[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The suspects in the 'Valley Murder' case, Lee Eun-hae (31) and Jo Hyun-soo (30), have refused the court-appointed public defenders selected by the court, and even more than ten days after their arrest, they have yet to secure private defense attorneys.
Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyun-soo are accused of murdering Lee Eun-hae's husband, Yoon Mo, on June 30, 2019, at around 8:24 p.m. in Yongsogye Valley, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province. They are also accused of attempting to kill Yoon by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish poison and other substances in February and May of the same year, or by drowning him in a fishing pond.
Charged with murder, attempted murder, and attempted violation of the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud, they have maintained an uncooperative attitude during the prosecution's investigation, which began on the 16th, immediately after their arrest.
Lee Eun-hae insisted on exercising her right to legal counsel and maintained the stance that she would speak only after a lawyer was appointed, but even on the day of the pre-trial detention hearing, after the court appointed a public defender, she did not change her attitude. A public defender is appointed by the court at the state's expense to represent a defendant when a private attorney has not been retained.
Notably, since her detention, Lee Eun-hae is reported to have strongly denied the charges of murder and attempted murder. Her handwritten statement of 1,600 characters submitted to the judge during the pre-trial detention hearing also contained denials of the charges.
Ko Yu-jeong (36), who was arrested on charges of murdering her ex-husband, is leaving the Jeju Eastern Police Station detention center and moving to the statement recording room. / Photo by Yonhap News
Meanwhile, although everyone has the constitutional right to legal representation, there is a reluctance within the legal community to take on this case, as lawyers who have represented such cases often face public criticism, making them hesitant to submit their appointment applications.
In fact, when Ko Yu-jeong (then 36), who was tried for murdering her ex-husband, appointed a lawyer, both she and the law firm had to endure nationwide public outrage.
Lawyers who resigned from the case at the court at that time said, "Even colleagues not involved in the case are suffering damage." Some lawyers continued to receive protest calls late at night or feared harassment months after they stopped representing the case.
Meanwhile, Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyun-soo disappeared ahead of the prosecution's second investigation on December 14 last year and were apprehended by the police on the 16th, four months later, on the 22nd floor of an officetel near Samsong Station in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province.
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