[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] A fine for drunk driving confirmed on a person with the same name due to a prosecutor's mistake 14 years ago has been overturned.
The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) announced on the 8th that it overturned the original ruling, which found Mr. A guilty of violating the Road Traffic Act and issued a summary order for a fine of 700,000 won, and dismissed the prosecution.
Mr. A was caught driving a passenger car in a state of intoxication with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.056% on October 13, 2008, and was issued a summary order for a fine of 700,000 won by the Ansan Branch of Suwon District Court in November of the same year. This ruling was finalized as Mr. A did not appeal.
However, it was later confirmed that the person actually caught for drunk driving was Mr. B, born in 1961, who had the same name but was not Mr. A, born in 1980. At that time, the prosecutor in charge mistakenly wrote Mr. A's resident registration number and registered domicile (bonjeok) when requesting the summary order.
Accordingly, the prosecution filed an extraordinary appeal in August 2020 when President Yoon Seok-yeol was Prosecutor General. Under the Criminal Procedure Act, the Prosecutor General may file an extraordinary appeal to the Supreme Court if there is a violation of law in a finalized judgment.
The Supreme Court stated, "This case violated the legal provisions in the indictment procedure, so it is appropriate to dismiss the prosecution," and added, "Nevertheless, the summary order was issued and finalized as is, which is a judgment violating the law," thereby overturning the original ruling and dismissing the prosecution.
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