According to the legal community, Judge Choi Min-hye of the 26th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court will hold the second trial for Kim Ho-joong, who was indicted on charges of dangerous driving resulting in death and hit-and-run under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and failure to take action after an accident under the Road Traffic Act, at 10:00 AM today.
The three people, Lee Kwang-deuk, CEO of Saenggak Entertainment, former head of the headquarters, and manager Jang, who were indicted on charges of aiding and abetting a criminal’s escape and destroying evidence, will also be tried.
Attention is being paid to whether Kim Ho-joong will admit to the charges at the trial that day. At the first trial held on July 10, he did not state his position on the charges, saying he was unable to review the case records.
On the other hand, the other three defendants, including CEO Lee, who were indicted together, all admitted to the charges. They also submitted several statements of reflection since the first trial.
Kim Ho-joong is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol on Apgujeong Road in Gangnam-gu, Seoul at around 11:44 PM on the 9th of last month, causing a collision with a taxi and fleeing the scene. The taxi driver was diagnosed with a two-week recovery period.
According to police statements from employees and attendees of the entertainment establishment Kim Ho-joong visited just before the accident, as well as CCTV footage, it is believed that Kim Ho-joong drank more than three bottles of soju at the time.
After fleeing, Kim Ho-joong attempted to hide his crimes several times, including encouraging his agency’s employees to make false confessions and refusing to provide the passwords to the police who confiscated his three cell phones.
CEO Lee and former head of headquarters, who were brought to trial together, are accused of ordering manager Jang to turn himself in on their behalf in order to cover up the accident.
The representative was also charged with ordering Jang to remove the black box storage device of the passenger car used by Kim Ho-joong, and the former chief was also charged with removing the black box memory card, handing the keys to the car involved in the accident to a drunk Jang, and riding in the car driven by Jang.
However, controversy arose because the drunk driving charge was dropped even though Kim Ho-joong admitted to drinking.
The prosecution ruled out the charge of drunk driving, saying, “Considering that Kim Ho-joong drank alcohol several times at intervals at the time, it is difficult to determine his alcohol level through reverse estimation alone.”
.
2024-08-19 03:53:09