Quasi-rape alleged after an alcohol blackout

Quasi-rape

Quasi-rape is the crime of having sexual intercourse with a person by taking advantage of their state of unconsciousness or inability to resist, and is punished the same as rape. It commonly applies when a person has intercourse with someone who is heavily intoxicated or so drugged that they are not in their right mind.

In sexual crimes, the victim's statement is often the only evidence. In the past, courts frequently rejected the evidentiary weight of the victim's statement and acquitted the defendant when the victim's behavior before and after the crime did not seem like typical victim behavior.

However, as social awareness of the need for stronger punishment of sexual crimes has spread, courts have introduced the concept of 'gender sensitivity' and have increasingly recognized the evidentiary value of victims' statements compared to the past.

In other words, even if the victim did not behave like a typical victim before and after the crime, courts now recognize the evidentiary value of the victim's statement and use it as evidence of guilt, as long as the main parts of the statement are consistent, there are no parts that are unreasonable in light of common sense or self-contradictory, and there is no clear motive or reason for the victim to make a false statement against the defendant.

Despite this situation unfavorable to quasi-rape defendants, attorney Joo Youngjae recently achieved an acquittal in such a case, which we will introduce.

Facts of the case

The defendant (the client) ran a Japanese restaurant by himself without hiring any staff. One evening in April 2019, his friend (A, male) came to the restaurant with his girlfriend (B, female) and B's friend (the victim, female).

The defendant was making snacks in the kitchen at the back of the rectangular table, drinking occasionally with the group, and after closing, he joined the drinking party in earnest. At that time, there were no other customers besides the group.

While drinking, the defendant, despite meeting the victim for the first time, had a lot of conversation with her since they were the same age, and felt a romantic interest. The drinking continued past midnight. After a while, A and B left first, and the defendant and the victim continued drinking alone for a bit, and as they got along well, they had sexual intercourse at the scene.

Not long after the intercourse, the victim used a designated driver that the defendant had called and went home, and the defendant also locked up the store and went home.

Late that afternoon, the defendant called the victim to ask if she had gotten home safely in the early morning and asked her thoughts about the early morning sexual encounter. The victim then said she remembered nothing about what happened at dawn and asked the defendant to confirm whether they had indeed had intercourse. About a week later, she reported the defendant for quasi-rape.

Attorney Joo Youngjae's response

Because the only evidence of guilt in this case was the victim's statement that she had no memory of the sexual intercourse, attorney Joo Youngjae, as soon as he took the case, focused on securing evidence to undermine the evidentiary value of the victim's statement.

Specifically, to prove that the victim was not heavily intoxicated and was conscious at the time of the intercourse, attorney Joo Youngjae requested witness examinations of A, B, and the designated driver who were present at the drinking party, and also requested examination of CCTV footage showing the victim walking with the defendant hand in hand, following the designated driver.

Through meticulous preparation, attorney Joo Youngjae ultimately obtained statements from A, B, and the designated driver during witness examination that the victim did not appear heavily intoxicated before or after the incident.

Court's decision

Based on the above evidence, the first instance court ruled that it was difficult to conclude that the victim was in a state of inability to resist at the time of the incident, and even if she was, it was difficult to conclude that the defendant had the intent to take advantage of her inability to resist, and acquitted the defendant.

The prosecutor immediately appealed, arguing that the first instance court's factual findings were erroneous, but the appellate court also accepted attorney Joo Youngjae's arguments and dismissed the prosecutor's appeal. As the prosecutor waived further appeal, the judgment became final.