Drunk Driver Who Dragged Police Officer for 200 Meters Sentenced to Prison 1.5 Years Later: Why?

A drunk driver who dragged a police officer with his vehicle while fleeing a sobriety check has been sentenced to prison, one and a half years after the incident, following a constitutional review request filed by the court during his arrest warrant hearing.

The Jeonju District Court Criminal Division 12 (Presiding Judge Jung Hyun-woo) announced on July 14 that it had sentenced a man in his 50s, identified as A, to one year and six months in prison for charges including special obstruction of justice resulting in injury, and ordered him to be taken into court custody.

A was indicted for driving in a state of extreme intoxication, well above the legal limit for license revocation, on a road in Hyoja-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju, on January 26 of last year. He dragged a police officer who was conducting a sobriety check for over 200 meters while fleeing the scene.

He subsequently crashed into another vehicle, and the impact caused the officer to fall onto the road, resulting in injuries to the officer's arms and legs.

Although the prosecution requested an arrest warrant for A, the judge in charge of the warrant at the time filed a request for a constitutional review with the Constitutional Court, citing potential unconstitutionality in the Criminal Procedure Act.

The reasoning was that under current law, courts can only choose between granting or dismissing an arrest warrant, and that the scope of judicial discretion should be expanded to allow for other options, such as conditional release.

When a request for a constitutional review is filed, relevant judicial procedures, including the warrant review hearing, are suspended until the Constitutional Court reaches a final decision, which led to A being released at the time.

The National Court Administration recently expressed support for an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that includes such conditional arrest and release provisions, stating that it would contribute to the principles of the presumption of innocence and investigation without detention, while overcoming the limitations of having to choose between detention and non-detention.

The prosecution waited for the Constitutional Court's decision before indicting A without detention in April, which is why the first-instance ruling was delivered well over a year after the incident occurred.

The court stated, "The defendant has already been punished for drunk driving three times, yet he got behind the wheel again after drinking," adding, "Furthermore, as he caused a traffic accident that injured a police officer, a prison sentence is inevitable."

The court further explained the sentencing, saying, "However, we have determined the sentence by taking into account that the injuries to the victims were not severe and that the insurance company with which the defendant is insured has paid for the medical expenses."


(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.