【Episode 39 – What If the Case from *Extraordinary Attorney Woo* Had Happened in America (3)】
“Now then, picking up where we left off last time, shall we talk about events that break the chain of causation?”
Vanderbilt Hall,
Room 201. Criminal Law class.
Only after Professor Lindberg began the lecture did Sein enter.
She bowed her head to the professor, then looked around the classroom.
I gestured to her as she stood there panting, apparently having run, and she quickly came and sat in the seat next to me.
“Whew—”
“What’s going on? You, of all people, are late?”
“I went to bed at four in the morning yesterday.”
“Why?”
“The church pastor asked me to do something, so I was up doing that.”
“What was it?”
“Well, he asked if I could write a piece on law and faith for some local church bulletin.”
“Ah.”
“And because I was looking over the police reports and evidence you sent me about Ms. Go Jaesuk.”
“Did you read them?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you think?”
Sein couldn’t answer my question.
Professor Lindberg was looking in our direction.
We had been talking quietly, but it seemed Sein’s late entrance had caught her attention.
“We call events that break the chain of causation like this novus actus interveniens. The student who just came in—Sein, correct? Can you tell me what novus actus interveniens means?”
Professor Lindberg had remembered her name well.
But Sein had never imagined that the professor would remember the name of a student who never spoke up in class and was always quiet. Slightly flustered, she quickly wrote in her notebook where I could see.
「It’s a new intervening event, right?」
I nodded so that only she could notice, and she answered in a small but clear voice, “A new intervening event.”
“Then can you explain how it is distinguished from a contributing cause or multiple causes?”
“Contributing causes and multiple causes are dependent relationships—that is, causes that influence the process of harm occurring from an incident—but novus actus interveniens is an independent new act that severs the causal relationship between the existing incident and the harm, replacing it with a new causal relationship.”
At Sein’s precise answer, Professor Lindberg finally turned her attention away from the tardy student and continued the lecture.
“That’s correct. As Sein said, novus actus interveniens refers to an ‘independent new act’ that replaces the existing causal relationship. However, the ‘independent new act’ in law differs from the everyday concept. So, shall we examine the landmark case of *R v Blaue* on this issue...”
***
Wednesday lunchtime,
After Criminal Law, Sein and I headed to a café near school where Dongwook and Michael were waiting.
“Sein! Heon! Over here.”
We sat at the seats Dongwook and Michael had saved, ordered lunch—sandwiches, drinks, and so on—then immediately began a meeting regarding Ms. Go Jaesuk’s case.
“You read the files I sent?”
“I did. I listened to the interview recordings too.”
“I listened too.”
“How was it? What do you think?”
“I think there’s definitely something unfair here.”
“Right?”
The facts closely mirrored the case from *Extraordinary Attorney Woo*.
A husband plagued by pathological jealousy.
A husband who inflicted no physical assault, but whose verbal violence was severe.
A wife who had suffered for decades because of him.
On the day of the incident, he had subjected her to harsh verbal abuse over something trivial, and an accident occurred while he was grabbing his wife as she tried to get away.
Although it was true that Ms. Go Jaesuk had swung with the intent to strike, testimonies conflicted as to whether she had intended to kill.
“I think there was a problem with the interpretation process.”
“I felt the same way.”
“Me too.”
“The interpreter didn’t sound all that fluent in Korean. But why did she use an interpreter?”
“She must have been flustered. When the officer asked if she spoke English, I think she said she couldn’t. So the officer probably scrambled to find an interpreter. She doesn’t actually seem that fluent. I think she only knows enough conversational English to run a dry cleaner’s.”
“Ah, but you know, when I listened to the audio file, I could tell what Ms. Go Jaesuk meant because I’m Korean, but when I looked at the transcript, the feeling was completely different.”
“Exactly.”
If this had been Korea, there would have been no need to explain that her words had not expressed true intent to kill; but because this was America, with a different language and culture, this had happened.
Of course, it was true that Ms. Go Jaesuk had struck him in the face with an iron and that he had shown symptoms of a concussion because of it, but the first problem that needed solving was proving that she had had no intent to kill.
“Did you read about the case I sent you too?”
“The case of Ms. Song Jongsun? Yeah, I read it. I think I saw this on TV a long time ago.”
“Me too.”
“What the heck, you guys. Why am I always the only one who doesn’t know?”
The case of Ms. Song Jongsun.
In 1987, this was what happened to an unfortunate Korean-American woman living in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
In 1980, Ms. Song Jongsun married a US serviceman and immigrated to America.
After arriving in the US, she divorced the serviceman, met her second husband, and had two children, a daughter and a son; but unfortunately, her second marriage did not last either, and she found herself having to raise the two children alone.
