Court States, "Testimony Is Detailed and Consistent"
The retrial of Choi Malja (78), who was sentenced to prison for grievous bodily harm after biting off the tongue of a man who tried to sexually assault her 61 years ago, is set to begin.
On the 13th, the Criminal Division 2 of the Busan High Court (Chief Judge Lee Jae-wook) announced that it recently accepted an appeal against the dismissal of Choi's retrial request for the grievous bodily harm case.
In 1964, Choi Mal-ja, who was arrested and convicted for "injury caused intentionally" during the process of resisting sexual violence, is holding a press conference in front of the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in May 2020 before submitting a petition urging the reopening of her case to recognize self-defense. Photo by Yonhap News
The court stated, "The contents of the testimony are quite detailed and consistent," and added, "There are no unnatural or forced elements in the motive for requesting the retrial." It further noted, "There is sufficient reason to believe that arrest and detention without a warrant were carried out in violation of the due process prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Act."
Choi was sentenced by the Busan District Court in 1964 to 10 months in prison with a 2-year probation for grievous bodily harm after biting off about 1.5 cm of the tongue of a man named Noh (then 21 years old) who tried to sexually assault her when she was 18 years old on May 6, 1964. At that time, the court ruled that biting the tongue in self-defense against the sexual assault did not qualify as justifiable defense.
Noh was sentenced to a lighter sentence of 6 months in prison with 2 years probation for special trespassing and special intimidation charges, excluding attempted rape.
Choi filed for a retrial in May 2020, 56 years after the incident. However, the Busan District Court and Busan High Court dismissed the request, stating there was no evidence to support Choi's claim that "the prosecutor illegally detained her and forced a confession" during the investigation process.
However, after more than three years of review, the Supreme Court found sufficient circumstances to believe Choi's claim was correct and ruled that a factual investigation by the court was necessary, including the original trial judgment, newspaper articles, prisoner registers, criminal case files, and execution records at the time, and remanded the case for retrial.
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