Episode 56

"On January 13, 2014, the defendant, Lee Eul-nam, removed the life-sustaining equipment from the deceased, A, who was in a condition where he could not survive without it, and caused A's death. This is a serious criminal act that a person in the position of a medical professional should never commit, as it unilaterally controlled the dignified value of life."

I swallowed hard and added, "Therefore, the prosecution indicts the defendant, Lee Eul-nam... as an 'accomplice' to murder under Article 250 of the Criminal Act, that is, for aiding and abetting murder."

Article 32 of the Criminal Act (Accomplices): A person who aids and abets another person's crime shall be punished as an accessory.

To put it simply, aiding and abetting means that there is someone else who directly committed the crime, and you are helping or encouraging that person to commit that crime more easily.

Examples of such actions would include encouraging or instigating someone to kill a person, or obtaining and handing over a weapon.

If you go beyond simple aiding and abetting and reach the point where you are 'making' someone commit a crime, then you would be called an instigator.

It was easy to understand if you thought about the case of hiring a contract killer.

"An accomplice?"

"Just based on what you said, shouldn't you be indicting him as a principal offender of murder?"

The audience began to murmur.

"An accomplice, huh."

Jang Yong-hwan asked.

"Does that mean that there's a separate principal offender?"

"That's right."

I nodded.

"Of course, that is A's son, Kim Gap-dong, who requested the removal from the defendant, Lee Eul-nam."

"That's peculiar."

Jang Yong-hwan's eyes narrowed.

"Do you properly understand the concept of an accomplice?"

"Of course."

"In this case, Kim Gap-dong didn't do anything directly. He only urged the doctors of C Hospital, including Lee Eul-nam, to discharge A, which caused them to stop life-sustaining treatment."

A look that seemed like he was testing me flew towards me.

"Then wouldn't it be more logical to see Kim Gap-dong as an accomplice or an instigator, and Lee Eul-nam, who directly participated in the process of stopping life-sustaining treatment, as the principal offender?"

"I plan to prove that, including that part."

When I answered confidently, the corner of Jang Yong-hwan's mouth curled up.

'Yeah, that's right.'

In reality, if the prosecution was really going for the end, then they should have indicted him as the principal offender of murder.

That was because an accomplice received a lighter sentence than the principal offender.

Even if both the person who directly killed someone and the person who helped them kill someone were bad, the former was naturally worse.

But what had Jang Yong-hwan said before this match had started?

He had clearly said to create the 'best' argument.

In other words, he was saying to choose and develop an argument that would be the heaviest while also being a reasonable argument that could be accepted.

It would be pointless if they were greedy for the weight of the crime but created a logical loophole in their argument.

At least in my judgment, there was a limit to punishing Lee Eul-nam as the principal offender of murder in this case.

"......Let's see."

He nodded naturally and then turned his head towards Gu Min-hwan. It was now the defense's turn to make their opening statement.

"Defense, do you admit to the charges?"

'How are they going to come out?'

Normally, the defense would have to prove innocence to win.

But in this case, not only me, but also Gu Min-hwan, my opponent, was being subjected to the application of ambiguous evaluation criteria.

The ambiguous evaluation criteria to develop the best argument was a kind of restriction, but at the same time, it also opened up the possibility of compromise.

If they had analyzed the case calmly and had decided that it was impossible to get a not guilty verdict? Then the defense could also argue in a direction that would make the sentence as light as possible.

'That's probably what they'll do.'

It wasn't impossible for Lee Eul-nam to be innocent in this case.

As we had already seen during the material analysis, they could persuade the court that it was legal euthanasia.

However, that was a path that had room for argument, and the probability of it being accepted was also low.

There was no reason to throw a gamble like that when they had been given a problem that was asking them to find a reasonable compromise.

Especially Gu Min-hwan, who was obsessed with winning, would never choose such a risky path. That was my judgment.

Therefore.

"......I do not admit to them."

When I heard Gu Min-hwan's declaration, my mouth dropped open.

"The defendant, Lee Eul-nam, is innocent."

'What?'

I wasn't the only one who was flustered.

"Innocent?"

"......Are they joking?"

Our teammates, who had already analyzed the records and made various predictions, were also surprised.

"In this situation, claiming complete innocence is... a bit risky, isn't it?"

"Are they planning to have a head-on battle?"

The spectators who were watching also started to murmur.

'What's their plan?'

There was no way that someone with the skills of Gu Min-hwan wouldn't have thought of the method of arguing for legal euthanasia.

But at the same time, he also knew very well that it wasn't a very certain plan for victory.

I glanced at Gu Min-hwan, who was sitting at the defense seat across from me.

"......"

But he had already returned to being silent.

From Gu Min-hwan, who was looking at the materials that he had picked up with inorganic eyes, I couldn't read any kind of emotion.

'This is driving me crazy.'