She and her children moved from motel to motel, eking out a difficult living as employees, but on the day of the incident, after dinner, she put her three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter to bed as usual and went out, and when she returned at dawn, she found her son dead.
Her son, having woken from sleep, had apparently climbed onto the dresser that the TV was on and played around, then gotten trapped inside the dresser and suffocated.
Ms. Song Jongsun immediately reported it to the police. Naturally, she believed it would be treated as an accident.
However, the police took the screams of the stunned Ms. Song Jongsun at the scene—“I did it. I killed my son. My fault!”—as a confession, indicted her for second-degree murder, and eventually the North Carolina court, citing the police evidence, sentenced her to twenty years in prison.
She appealed, claiming innocence, but the three-judge panel unanimously dismissed the appeal.
Because appeals are accepted only under extremely limited circumstances in the United States, the case was practically finalized.
“You managed to get the court opinion for this case.”
“Thankfully, it was in the LexisNexis database.”
It wasn’t that difficult to obtain. The problem was that the opinion wasn’t written in much detail, so there wasn’t anything helpful.
On the contrary, articles and case summaries obtained through Google searches were a bit more useful.
“But will this help? The issue seems similar, but the opinion doesn’t say what was wrong with it or anything.”
“I think this case will help.”
“Really?”
The ending of the above case could at least be called a happy one.
In June 1990, through the efforts of a Korean-American attorney who learned of the case through an American, Ms. Song Jongsun received a pardon in 1992 and was released.
“How?”
“We should do it like this case.”
“Like this case?”
The background of Ms. Song Jongsun’s release lay in the strength of the Korean community.
“To start, how about obtaining affidavits from Korean language department professors at universities in the US?”
“Affidavits?”
“Affidavits proving that Ms. Go Jaesuk’s statements were not a confession of intent to kill, but simply an expression of frustration, and that such expressions are common in Korean culture. And, through the community—ah, Sein, your church! Could you raise awareness about this case at your church? First, Ms. Go Jaesuk might have a church she attends, so I’ll look into that. Anyway, the more people know, the better.”
At the time, Attorney Seo Seunghae, who had taken on Ms. Song Jongsun’s defense, formed a “Release Task Force Committee” and, through that committee, delivered a petition signed by 1,300 Korean-Americans to the governor of North Carolina.
It was the result of the Korean community’s efforts.
“The causation issue remains, but at least Ms. Go Jaesuk’s statements won’t be recognized as a confession.”
If that happened, the second-degree murder charge could be reduced to manslaughter. The causation issue could be tackled next.
“And regarding the causation issue, I think we can argue novus actus interveniens—as an independent superseding cause.”
What If the Case from *Extraordinary Attorney Woo* Had Happened in America (4)
They say Attorney Johnny Cochran once said,
「Money will determine whether the accused goes to prison or walks out of the courtroom a free man.」
Who is Attorney Johnny Cochran?
He is the famous lawyer who represented O. J. Simpson.
In June 1994, his wife and her lover were found stabbed to death.
A few days later, Simpson was named the prime suspect.
Arrested after a car chase of approximately two hours.
Countless pieces of evidence were found in his car and home: socks and shoes stained with his own blood and the blood of his dead wife.
The verdict? Not guilty.>
「Money determines guilt or innocence.」
At first glance, it sounds like something a corrupt lawyer (or a fugitive on the verge of death) would say—that money can buy a trial—but that is not the case.
In that statement, “money” means “cost.” (Ah, though the fugitive probably meant it that way.)
Trials are expensive.
That is why systems like the plea bargain exist. To save the time and effort that go into a trial.
「To Professor McCann of Harvard Korean Studies,
Hello. My name is Jeheon, a first-year student at NYU School of Law. The reason I am emailing you is an unjust case currently pending in the New York State courts.
Ms. Go Jaesuk, who runs a dry cleaner’s in Flushing, New York,...」
「Hello, Professor.
It’s me, Sein. How have you been?
The thing is, Professor, could I ask you for an affidavit? ...」
「Senior, it’s me, Dongwook.
I hope you’ve been well. I wasn’t able to grab a drink with you before I came.
The thing is, I contacted you because I have a favor to ask. I’m currently helping with a criminal case involving a Korean-American...」
「Respected Hyung,
I need your help.
There is an unjust case that my classmates and I have taken on...
I appeal to your benevolence. Please reach out to Professor Wagner on our behalf.
Your younger brother who always respects you, Michael.
PS—Hyung, you’re close with Professor Wagner. I don’t even know his name. Just send one email for me. I’ll take care of the rest. Okay?」