I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 15
『 Translator – Divinity 』

When I opened the door and entered, a familiar face was sitting there.

It was Yoo Tae-woon, the guy who was grilled by Professor Jang Yong-hwan on the day the second evaluation was announced.

Yoo Tae-woon gave a naive smile and waved his hand.

“Oh, Mr. Park Yoo-seung? You’re taking the exam here?”

“Just speak comfortably. We’re the same age anyway.”

“Okay. You’re more approachable than you look.”

Indeed, although Park Yoo-seung’s face was quite handsome, he had a typical gangster look with a somewhat sly impression.

He didn’t have the kind of appearance that easily garnered good feelings.

“You’re lucky.”

Yoo Tae-woon shrugged and said.

“Lucky?”

“About this exam. Although finding the answer yourself is the most important, even if the other person gets the correct answer, you can ride on their coattails.”

Yoo Tae-woon continued,

“You’re good, you know. Your presentation last time was amazing.”

“Some people say presentations and studying are different things.”

“How can they be different? You can perform well because you have the skills. And I’ve seen you.”

“Seen what?”

“You come to the law library every day and study until late at night. Someone who works that hard can’t be unskilled.”

Come to think of it, every time I went to the law library, Yoo Tae-woon was always studying in a corner.

To recognize the diligence of others, you have to be diligent yourself.

‘Despite his diligence, his grades aren’t that good though.’

Yoo Tae-woon received a low-mid rank in the first evaluation.

Of course, it wasn’t my place to say anything considering I scored 139th, but anyway, he wasn’t the type to be rewarded for his efforts.

In the original story, his diligence only shone after graduation.

After working at a law firm for a year or two, he soon opened his own law office.

Perhaps his characteristic naivety and diligence earned him great trust from his clients, as Yoo Tae-woon’s office never ran out of cases.

Within a few years, his small office grew into a fairly solid law firm.

He was a character I liked, if I had to choose.

There was no reason to be hostile towards him.

Besides, he was one of the few who readily acknowledged my efforts despite Park Yoo-seung’s notoriety.

“Let’s both do our best.”

So I held out my hand to Yoo Tae-woon for a handshake, and he gladly accepted.

Tick-tock.

The clock hand moved to indicate 9:55 AM.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway, and soon Professor Jang Yong-hwan appeared, opening the door with a heavy briefcase in hand.

As if suffering from PTSD, Yoo Tae-woon flinched.

“We’ll begin at 10 o’clock sharp. Don’t open it before then.”

The professor opened his briefcase and took out two laptops, handing one to Yoo Tae-woon and me.

He then distributed an answer sheet and a law book for the exam to each of us.

‘Just one sheet?’

A real written exam required filling two and a half sheets.

Since a law exam answer sheet consisted of one sheet with four sides, it meant a total of ten sides.

Perhaps the burden of writing was reduced considering the inclusion of audiovisual materials.

“Before that, we need to decide on the roles,”

Professor Jang Yong-hwan said.

“The prosecution should argue for a heavier sentence, and the defense should argue for a lighter sentence. Do you have any preferred roles?”

I glanced at Yoo Tae-woon, but he just shook his head.

Seeing this as my chance, I spoke up.

“I’d like to take the prosecutor’s role.”

“Why?”

“Personally, I’m aiming to become a prosecutor… and more than anything,”

I grinned.

“It’s not often that you get the chance to play the role of a prosecutor without having to worry about the burden of proof.”

“…Hmm.”

In principle, the burden of proof in a criminal trial lies with the prosecution.

This is because the defendant is protected by the presumption of innocence.

The prosecutor must make every effort to present evidence and prove that this evidence is admissible and credible.

If they fail to do so, the defendant is acquitted without much effort.

However, in this exam, it was stated that no procedural issues would be asked.

It meant there would be no disputes over the value of evidence.

It was no different from removing one of the inherent disadvantages of being a prosecutor.

‘Only a fool wouldn’t take it.’

Since most of the evidence in the case record is collected by investigative agencies to prove guilt, the prosecutor inevitably has more weapons to use compared to the defense attorney.

It was a role with only returns and no risks.

Therefore, giving us the choice was a test in itself.

A test of whether we knew this fact.

“Have you studied procedural law?”

“Just a little bit, though.”

“Good. Then, Park Yoo-seung as the prosecutor and Yoo Tae-woon as the defense attorney, is that alright?”

I had the illusion that Professor Jang Yong-hwan’s lips curled up slightly.

Tick-tock.

“It’s 10 o’clock sharp. Let’s begin.”

As soon as he finished speaking, I opened the laptop.

There were only two icons on the desktop: the problem folder and the precedent search engine.

