A man in his 40s who was indicted for driving under the influence and crashing his vehicle, and who was initially acquitted in the first trial after claiming he drank alcohol only after the accident, has been found guilty in the appellate court.
The Daejeon District Court announced that it overturned the lower court's ruling, which had acquitted the defendant, surnamed A, of violating the Road Traffic Act, and sentenced him to one year in prison.
A was put on trial for driving at around 2:00 AM on June 16, 2024, in Sejong, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.153%, a level high enough to have his license revoked.
At the time, A was driving his passenger car near his parents' home in Sejong when one side of the vehicle fell into a drainage ditch, causing an accident.
At around 3:14 AM, he called 112 reporting that his vehicle was stuck, but police officers who arrived at the scene were unable to find A and left.
A was later caught for drunk driving by police who were dispatched again following a witness report stating that the driver was intoxicated.
The blood alcohol concentration measured by the police at around 5:00 AM was 0.153%.
During the trial, A claimed that he drank alcohol after the accident went to his parents' house.
The first-instance court stated that while there was strong suspicion of drunk driving, there was a two-hour and thirty-minute gap between the time of the accident and the alcohol testing, and it had not been sufficiently proven that A was intoxicated at the time of the crash, leading to his acquittal.
However, the appellate court reached a different conclusion.
The court found A's claim lacking in credibility, citing 112 call logs showing 11 communications during the time he claimed he was drinking after the accident, as well as the fact that he changed his statement after initially telling the 112 dispatcher that he had driven under the influence, and thus recognized the drunk driving charge.
In explaining the sentencing rationale, the appellate court stated, "Even though he caused a traffic accident while driving under the influence, he did not admit to his crime," adding, "Drunk driving is a crime with a high risk of inflicting severe harm on innocent people, making strict punishment necessary."
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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