Woman who mentioned suing while demanding settlement money... Court says it was not an attempted extortion, acquitted

A woman accused of attempted extortion by threatening to file criminal charges against her family if they did not pay them a settlement has been found not guilty.

According to the legal community on the 20th, the Suncheon Branch of the Gwangju District Court found Ms. A, a woman in her 40s, not guilty after being put on trial on charges of attempted extortion last January.

Mr. A has been in a long-standing conflict with Mr. B and his wife, the landlords of the building where he has been living since 2023.

During this process, Ms. A accused Ms. B's husband of trespassing, and later told Ms. B that "if you do not pay the settlement, I will additionally sue your husband on charges of sexual harassment, etc."

Accordingly, Mr. B filed a complaint, claiming that Mr. A tried to extort the settlement money under the pretext of filing a criminal complaint.

Person A denied the charges.

Ms. B's husband repeatedly entered her residence without consent, and incidents that caused her to feel actual sexual shame occurred.

At the same time, he emphasized that he only explained the criminal complaint process and had no intention of threatening or extorting the settlement money.

The court accepted Mr. A’s claim.

The court said, “Main parts of the facts that the defendant claimed constituted a sex-related crime appear to be in line with the truth, and it is quite possible that he felt sexual shame in the situation,” adding, “It is highly likely that the defendant’s words and actions were made in connection with the exercise of the right to file a complaint surrounding a sex-related crime.”

In addition, the court added, "Even if the damage suffered or the surrounding circumstances were exaggerated or emphasized during the process of discussing the criminal settlement, it is difficult to immediately evaluate this as an abuse of rights or an act of blackmail."

Attorney Lee Kang-jae of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, explained, "The crime of attempted extortion cannot be established simply by mentioning the possibility of criminal charges or suggesting an agreement," and added, "We must strictly distinguish whether there was a threat to the extent of suppressing the other party's free decision-making and whether the purpose was to obtain unfair property benefits."

#Accident #Judgment #Attempted extortion #Not guilty #Threats #Money extortion #Gwangju

Shin Min-ji (sourminjee@ikbc.co.kr)

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Woman who sued for settlement... Court says it was not attempted blackmail, not guilty (link)