Was Gu Min-hwan really jumping into a low-probability gamble? Or was there something that I had missed?

But there was no point in worrying about it.

Since it had come to this, there was no choice but to face it head-on.

"Then, I will begin the evidence examination procedure."

It was my turn to step forward.

"Honorable Judge."

I cleared my throat and stood up from my seat.

"Earlier, I stated that the defendant, Lee Eul-nam, was an accomplice who had aided and abetted murder."

I glanced at the judge, Jang Yong-hwan, and then at the audience.

"But for an accomplice to be established, a principal offender must first be established. Therefore, I would like to first prove that Kim Gap-dong, who is not the defendant in this case, is the principal offender of murder."

That was only natural. No matter how much I had handed someone a knife, if that someone didn't do anything bad, then there would be no crime.

In the end, they had to reveal that the principal offender had committed a crime to discuss the crime of the accomplice.

'So, that's why they left Lee Eul-nam as the defendant.'

If there was only one defendant, then it would be easy to score them.

But it was a bit of a waste to have created problems and issues for two defendants and then just throw away half of it.

Therefore, Jang Yong-hwan had chosen the accomplice, Lee Eul-nam, as the defendant.

That was because in order to discuss his crime, they would have to argue about Kim Gap-dong as well. It was a very cunning move.

'Well, since I had read his intentions, I was able to be sure that Lee Eul-nam's crime was aiding and abetting murder.'

There was a reason for every choice that the creator made.

If you started from there, then it was possible to find the path to the answer through the eyes of the person who had designed and created the problem, instead of the eyes of a test taker.

Anyway, for that reason, I had to start by touching Kim Gap-dong.

After laying down that premise, I continued my explanation.

"In order to prove Kim Gap-dong's murder, I have to show two facts."

One. I raised my index finger and shook it.

"The suspension of life-sustaining treatment in this case, which occurred due to Kim Gap-dong's request, is murder that does not fall under legal euthanasia."

Two. This time, I extended my middle finger.

"That Kim Gap-dong is the principal offender of that murder."

Now, let's examine them one by one, I said, and I held up two pieces of paper.

"First, there's the issue of whether or not the suspension of life-sustaining treatment in this case is 'legal euthanasia'. In the current legal system of Korea, there is something called the 'Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients in the Dying Process'. It's commonly called the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act."

"Oh, I've heard of that."

"Me too. It reminds me of when I was preparing for the college entrance exam."

"The pros and cons of euthanasia is a common topic in interviews. I had it in my test materials in the cram school as well."

I nodded towards the audience that was murmuring.

"The Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act states that if a patient is in an irreversible critical condition, then the patient's family can request the suspension of life-sustaining treatment."

"Then, can't we just go by that law?"

"We just have to check if they're in an irreversible condition, right?"

The audience was impressed, saying that the problem had become simple, but I denied it.

"Unfortunately, the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act cannot be applied in this case."

I shook my head and explained.

"The date that the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act was enacted was February 3, 2016. But this case occurred in 2014. If you look at the records, the indictment was also filed in 2014. In other words... we are currently standing in a court from 2014."

At that time, such a law did not exist. Therefore, it was impossible to judge the case based on the premise of the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act.

After I came to that conclusion, there was a reaction of 'Oh' from the audience.

"They even looked at the dates?"

"Of course, I have to. Don't you remember the problem about the real name financial transaction act from last year's final exams? All of the kids who didn't look at the dates and answered based on the post-revision laws got a zero."

"Still, that's an easy part to miss. The real name financial transaction act is a famous topic that is often tested, so it's something that you would habitually check, but it's commendable that you looked it up carefully even while looking at an unfamiliar law that you haven't even learned. Your basics are good."

"They're saying that he's the top student in the midterms of the first year, and it's clear that he's the real deal."

Even the second-year seniors who had been hostile towards me were impressed. I had to maintain this momentum.

"If we go by the standards at the time of the incident, then the basis for permitting the suspension of life-sustaining treatment has to be found in precedents."

"Supreme Court precedent 2009Da17417."

Han Seol accepted the baton and spoke in a clear voice.

"Euthanasia, or rather, the suspension of meaningless life-sustaining treatment, is permitted when 'the patient has reached an irreversible stage of death, and is recognized as exercising their right to self-determination based on their human dignity, value, and right to pursue happiness'."

In other words, she added.

"There are two criteria that must be satisfied. In this case, whether A had reached an irreversible stage of death, and whether they were recognized as exercising their right to self-determination."

Since it was an issue that we had already discussed and prepared for, the division of roles was smooth like flowing water.

Since Han Seol had created the framework, it was now my turn to present the evidence that proved that each condition was not satisfied.

That was when it happened.

Clap. Clap.

An unexpected applause interrupted my words.

"Excellent."

The source of the sound was Gu Min-hwan.