Acquitted in first trial, suspended sentence in second trial
Court: “Investigation confusion, heavy guilt”
Also caught on CCTV claiming to be sober after drinking,
Image of a staged drunken driving scene unrelated to the article content. Getty Images Bank,
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, “A driver in his 50s, who was acquitted in the first trial on drunk driving charges, was found guilty in the appellate trial. This driver drank two bottles of soju at a convenience store after a drunk driving accident and managed to avoid conviction in the first trial due to the ‘sotagi’ technique, only to have the decision overturned in the second trial.”,
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, “‘Sotagi’ is a method of drinking more alcohol after driving to make it difficult to determine if the driver was intoxicated while driving. Recently, singer Kim Ho-joong became a target of criticism for using the sotagi method to evade drunk driving charges.”,
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Acquitted after drinking soju following a drunk driving accident
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, ‘According to the legal community on the 21st, the Cheongju District Court’s Criminal Division 3 (Chief Judge Tae Ji-young) recently overturned the initial trial’s acquittal and sentenced A (57) to one year in prison with a two-year probation for violating the Special Act on Traffic Accident Processing (Hit and Run) and the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving).’,
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, ‘A was accused of crashing his car while intoxicated on a four-lane road in Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk in June last year, hitting a taxi at a red light. After the victim suspected drunk driving, it was discovered that he had purchased two bottles of soju at a convenience store and drank them in a paper cup.’,
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, ‘The police conducted an alcohol test three hours after the accident, with his blood alcohol content at the time being 0.277%. The prosecution, based on the retrocalculation formula for blood alcohol content at the time of drunk driving, determined the figure to be 0.083%, which exceeds the threshold for license suspension.’,
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, ‘The first trial deemed the defendant’s blood alcohol content at the time of the accident to be 0.028%, deducting 0.249% of the blood alcohol content from the secondary drinking, and acquitted A. The court at the time concluded that A’s blood alcohol content was calculated in a way that favored the defendant as there was no reasonable doubt.’,
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Residual alcohol in a paper cup… Court: “Exceeded punishment threshold”
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Image of a convenience store displaying soju unrelated to the article content. BGF Retail Provided,
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, ‘However, the appellate court concluded that even with the application of the most favorable retrocalculation formula based on the fact that there was residual alcohol in the paper cup from which A drank at the convenience store, the blood alcohol content surpassed the punishment threshold. The court ruled that the amount of alcohol consumed at the convenience store alone could not result in such a figure.’,
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, ‘The second trial stated, “By substituting the defendant’s most favorable hourly alcohol metabolism statistics and the retrocalculation method based on the Widmark formula, it can be sufficiently acknowledged that the blood alcohol content at the time of driving was above 0.03%,” which is the threshold for license suspension.’,
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, ‘The court criticized, “The defendant, who has been penalized four times for drunk driving, drove while intoxicated once again, causing a fatal accident” and pointed out, “By drinking more alcohol after the accident when the victim suspected drunk driving, it appears that the defendant tried to confuse the investigation, indicating a heavy guilt.”‘,
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Current firefighter flees after drunk driving accident
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An unrelated staged photo. Getty Images Bank,
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, ‘In Sokcho, a current firefighter who claimed to be sober was caught on Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) drinking before a drunk driving accident.’,
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, ‘Judge Jang Tae-young, a judge in the Chuncheon District Court’s Sokcho Branch Criminal 1 Division, sentenced B (44), indicted for violating the Act on Special Cases concerning the Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (Hit and Run) and the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving), to two years in prison and detained him.’,
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, ‘B, a current firefighter, caused an accident on September 23rd last year on a four-lane road in Sokcho after having a drink with a friend, rear-ending a car stopped at a red light.’,
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, ‘After getting out of the car immediately after the accident to talk to the victim, he got back in the car and fled the scene. The police, responding to the victim’s report, located B’s residence and conducted an alcohol test about an hour after the accident. At that time, B’s blood alcohol content was 0.179%, indicating a high level of intoxication.’,
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Claimed to drink more at home… Caught on CCTV
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, ‘During the trial, B claimed that he had only had a little beer at the previous drink before arriving home, where he drank soju and whisky and fell asleep. However, CCTV footage showed about 15 instances of him drinking what appeared to be soju during the first drink.’,
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, ‘The court stated, “Even limiting it to the time spent during the first drink, it can be inferred that a significant amount of alcohol was consumed” and that “There is clear and objective evidence that, despite this, there were attempts to hinder the discovery of the truth and deceive the court; therefore, appropriate punishment corresponding to the responsibility and potential for blame is necessary.”‘,
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