Prosecution Appeals Jeong Jin-ung's Second Trial Acquittal on 'Han Dong-hoon Official Violence' Charge... Heads to Supreme Court

Jung Jin-woong, Research Fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (left), and Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Regarding Jeong Jin-woong, a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute, who was indicted on charges of 'Han Dong-hoon official assault,' the prosecution has filed an appeal after the appellate court overturned the first trial's guilty verdict and acquitted him.

On the 27th, according to the legal community, the prosecution submitted a notice of appeal to the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judges Lee Won-beom, Han Ki-soo, Nam Woo-hyun).

Previously, Criminal Division 2 overturned the first trial's verdict and acquitted Research Fellow Jeong in the appellate trial. The court stated, "Based solely on the evidence submitted by the prosecution, it is difficult to conclude that the defendant recognized the possibility of causing physical force to the victim or had the internal intention to exercise such force," and did not acknowledge Jeong's conditional intent.

The court explained, "The seizure target of the warrant in this case was the victim's newly acquired and used SIM card, KakaoTalk, Telegram, and related backup files including conversation contents, text messages, and all attachments," adding, "Contrary to the expectation that the lock would be unlocked by facial recognition, when the victim appeared to attempt entering a password, the defendant approached from the side, thinking the victim was trying to delete related data, saying 'You shouldn't do that.'"

Furthermore, "The victim stretched out the hand holding the phone to the opposite side, and the defendant also leaned and reached out," the court said. "The defendant and the victim (who was sitting on the sofa) slipped and fell to the floor, their bodies overlapped, and they were separated immediately after the defendant secured the phone."

However, the court added, "This does not mean that the execution of official duties at the time was deemed justifiable," and "Even if the defendant returns again, it is necessary to deeply reflect and seriously contemplate the shortcomings in behavior during the execution of the warrant and the pain the victim had to endure."

Immediately after the second trial verdict, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office investigation team stated their intention to appeal, saying, "The clear intent of assault was overlooked by the court."

Research Fellow Jeong was prosecuted on charges including official assault during a search and seizure process against Han Dong-hoon, then Chief Prosecutor and now Minister of Justice, who was suspected of being involved in the so-called 'Channel A case,' while Jeong was serving as the head prosecutor of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on July 29, 2020. Official assault refers to prosecutors or police officers abusing their authority during investigations to arrest, assault, or inflict harsh treatment on suspects.

The first trial sentenced Research Fellow Jeong to four months in prison with one year of probation and one year of disqualification. The first trial court stated, "The defendant assaulted under the subjective judgment that the victim was attempting to destroy evidence during the execution of the search warrant," and "There was at least conditional intent to exercise physical force on the body, not merely an intention to seize the phone." However, since Minister Han was not injured by Jeong's official assault, the court applied the general official assault charge rather than the aggravated official assault under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act.

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