Lee Young-ha (27-Dusan Bears) was also freed from the “school violence” charge.
The Seoul Western District Court’s Criminal Division 2-2 (Judge Lee Hyun-woo Im Ki-hwan and Deputy Chief Judge Lee Joo-hyun) on Thursday rejected the prosecution’s appeal and acquitted Lee, who was charged with special assault, coercion, and extortion.
Earlier, prosecutors had sought a two-year prison sentence, the same as the first trial, at the appeals decision hearing held on Feb. 2.
In 2021, an online community posted a post claiming to be a junior in the baseball team of Lee Young-ha and Kim Dae-hyun (LG), 바카라사이트 alleging that they were subjected to school violence, including hazing and coercion. The issue gained traction when a broadcaster’s current affairs program covered it.
After a brief lull, the issue of bullying resurfaced in 2022 when the alleged victim, Cho Mo, reported them to the Sports Ethics Center.
A police investigation led to prosecution charges.
Cho alleged that Lee was subjected to abusive behavior, including forcing him to stick his finger into an electric fly swatter, extorting ramen noodles during training camps, and giving him freezing water when he didn’t comply. However, there were conflicting accounts from witnesses, and it turned out that Lee was not present at the time of her allegations because she was away on a national training assignment. The first trial resulted in an acquittal.
The prosecution immediately filed an appeal, citing mistake of fact and misunderstanding of law.
The court said, “The trial court made a detailed acquittal judgment in terms of special assault, partial coercion, and extortion, 카지노사이트 추천 which was not changed in the indictment. “The victim’s testimony regarding the spark of the electric fly swatter is contradicted by (another witness) Mr. B’s testimony that there was no reaction from his head. Also, Mr. B changed his statement from saying that he never saw the wound to saying that he saw the wound. In addition, it is said that athletes who are nominated in their third year of high school do not train in official training or at school, but Lee Young-ha was nominated in June 2015, and on August 17, he trained for the national team. It also considered the fact that the instant noodles the victim claimed to have been extorted from had been discontinued at the time.
The court continued,
“The victim claimed that the defendant and Kim Dae-hyun stayed at the Komodo Hotel in Busan. The actual guest list shows no names of the defendant or the victim. The victim claims that she was also subjected to such coercion and crimes at the defendant’s residence, but it seems that the defendant moved out of the residence at that time. In addition, the prosecution changed the date of some of the coercion crimes from around early September 2015 to around mid-September 2015, but it is difficult to believe that the crimes occurred around mid-September 2015 based on the victim’s statement. In light of this, there is no proof of the crime in the indictment. It seems that he should be acquitted. I find the defendant not guilty on all counts of the indictment.”
Cho’s testimony was more specific than in the first trial. He mentioned the brand of ramen noodles he was extorted from, for example, and revised his account of when he was assaulted.
However, Cho’s testimony also contradicted itself. At first, he said that he gave her his card to run errands, but later he said that he gave her cash.
In his closing arguments at the appeals hearing,
Lee’s lawyer, Kim Sun-woong, said, “This case was prosecuted on the basis of a one-sided statement by a victim with a distorted memory, capitalizing on the school violence of a famous sports player that became a national issue in 2021. 파워볼실시간 “The prosecution was difficult, but it was done without any investigation of the defendant.” “Even after the appeal, no new or additional evidence was presented. Rather, it only showed that the victim’s testimony was not credible. I hope the court will dismiss the appeal and acquit him.”
Meanwhile, Kim Dae-hyun, who was also charged with school violence alongside Lee Young-ha, was acquitted on appeal on March 23. The prosecution did not file an appeal by the deadline of March 30, and Kim was finally acquitted.