The Supreme Court has ruled that the act of Lee Eun-hae (32) and Jo Hyun-soo (31), who were under prosecution investigation for the 'valley murder' case, asking acquaintances to find them a hiding place cannot be punished as the crime of aiding a fugitive.
Under criminal law, the act of a fugitive escaping by themselves is not punishable. However, if a third party is instructed to help the fugitive escape, it can be punished as aiding a fugitive. The Supreme Court has recognized the establishment of this crime only when it can be seen as an abuse of the right to defense, such as demanding false confessions. The ruling states that simply asking acquaintances for a hiding place and escape funds can be considered ordinary acts of evasion.
Lee Eun-hae and Jo Hyun-soo, who were each sentenced to life imprisonment and 30 years in prison respectively in the "Valley Murder" case.
According to the legal community on the 13th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seon-su) overturned the original ruling that recognized Lee and Jo's guilt for aiding a fugitive and sentenced them to one year in prison each, and remanded the case to the Incheon District Court.
The court stated the reason for overturning and remanding was "the original ruling misunderstood the legal requirements for the establishment of the crime of aiding a fugitive and failed to conduct necessary investigations, which affected the judgment."
Lee and Jo were indicted on charges of instructing two acquaintances to support them with a hiding place and escape funds after being investigated by the prosecution as suspects in the valley murder case in December 2021, thereby aiding their escape.
The acquaintances who received their requests signed a contract for an officetel in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, where they could hide, on their behalf twice in January and February 2022, and helped them move using a passenger car.
The two, who had been on the run for about four months, were caught on April 16 last year at an officetel in Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, and brought to trial. Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment and Jo to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering Lee's husband, Yoon.
Earlier, the first and second instance courts sentenced them to one year in prison each, judging that "the more than 120 days of evasion was different from ordinary evasion" and that they abused their right to defense as suspects.
However, the Supreme Court's judgment was different.
The court first cited Supreme Court precedents regarding the crime of aiding a fugitive. The Supreme Court previously ruled, "Since the act of a fugitive escaping by themselves is not punishable, the act of a fugitive requesting others to help them escape also falls within the category of evasion and is not punishable. Even if the act of a third party who helps the fugitive corresponds to aiding a fugitive, the same applies. However, if the fugitive causes others to commit the crime of aiding a fugitive by making false confessions or the like, which can be seen as an abuse of the right to defense, it may constitute the crime of aiding a fugitive."
The court judged that there was sufficient room to consider the acts of the two as within the scope of ordinary evasion and difficult to see as an abuse of the right to defense.
The court pointed out, "The actors appeared to have helped the defendants due to personal relationships, and they did not have an organized criminal group or pre-arranged human or material facilities for evasion."
Furthermore, the court stated, "The fact that they escaped when evidence was found, that the evasion lasted 120 days, that they shared investigation situations and discussed countermeasures, that they tried to hire lawyers, and that they attempted to conceal some items are all included in the category of ordinary evasion, and it is difficult to see that these circumstances alone caused significant obstacles to criminal justice."
It concluded, "The core of the help they provided was offering a hiding place and moving to another hiding place, and they did not actively deceive investigative agencies or take active measures to make the discovery or arrest of the fugitive difficult or impossible, so it is difficult to conclude that this was not ordinary evasion."
Meanwhile, the two acquaintances who helped them escape were indicted for aiding a fugitive and were each sentenced to one and two years in prison respectively in the first trial in November last year.
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