I Became a Law School Genius – 16



I Became a Genius Law School Student Episode 16

“This is a crime of attempted perjury robbery and assault and ‘night-time home invasion and theft.’”

“Uh huh?!”

Yoo Tae-woon screamed in surprise and Jang Yong-hwan opened his eyes.

“Article 330 of the Criminal Code. Nighttime home invasion and theft. A person who breaks into a person’s residence building ship aircraft or occupied room ‘at night’ and steals another person’s property shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 10 years.”

I continued speaking without heeding anything.

“At this time there is no explicit provision in the criminal law regarding the meaning of night but the common view is that it is from after sunset to before sunrise.”

“What on earth are you talking about now?”

“This incident.”

I cut off Yoo Taewoon’s question.

“It happened at 2 a.m. not 2 p.m. So… ‘night’.”

That’s right.

This was the real trap Jang Yong-hwan hid in this matter.

“I thought it was unnatural from the beginning.”

A feeling of discomfort that never left my mind while reading the case record.

The point was that the ‘time of crime’ was not recorded anywhere.

-2023.3.12. Kim Gap-dong found the apartment where A lived….

The date itself is clearly written.

However there was a complete lack of description of the specific time of occurrence of each crime.

Information about time is contained only indirectly in evidence.

The analog clock showing 2 o’clock in the black-and-white video with an unrecognizable quality and the conversation time left in the KakaoTalk screenshot at around 1:30 p.m. were exactly that.

It was strange.

I have no experience in court practice.

However based on common sense it did not seem likely that the exact time of the incident would be omitted from the investigation and trial records.

Among cases that turn into legal battles there are many cases where the outcome changes in a minute.

A slight difference can change the order of arrival of documents and change the person who can claim rights.

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“Especially in the case of detectives it is not uncommon for the treatment to be completely different depending on whether the incident occurred during the day or night.”

“For example?”

Jang Yong-Hwan asked.

“That’s what self-defense is.”

Self-defense requires reasonableness.

What I am saying is that I should defend myself just enough to ward off the danger facing me right now.

Excessive defense beyond this is usually not recognized as justified.

However if the excessive defense occurred at night or in any other anxious state such as fear surprise excitement or panic it will not be punished.

This is because it is an overly harsh request to judge and act on the ‘just’ line even in such a situation.

“It is often said that there is no hope.”

In any case recording the exact point in time is essential.

Nevertheless if all references to time were omitted from the record I could not help but think that there was some kind of intention hidden there.

“The time revealed in the data is 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 which is the time indicated by the clock hands. “When we encountered the keyword ‘afternoon’ without any other information about the date and time we naturally assumed 2 PM and solved the problem… but that wasn’t the case.”

“What is the basis?”

“First please watch the video again.”

He brought a laptop placed it in a direction where Jang Yong-hwan and Yoo Tae-woon could see it and played the CCTV footage.

Poor image quality in black and white still difficult to read.

If you think about it that’s also strange.

“Why is it black and white?”

“Isn’t that because that’s the type of model it was originally made for?”

“no. Even residential CCTVs come in color these days. …during the week.”

“Oh!”

“Recording video in black and white occurs when the ‘night’ mode is activated and the camera switches to an infrared camera.”

This was from a past life where I had to work overtime every day.

I used to live a horrible life leaving work at dawn and going to work in the morning.

As a result I became acquainted with the company’s night security.

It was knowledge I gained while talking about various things at that time.

“If you think of it as an infrared camera black and white images also make sense. It’s a little hard to see but please look at the bottom here. “Can’t you see Kim Gap-dong’s shadow?”

If the incident occurred in broad daylight a shadow would have been cast by the light coming from outside the window.

However if it is a dark dawn to begin with it is natural that the shadow is not noticeable.

This also explains the fact that Kim Gap-dong came in hesitantly and with an awkward attitude.

It was dark and I couldn’t see anything so I had no choice but to move forward cautiously.

“The conversation time recorded on KakaoTalk is also strange.”

“Talk time…?”

“The plot between Kim Gap-dong and Lee Eul-nam took place from 13:34 to 13:36.

