The appellate court has decided to examine whether a victim could have survived if she had been taken to the hospital in time, in the case of a man in his 30s who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in the first trial for assaulting and sexually assaulting his girlfriend, ultimately leading to her death.
The Seoul High Court held the first appellate trial for 30-year-old A, charged with robbery-murder and quasi-rape resulting in death, and decided to appoint a neurosurgery specialist as a judicial research member. The court plans to assess the probability of survival if A had checked the victim's condition and immediately called 119 or transferred her to a hospital.
A was put on trial for indiscriminately assaulting and sexually assaulting his girlfriend at his home for two days last January after discovering she had been in contact with another man, resulting in her death.
While the police forwarded the case to prosecutors applying only the charge of causing death by violence, the prosecutors launched supplementary investigations based on severe bruising found on the victim's face and past reports filed by the victim regarding stalking by A.
A forensic analysis of A's mobile phone revealed that he had extorted money from the victim under the guise of a "fine" and forcibly committed quasi-rape.
Furthermore, it was uncovered that when the victim lost consciousness, A searched for terms such as "cerebral hemorrhage" and "pupil movement" on his phone while leaving the victim unattended for about an hour.
Consequently, prosecutors indicted A under detention for robbery-murder and quasi-rape resulting in death rather than simple manslaughter, demanding life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, A's legal team argued that "since there was no intent to kill the victim, only the charge of causing death by violence should apply."
The first-instance court concluded that it was difficult to see A as having had the intent to murder.
The court based its decision on the lack of circumstances showing that A concentrated attacks on vital areas to kill the victim, and the fact that no weapons or other tools were used during the assault.
The court also viewed A's actions of applying ointment or providing ice packs while assaulting the victim as behavior contrary to murderous intent.
However, determining that the charges of robbery resulting in death and quasi-rape resulting in death were proven, the court sentenced him to 13 years in prison.
Both the prosecution and A's side have appealed.
Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Lee Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
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