You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 19

“…….”

“If you don’t attend, next…….”

Creak-

At that moment, the door at the back of the gallery opened.

All eyes turned.

Kim Yeon-jun, who had introduced her as a relative who favored him, and Kim Hyung-jun, her ‘favorite’ grandson, both turned around.

A small figure appeared through the open doorway.

It was my maternal grandmother, her white hair neatly combed back and dressed in a suit.

“Who are you?”

As the judge adjusted his glasses and asked, she reached the witness stand and began to speak.

“I am the witness, Choi Hyun-sook. I’m sorry. I’m late.”

“Very well.”

With Judge Ko Il-guk’s permission, my maternal grandmother turned her gaze to me.

Her face seemed to hold a hint of resentment.

But only for a moment, as the court officer presented her with the oath.

“I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, without any concealment or addition, according to my conscience, and that I will be subject to the penalty of perjury if I lie.”

Having taken the oath, my maternal grandmother was visibly shaken.

She had no intention of testifying at all, but suddenly changed her mind.

After trying to avoid the situation by talking about ‘neutrality,’ she came out to face it properly.

My phone call with her last night had done its job.

<11 Hours Before Trial, PM 11:00>

“Madam, hello. This is Attorney Cha Joo-han. I apologize for the late hour. Is it a good time to talk?”

-What is it? Do you have more questions for me?

“I’m sorry, but yes.”

-Go ahead.

“I’ve been thinking deeply about what you said after our meeting last time—about how you love both your grandsons equally.”

-What’s wrong with that?

“No, there’s nothing wrong with that. But one question arose.”

-Tell me.

“When you covered up a fact that was unfavorable to Kim Hyung-jun, and Kim Yeon-jun, who had done nothing wrong, suffered great harm, wouldn’t that mean you love Kim Hyung-jun more…? That’s what I thought.”

-I told you, it’s because I don’t want to take sides. If I go out and testify, it’s the same as taking Yeon-jun’s side.

“Is covering up a wrongdoing really loving them sincerely?”

-…….

“And if you don’t testify, Kim Yeon-jun will be blamed for Kim Hyung-jun’s crime. Isn’t that taking Kim Hyung-jun’s side?”

-…….

“There will be a trial at 10 a.m. tomorrow in courtroom 309 of the Seoul District Court’s main building. Please think carefully and attend.”

The phone call I made to her last night was a kind of bet.

Either she would develop an even greater antipathy towards me, or she would realize her own ‘favoritism’ that she hadn’t even been aware of.

If it were the former, she would never have come to the trial as a counterproductive measure.

But fortunately, the result of the bet was the latter.

“Hoo…….”

My maternal grandmother grabbed the podium with trembling hands.

She, who had always been so relaxed and dignified, looked very tired.

She must have spent the night agonizing over countless worries before coming to this place.

“Witness, did Kim Hyung-jun ever come to you for business reasons?”

“Objection, Your Honor! The attorney is misleading the issues of this case with questions irrelevant to the matter at hand.”

“I am trying to confirm the possibility that Kim Hyung-jun’s testimony is perjury [lying under oath].”

“Overruled. Witness, answer.”

At the judge’s firm words, Prosecutor Yang sighed and hung his head.

“Yes, he did.”

“What did he come to you for?”

“He asked me to lend him money needed for his business.”

“I see. But Kim Hyung-jun was already receiving continuous support from his parents. To the point where the defendant was worried that none of his share would be left, the couple even tried to sell their house to support Kim Hyung-jun, didn’t they?”

“……That’s not true. My daughter and her husband sold some of their real estate to help Hyung-jun. And they made it clear that they couldn’t support him anymore. They even told Hyung-jun to think of it as giving him his inheritance in advance.”

Because Kim Yeon-jun didn’t know the motive for Kim Hyung-jun’s crime at all, it was the first time I’d heard this story.

She knew the origins of the tragedy that had befallen Kim Yeon-jun’s family more thoroughly than I had thought.

“I see. So Kim Hyung-jun, who could no longer get money from the couple, came to see you?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, the defendant would have had no reason to think that the victims would give all their assets to Kim Hyung-jun and leave none for himself, would he?”

“……No.”

“But why do you think the couple, who had made it clear that they could no longer support him, tried to support Kim Hyung-jun’s business even by putting their Dogok-dong [a wealthy district in Seoul] house on the market?”

At my words, my maternal grandmother trembled greatly.

Her wrinkled Adam’s apple bobbed once.

