Trot singer Kim Ho-jung (34), who was sentenced to prison in the second trial for the charge of ‘drunk driving hit-and-run’, has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
According to the legal community on the 2nd, Kim Ho-jung's lawyer submitted a notice of appeal to the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Appeal Division 5-3 (Chief Judge Kim Ji-sun, So Byeong-jin, Kim Yong-jung) the day before, regarding charges of dangerous driving causing injury and fleeing under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act, as well as failure to take action after an accident under the Road Traffic Act.
However, Lee, the representative of the agency, and Jeon, the former head, who were sentenced to prison for instructing manager Jang to falsely surrender to cover up the accident, submitted a waiver of appeal.
Previously, the second trial court sentenced Kim Ho-jung to the same prison term of 2 years and 6 months as the first trial on the sentencing date held on the 25th of last month.
Lee, the representative of the agency, and Jeon, the former head, who were also indicted for removing the black box memory card and instructing a false surrender, received sentences of 2 years and 1 year and 6 months in prison, respectively, just like in the first trial. Manager Jang, who falsely surrendered, also maintained a sentence of 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation.
Kim Ho-jung submitted 100 letters of remorse before the second trial's second hearing and added 34 more letters as the sentencing date approached, but it did not influence the court's judgment.
The second trial stated, “The nature of Kim Ho-jung's accident and fleeing is poor, and the circumstances after the crime are also not good,” adding, “However, considering that he reached an agreement with the victim and has no prior convictions, it does not seem that the original sentence exceeds a reasonable range.”
The claim from Kim Ho-jung's side that he was not in a state to drive normally due to alcohol consumption was not accepted.
The second trial pointed out, “The amount of alcohol consumed by the defendant on the day of the incident seems considerable,” and stated, “It cannot simply be seen as an accident caused by manipulating a mobile phone, and it is judged that the accident was caused due to significantly impaired judgment and cognitive ability from drinking.”
The first trial court also deemed that a heavy sentence was unavoidable and sentenced him to 2 years and 6 months in prison. Representative Lee and former head Jeon received sentences of 2 years and 1 year and 6 months, while manager Jang was sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation.
Kim Ho-jung is accused of driving under the influence in May last year, crashing into a taxi on the opposite road in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and fleeing the scene while urging manager Jang to falsely surrender. There are also indications that he attempted to conceal the crime by not providing passwords to the police, who seized three of his mobile phones after the crime.
However, since Kim Ho-jung reported to the police 17 hours after the accident, it became impossible to measure his blood alcohol concentration using the Widmark formula, leading to the exclusion of the drunk driving charge.
