40s Woman Fined for Injuring Opponent's Parent After Attending Child's School Violence Committee Meeting

Prosecutor's Inadequate Indictment Nearly Leads to Not Guilty Verdict

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

A woman in her 40s who was indicted for causing injury to a victim student's parent after attending a school violence countermeasure committee meeting for her child was sentenced to a fine. Due to the prosecution's poor indictment and lack of evidence, she was almost acquitted, but the court effectively interpreted the facts on its own authority and delivered a guilty verdict.

According to the legal community on the 1st, Judge Shin Hyuk-jae of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 4 sentenced A (41) to a fine of 1.5 million won on charges including injury. According to the prosecution, A is accused of pushing the face of the victim student's parent while returning from attending her son's school violence committee meeting in December 2018, causing injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment (injury under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes). She is also charged with fleeing the scene after causing bruises by dragging the victim student's parent who was holding the driver's door handle again while driving, without providing any aid (hit-and-run injury under the Road Traffic Act).

On the other hand, A's side argued in court that regarding the injury charge, "At the time, the victim student's parent tried to pull her out of the vehicle, so she pushed back and then got back in the car; there was no pushing of the face or neck area that caused the victim to fall." Regarding the hit-and-run injury charge, they claimed, "She could not confirm whether her son, who was riding with her, had boarded the vehicle, so she did not know if the victim was still holding the car door handle."

After deliberation, the court effectively dismissed almost all of the prosecution's charges, judging that there was no proof of the crime. The court found the prosecution's evidence insufficient. Regarding the injury charge, the court stated, "It is acknowledged that the victim's neck area was scratched, but it is difficult to recognize that the defendant pushed the victim causing such damage." Regarding the hit-and-run injury charge, the court said, "Considering the extent of the victim's injuries, it is not recognized that the defendant driver actually needed to provide aid."

The court found the defendant guilty only of injury for the part where bruises were inflicted among the facts charged by the prosecution under the hit-and-run injury accusation. The court said, "It appears that the defendant was aware that the victim was continuously trying to open the door and holding the handle," and "The defendant is recognized as having professional negligence for causing injury to the victim through vehicle operation." It is unusual for the court to interpret and recognize the prosecution's charges as a separate crime. The legal community interprets this as meaning the prosecution's indictment was inadequate.

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