Drunk Driving Hit-and-Run Followed by "Drank at Home" Act... Court Rules "Not Guilty of Drunk Driving"

Court: "Difficult to definitively state BAC exceeded 0.05% at time of driving"
Only 'Failure to act after accident and aiding offender' found guilty... 8 months imprisonment

Daejeon Court Complex. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A man in his 30s who fled to a friend's house after causing an accident while driving under the influence and pretended as if he drank alcohol after the accident was sentenced to prison.

However, the court found him guilty only of failure to take measures after the accident and aiding the escape of a criminal, and acquitted him of drunk driving. The reason was that it was not sufficiently proven that he drove in a state of intoxication with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05% or higher, which was the punishment standard at the time.

According to the legal community on the 29th, A (32) drank with his friend B (32) and others in Sejong City at night last February, then drove his passenger car and hit a parked car by the roadside, but moved about 500 meters further without taking any special measures.

However, when he was soon questioned by an accident witness, he hurriedly called B and fled in B's car.

According to the investigation, as soon as they arrived at B's house, A drank a few glasses and placed two empty soju bottles on the table to make it look like he drank after the accident.

The police who arrived at B's house judged, based on the alcohol test results, that A had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.062% when he took the wheel before drinking at home. This was 0.012 percentage points higher than the punishment standard of 0.05% at the time.

However, the court acquitted A of the drunk driving charge. Regarding this, Judge Song Jin-ho of the Criminal Division 7 of Daejeon District Court explained, "It was not sufficiently proven that he drove in a state of intoxication with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05% or higher, which was the punishment standard at the time."

According to the investigation agency's explanation, the last time the defendant drank alcohol before driving was 1:25 a.m. on the day of the accident, and the blood alcohol concentration measurement was taken 55 minutes later at 2:20 a.m.

The court said, "There is a possibility that the concentration was rising when the defendant finished driving after the accident. It cannot be concluded that the concentration exceeded 0.05% while driving."

However, the court recognized the charges of failure to take measures after the accident and aiding the escape of a criminal as guilty and sentenced A to 8 months in prison.

The court stated, "He instructed his friend to escape to hide the fact of the crime in a situation where it could be considered that he committed drunk driving," and "The crime of disguising heavy drinking to obstruct the police officer's legitimate blood alcohol concentration measurement work is also of poor quality."

B was indicted for aiding A's escape and was sentenced to 6 months in prison. Both defendants appealed this ruling.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.