“They invaded my home” when I went to pack my bags during divorce proceedings... Woman in her 50s not indicted

Charges of trying to secretly take lawsuit-related documents... “I was trying to take clothes and albums.”
“It is difficult to say that the right to housing is jointly owned with the victim.”

A woman in her 50s who was accused of sneaking into the house to take evidence during divorce proceedings was cleared of the charges.

The Daegu District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict A, a woman in her 50s, who was sent on charges of home invasion last January.

Ms. A left home after filing a divorce suit against her husband in March 2025. Afterwards, Mr. A entered the front door code to collect his remaining luggage, but in the process, he and his daughter, Mr. B, got into a physical fight. Accordingly, the husband and Mr. B filed a complaint, claiming that Mr. A broke into the residence without permission to secretly steal information beneficial to the lawsuit.

Mr. A denied the charges. Ms. A countered that she had to go because Ms. B and her husband told her to come directly to her and take her luggage, and emphasized, “I went into the study to pick up an album, and I didn’t even have divorce-related documents in mind.”

The prosecution accepted suspect A’s claim. It is difficult to say that there are special circumstances under which the suspect has lost his right to housing. The prosecution said, “The residence in question was jointly owned by the suspect and the victim, and the period of separation was only about two weeks,” and “Considering that the suspect entered without any physical force because the front door password was not changed during the process of coming and going from the house, there is insufficient evidence to acknowledge the loss of housing rights.”

Attorney Kwon Min-kyung of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “In light of the Supreme Court precedent, the mere subjective circumstance that entering a residence is against the will of the resident cannot be considered as trespassing. Even if the victim had an emotional aversion to the suspect, this is only a subjective circumstance of the victim.”

He added, “When comprehensively considering the client’s objective behavior, such as the circumstances, purpose, and method of entering, we were able to defend ourselves by actively demonstrating that it could not be considered an intrusion that actually harmed the peace of the residence.”

[Law Leader Reporter Son Jeong-heon twson@lawleader.co.kr]

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“They invaded my home” when I went to pack my bags during divorce proceedings... Woman in her 50s not indicted (link)