[Breaking] Supreme Court Confirms 10-Year Prison Sentence for 'Apgujeong Rolls-Royce' Driver Under Influence of Drugs

The driver involved in the so-called 'Apgujeong Rolls-Royce' incident, who was under the influence of sleep anesthesia drugs and unable to drive normally, causing the death of a pedestrian, has been sentenced to a heavy prison term.

On the 20th, the Supreme Court's 1st Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyunghwan) dismissed both the appeals of defendant A and the prosecution in the appeal trial of A, who was indicted for causing death by dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and upheld the original sentence of 10 years in prison for A.

The court stated, "There was no error in the first trial procedure that infringed on the defendant's right to a jury trial."

This judgment relates to the fact that after the indictment was amended, the court did not reconfirm A's intention regarding the jury trial, despite A initially expressing a desire not to have a jury trial.

Furthermore, the court explained the reason for dismissing A's appeal, saying, "Considering various sentencing factors shown in the records, such as the defendant's age, character, environment, relationship with the victim, motive, means and results of the crime, and circumstances after the crime, even taking into account the circumstances claimed in the grounds for appeal, it cannot be said that the original court's sentence of 10 years in prison for the defendant is grossly unfair."

Regarding the prosecution's appeal on charges such as hit-and-run causing death under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, which the second trial court acquitted, the court stated, "There is no error in the original court's acquittal judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the law concerning the establishment of hit-and-run causing death under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and failure to take measures after an accident under the Road Traffic Act," and dismissed the prosecution's appeal.

A was tried on charges of driving his Rolls-Royce passenger car while under the influence of sleep anesthesia drugs containing midazolam and diazepam, administered during a facial shrink procedure at a plastic surgery clinic on the morning of August 2, 2023, after receiving vitamin-infused IV fluids and continuing to sleep at the hospital. Despite receiving sleep anesthesia again around 4 p.m. and ignoring the doctor's warning not to drive, he drove near Apgujeong Station around 8 p.m., crashed onto the sidewalk, injured a woman in her 20s, and fled the scene.