She knew the answer. From the time the incident occurred.

“Witness.”

“…….”

“Witness. Answer.”

The judge urged.

“……One day, my daughter, our Hee-sook, came to me.”

She moistened her eyes as if recalling the image of her dead daughter.

“Hyung-jun, in his and Kim’s name… said she found out he had taken out a lot of life insurance…….”

Kim Hyung-jun had taken out life insurance?

That was a fact I didn’t even know.

The audience stirred, and Prosecutor Yang also widened his eyes in surprise.

“So Hee-sook said that Hyung-jun seemed to be in so much need of money that he was even thinking about such things……. She consulted me on whether or not she should support him.”

“I see. So what did you say?”

“I told her not to give him too much. I said I had lent him money, and that he had done enough.”

“But in the end, the couple put their Dogok-dong house on the market. I’ll ask again. What do you think was the reason?”

“That’s, that’s……. sob, sob.”

My maternal grandmother, who had been swallowing her tears, finally collapsed to the floor and began to sob.

The small, low weeping filled the courtroom.

Even though I expected it to be because of Kim Hyung-jun’s threats and violence, she couldn’t say it.

It was my maternal grandmother’s last stubbornness and affection, that she couldn’t reveal her own grandson’s faults.

I decided not to press her testimony any further.

As I took a step back, the judge said sternly.

“It seems that the witness is having a hard time testifying any further. You may stop testifying.”

The officer helped her step down from the witness stand.

Suspicion towards Kim Hyung-jun was growing rapidly in this courtroom.

Prosecutor Yang, the judge, and even Kim Hyung-jun and Kim Yeon-jun seemed shocked by my maternal grandmother’s remarks.

Of course, Kim Hyung-jun was shocked by the fact that Yeo Hee-sook knew and that his maternal grandmother had given testimony unfavorable to him.

Prosecutor Yang also didn’t seem to know that Kim Hyung-jun had taken out a lot of life insurance in the couple’s name.

Since they had targeted Kim Yeon-jun and investigated, they must have only checked whether Kim Yeon-jun had taken out insurance.

It was the result of a heartless criminal and the prosecution’s sloppy investigation that had been deceived by him.

“Both sides, come forward.”

Prosecutor Yang and I stood up and approached the judge’s seat.

“Attorney, are you suggesting Kim Hyung-jun is the suspect and arguing for the defendant’s innocence?”

“That’s right.”

“Your Honor, there’s not enough evidence to do that,”

As Prosecutor Yang tried to say something, Judge Ko Il-guk raised a hand to stop him.

“Prosecutor, Kim Hyung-jun has a strong motive for the crime. Also, Kim Hyung-jun was at the scene at the time of the incident. He just wasn’t holding the baseball bat, but other than the fingerprints, he has the same conditions as Kim Yeon-jun. Rather, circumstantially, Kim Hyung-jun is more suspicious.”

“That’s true, but we can’t rule out the fingerprints.”

“Based on the principle of free evaluation of evidence, I don’t think I can make a ruling on the defendant right now. More investigation is needed. Let’s schedule the second trial date.”

At Judge Ko Il-guk’s words, Prosecutor Yang sighed deeply.

It was like dropping a fly in a perfectly cooked meal.

“Do both sides agree?”

“I agree.”

“I,”

Beep, beep, beep-

At that moment, my cell phone rang.

Judge Ko Il-guk sighed and waved his hand.

It meant to just answer it.

“We will recess for a while and resume at 12 o’clock.”

With Judge Ko Il-guk’s words, the tension that had been lingering in the courtroom was temporarily relieved.

I put the phone to my ear and went outside.

Even if he had told me not to answer, I would have run out of the courtroom.

Because it was the call I had been waiting for throughout the trial.

* * *

The recess time was over.

Everyone returned to their seats, and a solemn atmosphere continued.

“Of the witnesses requested by the prosecution and the defendant, the witnesses who did not testify… Based on the written content, I have determined that they do not have a significant impact on the current trial. Do either side have any witnesses that need to be questioned?”

The manager, who was the prosecution’s witness, and the psychiatrist, who was my witness.

The manager was probably called to testify that Yeo Hee-sook had been suffering greatly from the abuse.

I also called the psychiatrist for the same purpose.

Neither of them were witnesses who could turn the situation around.

“The prosecution does not.”

“The defendant does not either.”

“Then, shall we discuss the date for the second trial?”

“Your Honor.”

I stood up from my seat.

“I would like to submit additional evidence.”

A small USB was in my hand.