As a practicing criminal defense attorney in Korea, possession and using illegal drugs are strictly restricted under Narcotics Control Act. Foreign expats need to be careful not to possess some drugs that are legally approved in their country, but not in Korea. – As criminal defense attorneys in Korea, we have defended numerous expats unfairly accused of drug crimes. We’ll introduce it soon.
However, when you are accused by police because of illegal drugs in Korea, you need criminal defense attorneys to put out the best criminal strategy for you. The best criminal attorneys in Korea have the abilities that analyze your case, especially on evidence files in accordance with Korean criminal procedure law. The following cases introduce you to how important it is to get your criminal defense attorney to review the evidence against you. Especially in the case of violation of the Narcotics Control Act, the drug charges in Korea.
Facts Charged
Table of Contents
At 9 p.m. on October 2019, the defendant put methamphetamine in a disposable injector in a motel room in Jinju-si, Korea, dissolved it in water, and injected it into a blood vessel inside the thigh.
The issues & the judgment
Witness D’s statement to the police was the only direct evidence that the defendant injected methamphetamine.
She states, “In October 2019, I was at a motel with the defendant. The defendant was seen taking out a disposable injector and injecting it into the left groin of his thigh. The defendant said to me that “I give myself an injection because I don’t feel well and have symptoms of stomach cramps.”. I thought she was using drugs, so I got scared and came out of the motel. I don’t know what happened after that. Her older sister said the defendant was taking methamphetamine and asked me to report it to the investigation agency”.
If you got a good criminal defense attorney in Korea, the attorney would notice that this witness statement is hearsay, and the attorney should argue it’s not admissible. When the criminal defense attorney let her stand in the courtroom, witness D slightly changed her statement in court. See the difference. “The defendant injected her arm and then, three hours later, injected it again into his thigh. At that time, it was midsummer, maybe in July. I was with the defendant and later we parted. The defendant did not respond much to the injection. There was no strange sign. The defendant said it was a stomach cramp, so I do not think it was methamphetamine. Later, I asked the defendant’s older sister what kind of strange medicine which the defendant took. And the older sister replied that the defendant relies on drugs deeply, so please report it to the police”.
The Korean Criminal Defense attorney strongly argued that this witness statement is not reliable because of the difference in the following points, so the Korean criminal court could find the same:
- The date and time of the stay at the motel
- The circumstances in which the defendant gave an injection herself
- The condition of the defendant after the injection
- Whether the witness stayed at the motel / watched the defendant’s condition
- The witness recognition at the time of whether the defendant injected methamphetamine
- How the witness recognized that the defendant had injected methamphetamine
Thus, the Court concluded that the witness statement does not support the guilty of the defendant in this case. After eliminating the only unfavorable evidence to the client, the criminal defense attorney brings the defendant “Not guilty”.
Criminal defense attorney for your case
If you need a criminal defense attorney in Korea, you need to find the Korea Bar Association Certified Criminal Defense Attorney.
LEE&LEE’s criminal defense attorneys in Korea are licensed and Korean Bar Certified Criminal defense specialists who are fluent in English. If you need an English-speaking lawyer in Korea, LEE&LEE’s attorneys in Korea will provide an excellent criminal defense strategy for you and bring the best outcome.
To learn about Criminal case Procedures in Korea
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