Nearly Fell Victim to "Devil's Editing"...False Charge of "Assaulting an Ex-Lover," Saved by Restoring the Conversation Log

Ex-lover filed a complaint by splicing together only the favorable parts of the conversation...Defended by restoring the omitted messages

A man in his 40s who had been under investigation on suspicion of assaulting his ex-lover and forcing her to write a written statement cleared his name by restoring deleted text messages. Upon checking the entire content of the conversation, it turned out to be the other party's one-sided claim.

According to the legal community on the 4th, the Seoul Seocho Police Station made a decision of non-referral on April 2 regarding Mr. A, who had been investigated on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (assault of a driver, etc.), coercion, and intimidation. A non-referral is a disposition in which the police, after completing the investigation, determine that no crime was committed and end the case without referring it to the prosecution.

Mr. A was suspected of engaging in threatening behavior toward his ex-lover while she was driving in 2023 and of coercing her into preparing a notarized deed during a dispute over money. Mr. A argued that he had rightfully demanded the return of money he had lent, and that some of the conversation content had been edited differently from the actual situation before being submitted.

The police determined that, apart from the complainant's claims, there was insufficient objective evidence to prove the assault of a driver. His statement that, while arguing during driving, he momentarily grabbed the steering wheel to prevent an accident when the other party was not looking ahead properly, was also accepted. As for the coercion charge, he also received a no-suspicion disposition, as circumstances were found in other messages that the complainant had hidden, showing that the two had normally settled money and discussed an agreement.

Attorney Lee Tae-seung of Daeryun LLC, who represented Mr. A, said, "It was a case where multiple charges were filed all at once as the conflict between the lovers deepened," adding, "Through digital forensics, we restored omitted content such as emails and text messages and proved the actual flow of the conversation." Attorney Lee continued, "By specifically presenting materials contradicting the other party's statements, we were able to clear all charges."

Reporter Hwang Jeong-won (garden@sidae.com)

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Nearly Fell Victim to "Devil's Editing"...False Charge of "Assaulting an Ex-Lover," Saved by Restoring the Conversation Log (Go to link)