I Became a Law School Genius – 47



I Became a Genius Law School Student Episode 47

“We will represent the defendant.”

At that moment Jang Yong-Hwan’s eyebrows twitched. At the same time Jeong Min-sik standing across from him burst into laughter.

“Fuhaha! Are you serious?”

The guy added as if he was dumbfounded.

“It looks like you haven’t even read the case record.”

“Have you read it?”

“Then you have a sprained eye.”

Jeong Min-sik pointed a finger at me.

“There is a mountain of evidence to prove guilt and the defendant himself even confessed in the first trial. “And yet you’re going to pick the defendant?”

“okay.”

“This is absurd.”

I turned aside the pouring criticism.

“Do I look so easy just because I was a senior once? You can win no matter how unfavorable the conditions are something like that? “Don’t be funny.”

Jeong Min-sik gritted his teeth.

“That’s not called confidence it’s called arrogance or arrogance. “I will make you regret looking down on me.”

‘Hmm I’m misunderstanding something.’

I didn’t intentionally choose the disadvantaged side.

I’m not in a position where I have enough leisure to do something like that of a dopamine addict.

I just chose this because I thought it was a much more advantageous and likely path to victory.

‘Well there’s no need to explain.’

Conversation with an opponent is done with a sword and a bow.

In the courtroom legal principles and facts are weapons.

In that case just hitting it with that is enough.

Jeong Min-sik tried to get even more angry but unexpectedly Bae Hyun-joong who was standing silently next to him stopped him.

The guy cast an uneasy look in this direction and whispered something to Jeong Min-sik.

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

Jeong Min-sik looked like he didn’t like it until the end but eventually turned around with his teammates and headed to the waiting room.

“Just wait and see!”

Leaving behind his shouting we also moved to our own waiting room.

“What is it?”

Lee Haru asked as soon as the supervisor closed the door.

“You’re picking the defendant right? “To me it seemed like he was definitely guilty.”

“There must be something.”

Hanseol who has now become accustomed to my method added.

“When he does something I don’t understand it’s the moment I find an answer. Now can you explain it to me? “What did you find out in that short period of time that made you choose to represent the defendant?”

“I don’t know.”

“?”

I quickly added when I saw a question mark appear on Han Seol’s face.

“I’m not saying I made a choice without basis. It is true that this is much more likely to be the correct answer. However… I need to review the data in more depth now to see if my thoughts are correct.”

I picked up the thick case record and shook it.

“This incident is very unnatural.”

“What is it?”

“Strictly speaking this is not a real event. It’s a creation created for a legal argument contest. In that case regardless of which side you choose it is common to produce it so that you can come up with similar persuasive arguments.”

Just imagine a typical debate competition.

Aren’t there topics on which the pros and cons are fiercely opposed and each person can provide valid reasons and counterarguments?

Issues such as abolishing the death penalty allowing euthanasia or legalizing same-sex marriage.

It is not much different from a legal argument competition.

Its essence is close to a pros and cons debate and the pros and cons should not be sharply divided just because a particular position is chosen.

“But what about this incident?”

Strangely enough all the data is focused on the guilt of the defendant Kim Gap-dong.

Even in the first trial the person who acknowledged all the evidence and charges and even confessed changed his story and appealed.

Even if I were the judge I felt like they would never look at me because I was embarrassed.

“…It’s definitely strange.”

“Isn’t it said that choosing a stance is also a skill? “How about saying that the intention was to look at the data and choose the advantageous side?”

Lee Haru made a rather sharp point.

“Yes that’s true. I also think that the true intention of this case is there. But even taking that into account it’s strange that it’s so clearly tilted. “This is enough to make even an outsider let alone a competent law school student choose Kim Gap-dong’s guilty side.”

I came to a conclusion.

“This is a trap.”

That too is a trap laid out for people to stumble and fall.

“It is impossible to see all the details of the evidence document in a short period of 10 minutes. At best all you have to do is skim the list or the first page of the documents related to each piece of evidence.”

“…That’s right.”

“okay. Even in such a situation it is clear that the question is whether it is possible to capture the true intention of the test taker hidden behind what is revealed on the surface.”

“What is that hidden intention?”

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

“We have to find out about that now.”

Preliminary questions are not created by the Ministry of Justice which organizes the competition but are created and presented directly by professors in charge of preliminary review at each law school.

When it comes to detectives our school naturally produces Jang Yong-hwan.

As we have already experienced through exam questions Jang Yong-Hwan is unrivaled when it comes to laying dark traps.

However on the other hand if you have a good understanding of the basic legal principles and have a wide range of ideas you can design the problem so that you can find the answer without excessive memorization.

Considering his style there are many things that come to mind.

However verification required time to directly examine the data.

“Let’s look at the first evidence first.”

[Kim Gap-dong’s breathalyzer record]

…(omitted)…At the time of measurement the defendant’s complexion was red and his eyes were bloodshot and applying the ‘Weedmark formula’ considering that 5 hours and 25 minutes had passed since driving the defendant’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving was 0.066. It is estimated at %.