“If the time of the crime is 2 p.m. there are less than 30 minutes left.”

As if to answer Yoo Taewoon’s question I once again displayed the KakaoTalk screenshot on the screen.

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[13:34] Kim Gap-dong: Let’s do something with me.

[13:35] Lee Eul-nam: What happened?

[13:35] Kim Gap-dong: I’m going to rob A’s house. When I bring out the goods you take them and exchange them for cash.

[13:36] Lee Eul-nam: Mr. A for the first time in a while I was taking a good nap at home. What is the pay?

[13:36] Kim Gap-dong: 7 to 3. You are 3.

…(lower)…

“But at this point Lee Eul-nam is said to be ‘sleeping at home.’ So where is Lee Eul-nam’s house? When I searched the records I couldn’t believe it. “It says Asan City South Chungcheong Province.”

“…!”

“A’s apartment is in Seoul. “Physically it is impossible for Lee Eul-nam who was at home in Asan until 13:36 to arrive near A’s apartment around 14:00.”

Yoo Taewoon opened his mouth and looked this way.

“If the crime was committed at night and the crime to be considered has changed to nighttime home invasion and theft the issue of attempted crime must also be reconsidered.”

Rest for a beat.

“The commencement of the crime of theft is recognized when the ‘search for property’ begins but the position of precedent is that the crime of nighttime home invasion theft is deemed to have begun when the home invasion begins. “The point at which you reach the peak is when you gain possession of the property.”

It’s time to end this long story.

“As already reviewed Kim Gap-dong committed a home invasion into A’s apartment but failed to steal the money he had targeted. The implementation was started but it did not reach the final stage. In other words it is an attempted crime.”

When the crime was theft the commission of the act could not be recognized and therefore could not be punished.

However in the case of nighttime home invasion and theft the criminal act has already begun and an attempted crime is established.

If I hadn’t figured out the prank on the record the conclusion would have been completely different.

It was a matter of not just thinking about what was given but carefully considering the relationship between the evidence and interpreting the hidden intention.

In the midst of all this adding the issue of attempted crime was extremely evil.

‘In this case the crime of trespassing will be absorbed into the Night’s Day and cannot be punished separately… but the guilt is heavier this way.’

As initially ordered the conclusion is that the defendant’s guilt is the most severe.

“That’s it.”

I quickly raised my head and looked at Professor Yong-Hwan Jang’s reaction.

He seemed to be silently reflecting on my argument for a long time but then he blurted out something.

“Can you prove it?”

‘Huh why is this person like this?’

“It was a persuasive point. But it’s all just speculation. “Because the CCTV is an old model it may originally only record in black and white and the reason why shadows are not visible may be because the image quality is dirty and difficult to identify.”

Jang Yong-hwan continued speaking with sharper eyes.

“In the case of KakaoTalk Lee Eul-nam may have lied and said it was his home because he did not want to get involved in crime. “Nothing has been clearly proven.”

“Then let’s request investigation and submission of additional evidence.”

I shrugged.

“If it was a real trial record in the first place there is no way the time of occurrence of the incident was omitted. The professor must have erased it in the process of making it a problem. “It is said that the lack of evidence was originally the prosecutor’s responsibility… but didn’t we promise not to ask about the distribution of responsibility under the litigation law?”

This is not the actual original trial record and I am not the real prosecutor who investigated this case.

The distinction between the roles of prosecutor and defense attorney is merely a name given to determine the direction of the argument.

It was a self-contradiction to hold me responsible for the records that the test taker had erased even though I said I would not ask about litigation law.

‘Where are you going to find a place to live?’

When he shamelessly went out to the station the corners of Jang Yong-hwan’s mouth went up.

“That’s fun.”

And he asked Yoo Tae-un.

“The defense side. Do you agree with the prosecutor’s argument?”

“I agree!”

Yoo Taewoon stood in a daze then quickly came to his senses and answered.

It was the face of a person who had fallen into the water and found a lifeboat.

“Then… let’s announce the results.”

It was the word I had been waiting for.

“Park Yu-seung 10 points. Yoo Taewoon 5 points. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Needless to say it was recognition of my answer.