‘First, the problem.’

I opened the problem folder, and as with the example problem, audio and video files, image files, and document files containing records were lined up.

First, I needed to get a general picture of the case.

Let’s look at the records first.

[Seoul Central District Court Criminal Trial Records of the First Instance]

● Case Name

A. Attempted Theft
B. Robbery and Injury
C. Perjury
D. Solicitation of Perjury

• Prosecutor: Prosecutor Na
• Defendant: Kim Gab-dong
• Date of Indictment: 2023.4.17
• Defense Attorney: Attorney Byeon Ron-wang from Law Firm Bit

[Question. Examine the guilt of ‘Kim Gab-dong’.]

From the first page, it was in an unfamiliar format of trial records.

The names of the prosecutor, defendant, and defense attorney were, of course, all pseudonyms.

I heard that they use such names in actual written exams as well.

‘What kind of crimes did he commit, four of them?’

Anyway, I now knew the charges to examine.

I just needed to grasp the outline of the case by looking through the records, organize which evidence was related to each charge, and then check them one by one.

But…

‘The scroll bar is as small as an ant’s toenail.’

As expected of a court document, the record was incredibly long.

It was so long that the scroll bar used to move up and down was as small as a bean.

I prepared myself mentally and started reading the record.

10 minutes, 20 minutes…

The ticking of the clock hand bothered me every time I turned the page.

By the time I barely managed to finish reading through the entire record once and organize the facts, about 60 minutes had already passed.

‘…1 hour and 30 minutes left.’

Still, I had grasped the overall picture.

To summarize it simply, the content of this case was as follows:

• ‘Kim Gab-dong’ obtained information that valuables were stored in the house of his longtime friend, A. On March 12, 2023, ‘Kim Gab-dong’ entered the entrance of the apartment building where A lived and reached the front door of A’s house, but suddenly felt a stomachache, gave up on the crime, and returned.

• On his way back, ‘Kim Gab-dong’ joined his co-conspirator, ‘Lee Eul-nam’, and feeling upset about the failure, they looked for someone to vent their anger on. Then, ‘Lee Eul-nam’ witnessed ‘Kim Gab-dong’ brutally beat up a passerby, B, and steal his wallet.

• The police soon arrested ‘Kim Gab-dong’, and he was put on trial. In this trial, ‘Kim Gab-dong’ and ‘Lee Eul-nam’ falsely testified that they had never hit B or stolen his wallet. Further investigation revealed that ‘Kim Gab-dong’ had offered money to ‘Lee Eul-nam’ and asked him to give false testimony.

Let’s organize this based on the charges listed on the first page of the record.

Going to steal A’s valuables but failing constitutes attempted theft.

Beating up passerby B and stealing his wallet with Lee Eul-nam constitutes robbery and injury.

The part where he gave false testimony himself does not constitute perjury.

This is because Kim Gab-dong is the defendant in this trial, and perjury is a crime that only a witness can commit.

However, making Lee Eul-nam give false testimony can constitute solicitation of perjury.

‘Wait a minute.’

Just looking at this, I already found something strange.

‘…There’s a charge missing?’

Kim Gab-dong trespassed into the entrance of A’s apartment building with the intent to steal.

Then, the prosecutor in charge of this case should naturally have examined the possibility of ‘trespassing’.

But no matter how hard I looked, the charges listed did not include trespassing.

‘Is it an omission? Or a trap?’

Let’s keep that in mind for now.

Next was to check the evidence supporting each charge.

‘First, the materials to prove theft and trespassing are… CCTV footage and a KakaoTalk capture file.’

I clicked on the CCTV file and played it.

The first video showed in black and white Kim Gab-dong entering the entrance of A’s apartment building.

The clock on the wall showed 2:10, and Kim Gab-dong approached cautiously, then took out a wrench and smashed the entrance door.

‘…What’s with this terrible quality?’

The quality was so bad that the only things clearly identifiable were the clock and Kim Gab-dong.

Frowning, I played the next video.

This time, it showed Kim Gab-dong in front of A’s house, hesitating, then suddenly clutching his stomach and running away.

It was also in black and white.

‘So far, it matches the case record.’

Next was the KakaoTalk capture file.

[13:34] Kim Gab-dong: Let’s do a job together.
[13:35] Lee Eul-nam: What kind of job?
[13:35] Kim Gab-dong: I’m going to rob A’s house. When I bring out the goods, you take them and exchange them for cash.
[13:36] Lee Eul-nam: Ah, man, I was having a nice sleep at home. What’s the pay?
[13:36] Kim Gab-dong: 7 to 3. You get 3.
…(omitted)…

Seeing this, it was clear that he had trespassed with the intent to steal.

