Theft of a gold bracelet from a jewelry shop
The client walked into a jewellery shop, asked to see a gold bracelet worth about 6 million won, said they would check with their parents and left. They came back that afternoon, asked to try the bracelet on, and ran out of the shop the moment it was on their wrist. Police traced the client on CCTV and made an arrest, and with earlier convictions of the same kind a detention warrant and a real prison term were in prospect.
Jewellery shopGold braceletTheftDetention warrantEarlier convictions
Suspended sentence (집행유예)Criminal
This image is for illustrative purposes and is not a photo of an actual case.
Facts
The defendant (the client) went to a jewelry store in January 2022 to look for something to steal and asked, "I want to buy a gold bracelet. Do you have a 20-don bracelet?" When the victim showed a gold bracelet worth about 6,000,000 Korean won, the defendant said, "I'll go ask my parents if I can buy it" and left the store.
Later that afternoon, the defendant returned to the store and told the victim, "My parents said I can buy it. I think the 20-don bracelet on the display will fit my wrist," and asked to try it on. When the victim put the bracelet on the defendant's wrist, the defendant immediately ran out of the store and stole the bracelet.
Later, the police tracked the defendant through CCTV and arrested him, then applied for a pre-trial detention warrant. Lawyer Joo Youngjae was appointed as defense counsel.
Assistance of lawyer Joo Youngjae
Even though the defendant admitted to the crime, lawyer Joo Youngjae contacted the victim to reach a settlement in order to reduce the sentence. He also argued for leniency, stating that the defendant grew up in an orphanage under unfortunate circumstances and committed the crime due to financial difficulties.
Court decision
Despite the defendant having a prior record of similar offenses, the court accepted lawyer Joo Youngjae's arguments and sentenced the defendant to a suspended sentence. The defendant was released immediately and regained freedom.
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