1. Overview

After drinking at the bar, the client and his friends were walking through the alley to go home. Later, the client intentionally touched the stomach of a lady who was walking the other side towards the client. For this reason, the client was accused by the lady and the court ordered him to pay a fine for criminal charge. The client raised an objection and demanded a formal trial.

2. Applicable Law

Criminal Act, article 298 (Indecent Act by Compulsion)

A person who, through violence or intimidation, commits an indecent act on another shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years or by a fine not exceeding 15 million won.

3. Assistance of counsel

Law-Win's lawyers carefully analyzed CCTV, the evidence submitted by the prosecution, and made an argument as follows;

① The alley the client and the victim were walking on was very narrow, so they could accidentally bump into each other.

② The client's friend was walking while holding the client's hand and supporting it from behind the client who was drunk and couldn't even control himself properly. Since the client's hand was held by his friend, contrary to the claim of the victim, there is no possibility that the client might have touched the victim's stomach by applying force as if holding it.

Emphasizing these details, we appealed to the court that there was no fact that the client intentionally touched the victim's stomach, and that the charges against the client were not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to the victim and the witness during the police interrogation, they stated that they precisely remember the way the client's hand grabbed the victim's stomach. However, Law-Win lawyers emphasized that before and immediately after the incident, the client's hand was still held by his friend's hand. Therefore, there is no credibility.

4. Outcome

As a result, the court granted the lawyers' argument and acquitted the client of the charge of indecent act by compulsion.

5. Significance of Outcome

The client was very drunk on the day of the incident that he had no memory of what had happened. The summary order was given and he was sentenced to a fine and a three-year restriction on employment at a child and youth-related institution, and even his livelihood was at risk.

The main issue in this case is whether or not the victim was intentionally contacted by the client for sexual harassment. Most sexual crime cases, convictions can be made only by the victim's statement. As the lower court pronounced guilty, it was a very unfair situation for the client because of the blurry video that the victim took.

In response, Law-Win lawyers strongly argued that the client had no criminal history that the testimony of the victims was not reliable, that they had physical contact by accident or they were touched by a third party. It was also unavoidable, and in fact, the victim convincingly argued to the court that no DNA was found from the evidence submitted by the victim. Through checking all the facts, the bench from the court decided to pronounced an acquittal.

Attorney Yang, Won-jun