Police Officer Who Falsified Statements in Reinvestigation Report... Supreme Court Rules "Crime of Falsifying Official Documents" Applies

The Supreme Court has ruled that the crime of falsifying official documents should be applied to a police officer who recorded false statements in a reinvestigation report sent to the prosecution.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yusook) announced on the 14th that it overturned the lower court's acquittal of police officer A, who was indicted on charges of falsifying and using false official documents, and remanded the case to the Daejeon District Court.

A was prosecuted on charges of submitting a reinvestigation report on a traffic accident in March 2021 to the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, in which false statements of the victim were recorded.

After investigating a case of violation of the Special Act on the Treatment of Traffic Accidents, A decided not to prosecute and sent the records to the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office. However, the prosecution requested a reinvestigation, stating that there was a possibility of establishing the crime of hit-and-run causing injury and that specific statements from the victim needed to be heard.

However, A added false statements to the reinvestigation report and sent it back to the prosecution without listening to additional statements.

The first trial court found A guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won, but the second trial court acquitted him, stating that the facts of the case were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, the Supreme Court's judgment was different. The court ruled, "The reinvestigation report prepared by the defendant was written as if statements were heard from the victims and the contents were recorded."

Regardless of whether A had discretion over whether or how to conduct the reinvestigation, the act of recording the facts of the case constitutes the crime of falsifying official documents.

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