Episode 58

"First, let's examine Kim Gap-dong's culpability."

I, standing at the prosecutor's seat, looked around the re-convened mock courtroom.

"Earlier, I stated that Kim Gap-dong was the principal offender in the murder. To be more precise... his culpability is for murder through 'omission'."

"Huh? Omission?"

The question came not from Gu Min-hwan, but from the female senior sitting squeezed next to his massive frame.

Her name was Lee Yoon-ah, I believed.

"There are broadly two types of actions that constitute a crime."

One. 'Commission.' Simply put, this is doing something that you shouldn't do.

Stabbing someone to death with a knife, or breaking into someone's house and stealing their belongings.

In any case, it's a type where you actively do something bad and cause harm to someone.

Two. 'Omission.' This is the opposite. In short, it means 'not doing something that you should do.'

Let's say that one cold winter night, a police officer finds a drunkard sleeping on the street, shivering in the cold.

This police officer has a professional duty to rescue and ensure the safety of citizens.

Therefore, the right thing for him to do is to wake the drunkard and secure his safety, or to safely return him home.

But what if it turns out that the drunkard was a bully who had tormented the police officer in his school days?

So, if the police officer thinks that it's none of his business whether he lives or dies, and leaves him there, and the drunkard ends up freezing to death?

The police officer has, by 'not doing what he should have done,' driven a drunkard who could have lived to his death.

The concept of omission is that this is seen as no different from directly killing someone.

Someone who has a special duty must bear a heavy responsibility for the consequences that occur by abandoning that duty.

"Of course, Kim Gap-dong didn't directly commit the act of murder."

I nodded my head.

"He only requested that the doctors at C Hospital stop A's treatment. At first glance, this is easily seen as something like instigation or aiding and abetting murder."

However.

"Kim Gap-dong is A's son, isn't he?"

I looked around the room and spoke as if sighing.

"Of course, they weren't a father and son who got along well. If you asked if A was a respectable father in his later years, it would be difficult to say yes."

But even so, a father is a father, and a son is a son.

"...A wasn't always such a broken human being from the beginning."

I pulled out Kim Gap-dong's own recollection of A from the list of testimonies.

• When I was young, my father was like a mountain.

A was taciturn, but he was a provider who had lived his entire life only for his family.

He had worked like a dog to get a good house in Seoul, and he had supported Kim Gap-dong so that he could study as much as he wanted.

He would sometimes play soccer or baseball with his young son on the weekends.

As a result, Kim Gap-dong grew up without any problems, went to a good university, and joined a major company, growing into an adult who could handle his own.

The problem started from there.

A, who was approaching old age, could not accept the fact that he had lost his job, and that he was no longer someone that the world needed, and started to become twisted.

"A fulfilled his duty as a father his entire life. He worked every day, sweating, and taking responsibility for his family's livelihood, and he supported his son in every way so that he could grow up well. That is a noble sacrifice."

If so, I said, raising my voice.

"Even if his father had developed some kind of mental illness in his later years, that alone shouldn't be a reason for him to be abandoned. Kim Gap-dong, as his son, had a clear 'duty' to wholeheartedly assist and support A, and to even look after his emotional wounds."

A solemn atmosphere flowed for a moment. A parent's sacrifice was always a keyword that warmed the heart.

Of course, I wasn't trying to rely solely on emotional appeals.

I was making a big deal out of the father's sad life to emphasize the justification for my arguments.

However, the duty to support one's family was not limited to a moral or ethical duty.

Rather, it was a legal duty that was clearly recognized by the law and precedents.

Ethics were just a spice to make the legal principles a bit more persuasive.

"Therefore, Kim Gap-dong's actions should be seen as an act of 'abandoning' his obvious duty as a son to support his father, A, and to protect his life."

I paused for a beat.

"In other words... it is a case of murder through the omission of the duty to support."

I let out a breath, as if shaking off the tension.

If Kim Gap-dong was someone who had no relation to A, then simply having the doctors stop his treatment wouldn't have established murder.

In that case, it would have been right to punish him for instigation or aiding and abetting murder.

However, Kim Gap-dong was A's family, and also his biological son, whom A had raised with the money and time he had poured into him until he had become an adult.

A son who should have taken care of his father had instead caused his death.

It wasn't logical to see such a case of filial impiety as aiding and abetting, and to punish it lightly compared to actual murder.

After finishing my words, I stood there for a moment, and then Jang Yong-hwan asked.

"An interesting viewpoint."

The implication behind the word 'viewpoint' was one thing. The things that I had stated until now were just claims, so I had to provide evidence.

"Is there any basis for that?"

As expected, Jang Yong-hwan brought up that line.

"Of course, there is."

I replied as if I had been waiting for that, and then nudged Han Seol under the desk. Precedents were always her job.

"Seoul High Court 98No1310."

Han Seol read the precedent that had been prepared.

"Even though Defendant 1, as the spouse of the victim, had a duty to protect the victim's life through continuous treatment, if they had the victim discharged and stopped their treatment... it is reasonable to see Defendant 1's crime as one committed through omission."

This was none other than the precedent from the Boramae Hospital case, one of the two models for this problem.

At that time, the issue was not the duty to support between children and parents, but rather the duty to support between spouses, but the principle of seeing a crime as one committed through the abandonment of duty was the same.

"Ah, I see..."

"It was an answer that you couldn't find if you only focused on the surface of the act of 'demanding' the suspension of treatment."

The exclamations this time came from the seniors sitting next to Gu Min-hwan.

It seemed that that guy hadn't given his teammates a proper explanation.

"Well, then."

Of course, that was none of my business.

I rubbed my hands together and opened my mouth again.

