the court considered the reason why the prosecution sentenced him to two and a half years in prison from three and a half years in September last year to two and a half years in prison", he explained.
Meanwhile, the second trial of appeals against Kim Ho-joong will be held on March 19.
yaqqol@sportschosun.com
