Submission of Petition Letters After Assignment to the Responsible Court Division
Trot singer Kim Ho-jung (33), who was arrested and indicted on hit-and-run charges, is set to have his first trial on the 10th, with over 100 petitions submitted to the court.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 26 (Judge Choi Min-hye) will hold the first hearing of Kim Ho-jung, who is accused of reckless driving causing injury and hit-and-run under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and failure to take action after an accident under the Road Traffic Act. Prior to the first trial, Kim Ho-jung reached a settlement with the taxi driver who was the victim of the accident.
As Kim Ho-jung’s first trial approaches, it has been reported that more than 110 petitions have been submitted to the court. Most of them reportedly appeal for leniency towards Kim Ho-jung. After the presiding court was assigned on the 18th of last month, the first petition was received on the 26th, and about 50 petitions were submitted on the 9th, just one day before the trial.
Earlier, on May 9th at around 11:40 p.m., Kim Ho-jung is accused of hitting a taxi while driving on a road in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, fleeing the scene, and instructing his manager to falsely confess. Kim Ho-jung admitted to drunk driving ten days after the accident. The police applied the Widmark formula to estimate his blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving, but could not determine an exact alcohol level. Therefore, at the prosecution stage, the drunk driving charge was not applied, stating, "Considering that Kim Ho-jung drank alcohol multiple times at intervals, it is difficult to specify the blood alcohol level solely by back-calculation." The so-called "drinking after the accident" method, revealed through Kim Ho-jung, led to discussions in political circles about a "Kim Ho-jung Prevention Act" to impose heavier penalties.
Kim Ho-jung has appointed the law firm Dongin as his new legal representative and has been preparing for the trial. Dongin is a large law firm with former prosecutors and chief judges, which handled the case when Kim Ho-jung’s fandom filed complaints against malicious commenters in 2020.
Meanwhile, the CEO, head, and manager of Kim Ho-jung’s agency, who were indicted on charges of aiding the escape of a criminal and destroying evidence, will also stand trial together. CEO Lee Kwang-deuk is accused of instructing Manager Jang to remove the black box storage device from the car used by Kim Ho-jung. Former Head Jeon is charged with removing the black box memory card and handing the accident car key to the intoxicated manager Jang, and also riding in the car driven by Jang.
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