"Now that the principal offender of murder has been revealed to be Kim Gap-dong, let's discuss Lee Eul-nam. Since the principal offender already exists, there are only two possible forms of culpability for Lee Eul-nam."

I counted on my fingers, one by one.

"One. An accomplice who 'aided and abetted' the principal offender's act of murder."

And.

"Two. A 'joint principal offender' who committed the crime together with the principal offender, Kim Gap-dong."

"...Joint principal offender?"

Senior Lee Yoon-ah murmured blankly.

Since they didn't learn Criminal Law in the first semester of their second year, their memories were bound to become hazy.

But even so, that blank reaction was a bit much for a senior, or so I thought.

But, since Gu Min-hwan could solve everything on his own, and would, the quality of his teammates was probably not that important.

"There are also two types of cases when multiple people are involved in a crime."

I added, being generous.

Let's say a bank robbery occurs.

Two guys storm into the bank together, threatening people with guns and stealing money, and another guy stands guard outside while they're robbing the bank, watching out for the police, and then drives them away in the getaway car.

And the last guy provides the guns for them to rob the bank.

Just by looking at it, the first three and the last one seem to have a different degree of culpability.

The three guys each shared the roles and directly participated in the robbery, but the last guy only provided assistance.

Of course, all four are bad guys, but if you had to choose the worse ones, you would have to point to the three who directly robbed the bank.

In that case, the three criminals who were punished equally as the principals of the robbery are called the joint principal offenders.

The last one is just an accomplice, in other words, an accessory.

"If the doctor Lee Eul-nam is evaluated as a joint principal offender who committed murder together with Kim Gap-dong, then he must also be punished with the same punishment as murder. On the other hand, if he was just an accomplice, then the punishment would be a little lighter."

In my heart, I also wanted to punish Lee Eul-nam, who had directly removed the medical equipment and ended A's life, for murder.

If that was possible, then that would also be the method that could get the highest score.

However, it was impossible this time.

"I request that audio file number 7 be played."

"Granted."

As the assistant operated the computer, the speaker started to work, making a bzzt sound.

"Audio file number 7 is a recording of the consultation between the defendant Lee Eul-nam, who was the doctor on duty at the time, and Kim Gap-dong."

A fairly vivid voice came out of the speaker.

• You want to discharge the patient?

• Yes.

• That's not possible. The patient is currently in a state where he cannot survive without life-sustaining equipment.

• 'Cannot survive?'

• Yes. So.

• Then you can't guarantee that he won't die, either?

• ...What? No, that's a forced argument.

• Please discharge him. I will take all responsibility for what happens afterward, and I won't hold the hospital accountable for anything.

After that, the bickering continued.

Lee Eul-nam tried his best to persuade Kim Gap-dong, and his main argument was that he couldn't predict what would happen to A's life.

Of course, the fact that he couldn't predict it was a very positive assessment, and in reality, the probability of him dying was much higher.

But Kim Gap-dong had already decided to just let A die. It was natural that nothing he said would have any effect.

In the end, Lee Eul-nam, who had given up on everything, suggested a compromise.

• Write a statement here. From this moment on, our hospital has no responsibility for your father's life.

• Ah, of course. Give it here.

• I clearly told you that I don't know what will happen? I don't know anything about it now. If you change your mind, then get him readmitted or transferred to another hospital as soon as possible.

• I get it. Come on.

• ...You heartless human being.

The recording ended.

"It goes without saying, but the 'statement' that these people wrote doesn't have any legal effect under criminal law."

A statement was only a kind of agreement that the person who wrote it wouldn't file a civil suit.

It had no room to be applied to criminal procedures where the state stepped up to judge the criminal.

"Then, is Lee Eul-nam a joint principal offender? Should he be seen as someone who actively committed murder together with Kim Gap-dong?"

I don't think so, I said, shaking my head.

"Defendant Lee Eul-nam was not certain of the outcome when he discharged A. That is why he warned Kim Gap-dong, who was responsible for supporting him, that he didn't know what would happen, and that even if he was discharged, it would be better to readmit him or send him to another hospital."

Legally, allowing a discharge in such a situation was only evaluated as having entrusted the victim's life to the families who had the duty to support him.

It couldn't be seen as having participated in the act of murder himself.

"However... the fact that he allowed the discharge knowing Kim Gap-dong's intentions can at least be seen as having 'aided' Kim Gap-dong's murder through omission."

Aided. In other words, an accomplice.

If we go back to the example of the bank robbery, it's similar to having given them the guns that they would use to commit the robbery, rather than directly participating in the shooting or being the getaway driver.

Although he couldn't be seen as a principal offender, there was enough room for him to be punished as an accomplice who had aided and abetted the crime.

"That is all."

After finishing my arguments, I faced Gu Min-hwan across from me.

I had said everything that I could say.

Kim Gap-dong was the principal offender of murder, and Lee Eul-nam was an accomplice who had aided and abetted him. The conclusion was only this one from the start.

Now, the key was what that guy would pull out.

'......Indeed.'

During the earlier break, after meticulously reviewing the document that I had written, I had finally been able to come up with one idea.

If Gu Min-hwan was aiming for that, then it was truly a brilliant idea.

But since I had read it first, it was also a move that I was prepared for. Perhaps even more easily than all of the other issues.

The problem was whether the thing that I had thought of was actually what Gu Min-hwan was intending.

'Was I right?'

While waiting for Gu Min-hwan to open his mouth, I stared at him.

How long had passed?

"......Splendid."

Finally, the moment Gu Min-hwan rose from his seat.

"However, there is one mistake in the prosecutor's argument."

I was certain.

"That is... "

This guy.

'You fell for it!'