Nevertheless, the court below rejected the credibility of the victim E’s statement without any reasonable ground and found the Defendant not guilty of the facts charged of this case, thereby misunderstanding the facts and adversely affecting the conclusion of the judgment.

Judgment

Considering the difference between the original court and the appellate court based on the spirit of the principle of substantial direct examination adopted by the Korean Criminal Procedure Act as an element of the trial-oriented principle, the lower court’s determination on the credibility of the statement made by the witness in the original instance is clearly erroneous in light of the content of the lower judgment and the evidence duly examined in the lower court, or there are exceptional circumstances where maintaining the lower court’s determination on the credibility of the statement made by the witness in the original instance based on the results of the examination of evidence and the results of additional evidence examination conducted by the time of closing argument in the appellate trial, the appellate court should not reverse without permission on the ground that the lower court’s determination on the credibility of the statement made by the witness in the original instance differs from the appellate court’s determination (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decisions 2011Do5313, Jun. 14, 2012; 2008Do4499, Jul. 29, 2010; 2004Do496, Nov. 24, 2006).