The question was whether it constituted attempted theft.

An attempt refers to a case where the perpetrator has begun to commit a crime but failed to complete it.

Kim Gab-dong tried to commit theft, and ultimately failed.

That part was okay.

But he didn’t even search for a jewelry box or a safe, and it was questionable whether running away because of a stomachache in front of the door could be considered the start of the execution of theft.

‘The precedent… said that at least searching for the property was necessary, right?’

For example, entering a room to find something to steal, or putting your hand on the item.

On the other hand, if you were kicked out before even looking for the item, the start of the execution itself is not recognized.

In light of this precedent, it would be impossible to say that simply loitering outside the front door constitutes the start of theft of valuables inside the house.

Therefore, he cannot be punished for attempted theft.

Since he conspired with Lee Eul-nam to commit theft, we could consider preliminary acts or conspiracy, which refer to preparatory acts for a crime.

However, theft is a crime that does not have provisions for punishing preliminary acts or conspiracy.

Ultimately, there is no way to punish Kim Gab-dong in relation to theft.

‘Okay. First, the conclusion for theft is no punishment.’

This was easier than I thought.

There were no facts that were difficult to interpret, and no unclear evidence.

Gaining momentum, I continued to examine the remaining charges and evidence.

‘Robbery and injury… there’s no doubt about it if you watch this black box footage. Whether Lee Eul-nam can also be punished as an accomplice could be an issue, but it wasn’t asked, so…’

‘Perjury is a crime that only a witness can commit. However, if the defendant gives false testimony about their own case, they are not considered a witness, so perjury does not hold.’

‘But solicitation of perjury against Lee Eul-nam is sufficiently established. It’s clear that Kim Gab-dong bribed him with money and induced him to commit perjury.’

When I finished all the examinations, sweating profusely, there were about 30 minutes left in the exam time.

‘…Wait. This is really easy?’

All that remained was to scribble down the details I had examined so far on the answer sheet and answer orally based on that.

To be honest, it was much easier than I expected.

I didn’t understand why he had made such a fuss with audiovisual materials, evidence, and records.

Since I could look up precedents, it was even easier than the usual exams.

There were no unique circumstances that didn’t match the precedents.

No ambiguous evidence that could lead to differing opinions.

Nothing.

‘It’s at a level where he could have just given us an essay question.’

Of course, in that case, it wouldn’t have been open book, so he wouldn’t have been able to include the specific part of Criminal Law, which hadn’t been taught yet, in the exam scope.

But it was hard to believe that Jang Yong-hwan went through all this trouble just for that.

Was his purpose to hide the trespassing charge?

But anyone could have found that just by looking at the law articles.

Well, some people might miss it while being pressured by the absurd amount of records and time constraints.

Still, it bothered me.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was unnatural.

‘…But I don’t have time.’

Even just copying the examination process onto the answer sheet would take 30 minutes.

There was no time to think further.

I started writing on the answer sheet.

While continuing to think about what I had missed.

“Let’s have each of you present your answers. Since Park Yoo-seung chose his role, I’ll give Yoo Tae-woon the first turn.”

Regardless, the procedure proceeded smoothly.

“Yes, I’ll present my answer. First of all, in my opinion…”

Yoo Tae-woon showed decent reading comprehension skills.

He also correctly examined robbery and injury, perjury, and solicitation of perjury.

And like me, he even found that the trespassing charge was missing.

“…Therefore, it would be sufficient to punish him only for the combined crimes of trespassing, robbery and injury, and solicitation of perjury.”

The same conclusion.

But hearing it from someone else made it even more unsettling.

I definitely missed something.

And if there was something I missed, it wasn’t in the legal principles or precedents, but in the evidence.

The part Jang Yong-hwan put the most effort into preparing.

I went over all the submitted evidence again.

The low-resolution black and white CCTV footage.

The KakaoTalk capture file.

The black box footage of the robbery scene, taken from a slightly off angle.

The medical certificate submitted by passerby B, stating an injury requiring three weeks of treatment.

The video recording of the testimonies of passerby B and witness C.

The investigation records, including Kim Gab-dong and Lee Eul-nam’s personal information and other relevant details.

As I closed my eyes and pondered, a sudden realization struck me like lightning.

‘…！ Is this it?!’

I understood.

What I had missed.

What the correct answer was.

And at that moment, I gritted my teeth at Jang Yong-hwan.

‘You cunning fellow. To think you’d pull such an absurd prank.’

“…Prosecution. Do you agree with the defense’s argument?”

“I disagree.”

I declared, looking directly into the professor’s eyes.

“The defendant’s charges are…”