“What is the Widmark formula?”

“Even if a drunk driver’s blood alcohol level is measured it doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she is arrested right after driving right? Depending on the situation there may be cases where the measurement is taken a few hours after driving.”

“That’s right.”

“If the measurement was made over time the alcohol would have already been decomposed to some extent in the body over that time. “The Weedmark formula is a calculation method that traces back the rate of decomposition and determines the blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving.”

“aha.”

You do not need to know the specific calculation method. There is no need to calculate it yourself.

However it is enough to know that there is such a thing and that when applying the Widmark formula personal characteristics such as the victim’s weight and health status must be identified and reflected as accurately as possible.

“Could there be a defect in that area? There is also a Supreme Court precedent that states that estimates made by blindly applying averages should not be used.”

“It’s a good point but I think it would be difficult to use in this case. “Detailed information about the victim was well reflected and it was inspected by experts and went through strict verification.”

I also thought about the points pointed out by Hanseol but unfortunately in this case the police officer who recorded the breathalyzer record conducted a very thorough investigation and recorded an appropriate estimate.

It seemed difficult to claim that the data itself was wrong.

“Uhm. Is there anything else?…”

“Let’s look at how the breathalyzer test was conducted. “There might be some clue there.”

I said that and continued reading the investigation notes left by the police officer in charge of the breathalyzer test.

[…(omitted)… While patrolling at night we received a report from Mr. B a guest of motel A that ‘there was a strange pounding noise coming from the upper floor’ and dispatched to motel A.

Then when they knocked on the door of the room suspect Kim Gap-dong shouted from inside saying ‘I’m tired after driving a long way so come back later.’

Sensing something suspicious I opened the door and entered the room where the smell of alcohol was in the air and Kim Gap-dong was standing there staggering around drunk.

Recognizing the possibility of drunk driving we conducted a breathalyzer test and reviewed the record sheet…(omitted)…]

“also.”

A smile appeared on my face as I read the record.

“Do you understand something?”

“okay. “The breathalyzer record in this case is ‘illegal collection evidence.’”

“…Huh?”

Article 308-2 (Exclusion of illegally collected evidence) Evidence collected without following legal procedures cannot be used as evidence.

Investigation is the process of collecting evidence.

However not all evidence obtained during the investigation can be used at trial.

Only evidence collected through legal procedures is qualified to be used as evidence.

‘It’s to protect citizens’ basic rights from investigative power.’

Investigative agencies such as the police and prosecutors have tremendous power.

Even if they conduct investigations in somewhat illegal ways it is not easy for ordinary citizens to stop them.

In the first place without legal knowledge there are many cases in which it is impossible to even know that what the police is conducting is an illegal investigation.

They arbitrarily break into ordinary people’s homes without a warrant and confiscate items or they threaten captured suspects or lie to them that if they confess their sentence will be reduced to get a confession.

Therefore in order to prevent this from happening there is no choice but to prevent evidence obtained through illegal methods from being used at all so that investigative agencies have no reason to conduct illegal investigations in the first place.

“The breathalyzer test itself is not a problem. “There is no record of Kim Gap-dong refusing a breathalyzer test and even if he had refused in the first place it is mandatory to take a breathalyzer test so the person who refuses will be charged with failing to take the breathalyzer test.”

but.

“The problem is that you said ‘Come back later’ but you came in.”

Under the Criminal Procedure Act a ‘search’ which involves forcibly entering a private space and searching for something is classified as a compulsory investigation that cannot be conducted without a warrant.

Of course in urgent situations where a suspect who has committed a crime is being tracked or when it is determined that a crime is being committed a search without a warrant is unavoidable.

However at this time the police officer was simply patrolling and visited Motel A after receiving a report of a ‘noisy noise’.

Of course no search warrant was obtained and there was no confirmation that a crime was being committed.

“In the end this police officer’s search was illegal.”

And all other additional evidence obtained during or as a result of the illegal search is illegally collected evidence.

This is called the ‘Poisonous Tree and Poisonous Fruit’ theory. Just as poison spreads to the fruits of a poisoned tree all evidence obtained based on illegal investigations is contaminated with illegality and becomes unusable.

“So at least there will be no evidence to prove drunk driving. “Kim Gap-dong is not guilty of drunk driving.”

“It was a real criminal procedure law issue….”

“I told you I would come out.”

Perhaps this is not the only thing. Jang Yong-hwan’s true intention in producing the record of this incident is now clear.

At first glance this tower of incriminating evidence appears to be very solidly constructed.

The idea was to destroy the main premise that ‘Kim Gap-dong is guilty’ by shaking the evidentiary power of each cornerstone.

“Hansul please find and organize all the precedents related to the illegality of search and seizure verification. “Lee Haru goes around the pages I designate summarizes them and checks the results.”

“okay.”

“Yes sir.”

‘Let’s go overturn the court.’