60s Man Accused of Mart Arson Freed After Ice Cream in Hand Changes Verdict

Employee fined in first trial acquitted on appeal
Second trial court says "Ice cream was mistaken for cigarette"

A supermarket employee who was accused as a suspect in a fire and faced a fine was acquitted in the appellate court. The decisive reason for being cleared of charges was the ice cream he was holding in his hand.

A man in his 60s, Mr. A, was indicted on charges of accidentally setting fire to a supermarket where he worked in Jangheung, Jeonnam, around 1:42 p.m. on April 24, 2021.

At the time, there was a dead-end alley next to the supermarket, where paper boxes and other items were stored. A fire of unknown cause broke out in this area. The flames spread to the building’s exterior walls and ceiling, burning part of the supermarket.

After reviewing the closed-circuit television (CCTV), the fire authorities confirmed that just before the fire started, Mr. A and another unidentified man passed through the alley. Then, one of them was seen lighting a cigarette and walking toward the alley around 1:41 p.m. on the same day.

The fire authorities conveyed to the investigative agency that “the possibility of ignition due to arson, electrical, or mechanical causes is low, and the likelihood of fire caused by a cigarette is high.”

The investigative agency pointed to Mr. A’s smoking as the cause of the fire and applied charges of reckless arson. The first trial court sentenced Mr. A to a fine of 5 million won. The court judged that the fire occurred because Mr. A did not properly extinguish his cigarette, based on fire investigation results, Mr. A’s usual smoking habits, and his behavior during the investigation.

[Image source=Pixabay]

However, the 2nd Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Young-a) overturned the original verdict on the 17th and acquitted Mr. A.

During the investigation, Mr. A claimed, “At the time of the incident, I was eating ice cream and organizing paper boxes in the alley,” and “I did not smoke.” The appellate court accepted Mr. A’s claim due to insufficient evidence.

The CCTV footage showed Mr. A holding ice cream in one hand going into the alley around 1:39 p.m., returning to the store after one minute, then taking glass tape with the other hand and going back to the alley. Mr. A then re-entered the supermarket about 4 minutes and 50 seconds later, at 1:46 p.m.

The appellate court focused on the testimony of a fire investigator in court who said, “If there was no footage of Mr. A holding a cigarette, the cause of the fire would have been recorded as unknown.” The court concluded that the fire investigator mistook Mr. A holding ice cream for lighting a cigarette.

Furthermore, the court explained, “The ice cream Mr. A initially took was only bitten once two minutes later. Although there is no objective evidence to confirm the amount of boxes at the time, making it difficult to estimate the time, it is questionable whether he could have smoked a cigarette while eating ice cream and using tape to organize boxes.”

It added, “Mr. A’s claim that he ate ice cream and organized boxes for about 4 minutes and 50 seconds is sufficiently reasonable,” and “At the time of the incident, it was very windy, and other fire causes such as embers flying from elsewhere cannot be ruled out.”

The court ruled, “The original verdict involved errors in fact-finding or legal interpretation that affected the judgment, and therefore, Mr. A is acquitted.”

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