Lee Jong-ho, former head of Black Pearl Invest who was identified as a close aide to Kim Keon-hee, was sent to trial on charges of ordering his mobile phone to be destroyed but was acquitted in the first trial. It is the court's first first-instance ruling on a case indicted by the special counsel investigating the Marine's on-duty death.
The Criminal Agreement Division 26 of the Seoul Central District Court (presiding judge: Senior Judge Lee Hyun-kyung) on the 2nd acquitted the former head, who was indicted on charges of instigating the destruction of evidence. However, a person surnamed Cha, who actually damaged and discarded the mobile phone on the former head's instructions, was fined 3 million won.
The court did not view the former head simply as an instigator who made someone else do it. Because the former head himself threw the phone on the ground, handed it to Cha to stomp on, and took part in discarding it, the court said it should be seen as a joint offense.
However, in criminal cases, the basic principle of criminal law is that a suspect or defendant cannot, in principle, be punished for independently destroying evidence unfavorable to oneself. The court found that the former head's conduct fell under this principle.
The court said, "At the time of the incident, the former head was subject to investigation under the special counsel act and thus faced the possibility of criminal punishment, and also knew this," adding, "It can be seen that the mobile phone was destroyed for one's own benefit, so it cannot be punished as evidence destruction." The court added, "Given the circumstances at the time, it is also difficult to view it as an abuse of the right to defense that caused a grave impediment to the investigation."
In contrast, the court found Cha guilty. The court determined that Cha knew the former head was a main target of the special counsel's investigation and that the phone could be important evidence, yet still took part in damaging and discarding it. The court noted, "Acts of destroying evidence obstruct the state's legitimate criminal justice function and are of bad nature." However, it said it considered that Cha gained no particular benefit from the crime and had no prior record of similar offenses.
The case began with allegations that on July 15 last year at Jamwon Hangang Park in Seocho District, Seoul, the former head instructed Cha to damage and discard a mobile phone. The investigation found that the former head first threw the phone on the ground, then handed it to Cha to stomp on, and had it thrown into a park trash can.
At the time, the special counsel was looking into whether the former head used ties with the first lady to involve himself in a lobbying effort to save former 1st Marine Division Commander Lim Seong-geun. The special counsel later sought a summary order last Nov. of a 5 million won fine for the former head and 3 million won for Cha, and when the court referred the case to a formal trial, a public ruling was made.
With this sentence, the first first-instance conclusion has come in a case indicted by the special counsel. After a 150-day investigation last year, the special counsel indicted 33 people, including former President Yoon Suk-yeol, but in the first court ruling, the prosecution of the former head was not accepted. By reaffirming the existing principle that a person cannot be punished for destroying one's own evidence, the burden on the special counsel's probe also grew significantly.