The defendant's appeal is dismissed.

1. Summary of grounds for appeal;

A. The defendant is not guilty of committing a crime against the victim F.

B. The sentence of the lower court’s improper sentencing (an amount of KRW 3 million) is too unreasonable.

2. Determination

A. 1) In determining the credibility of a statement following the examination procedure conducted by the first instance court of the relevant legal doctrine, the credibility of the statement should be assessed by taking into account all the circumstances that are difficult to record in the witness examination protocol, including the appearance and attitude of a witness, and the penology of a witness who is going to make a statement in an open court after being sworn before a judge, as well as whether the content of the statement itself conforms to the rationality, logic, inconsistency, or rule of experience, or conforms to evidence or a third party’s statement.

On the other hand, the appellate court's determination of credibility of the statement made by the witness in the first instance court under the current Criminal Procedure Act is based on the records including the witness examination protocol in principle. Thus, in determining credibility of the statement, there is an essential limitation that the appearance and attitude of the witness at the time of the statement that can be called one of the most important elements in determining credibility of the statement can not be reflected in the evaluation of credibility.

Considering the difference between the methods of evaluating credibility between the first instance court and the appellate court, the first instance court’s judgment on the credibility of the statement made by the witness of the first instance court was clearly erroneous in light of the contents of the first instance judgment and the evidence duly examined by the first instance court.

Except in exceptional cases where it is deemed significantly unfair to maintain the first instance judgment on the credibility of the statement made by the witness of the first instance court, in full view of the results of the first instance examination and the results of the further examination of evidence conducted until the closing of the appellate trial proceedings, the appellate court may determine the credibility of the statement made by the witness of the first instance court.