The court of final appeal is a subsequent trial on the decision of the appellate court, which is not subject to a trial in the appellate court, and therefore, it shall not be deemed as a ground of final appeal on any grounds other than those alleged by the defendant as a ground of final appeal in the appellate court or those subject to a trial ex officio.

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2007Do1604, Sept. 6, 2007). According to the records, the Defendant appealed against the judgment of the first instance and asserted only unfair sentencing as the grounds for appeal.

Therefore, the ground of appeal to the effect that there was an error of mistake of facts or misapprehension of legal principles as to mental disorder in the judgment below is not a matter of which the defendant did not assert as the ground of appeal at the court below, and is not a matter of which the court below decided ex officio.

Furthermore, even if ex officio review the judgment of the court of first instance on the above grounds, there is no error of law as alleged in the above grounds of appeal.

In addition, the lower court did not accept the allegation of the grounds for appeal on unfair sentencing and maintained the sentence imposed by the first instance court on the grounds stated in its reasoning.

The judgment below

Examining the reasoning in light of various circumstances that form the conditions for sentencing as indicated in the records, such as the Defendant’s age and behavior environment, relationship with the victim, motive, means, and consequence of the crime, the circumstances after the crime, etc., even if considering the circumstances asserted by the Defendant and the public defender, the above judgment of the lower court cannot be deemed as significantly unreasonable.

Therefore, the appeal is dismissed. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.