[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A man in his 50s charged with assaulting his live-in partner and causing her death has been acquitted.

The court based its ruling on the unreliability of testimony from the only witness — the victim's mother, who has dementia — and inconsistencies in the injury timeline identified by prosecutors.

The First Criminal Division of the Jeongeup Branch of Jeonju District Court, presided over by Judge Jeong Yeong-ha, acquitted the defendant, identified only as A, 52, who was indicted on charges of assault causing death, according to legal sources Saturday.

A was indicted on charges of forcefully shoving B, 50, with whom he lived, into a wall and knocking her to the floor at their home in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, at 10:17 p.m. on May 23, 2024, causing her death.

According to prosecutors, A found B collapsed in the bathroom at around 7 a.m. the following morning but left the house without taking any action. When he returned home and found her still on the floor, he called emergency services at 9:33 p.m. that same day.

B was taken to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery but died on June 18 of that year from brainstem compression caused by cerebral edema.

A denied the assault throughout the trial. He maintained that while he and B had both fallen to the floor as he tried to break up an argument between B and his mother, who has dementia, he had not assaulted her. He also said he assumed B, who was lying in the bathroom, had simply passed out from drinking as she sometimes did.

The court found that the time of the alleged assault identified by prosecutors did not clearly match the timing of the victim's injuries. It noted in particular that after 10:17 p.m. — the moment prosecutors said the assault occurred — A and B exchanged seven phone calls normally until 11:44 p.m.

No direct evidence was found that A had assaulted B after that point. The court also determined that B's mother, the sole witness, suffers from dementia and may have been unable to accurately distinguish when the incident occurred, potentially confusing it with an earlier argument.

Medical specialists' opinions that B's head injuries could have resulted from a fall rather than an assault also supported the acquittal.

"Even if the defendant's account raises questions, a guilty verdict in a criminal trial must be supported by evidence that leaves no reasonable doubt," the court said. "It is difficult to conclude, based solely on the evidence submitted by the prosecution, that the defendant assaulted the victim and caused her death."


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