The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to Suwon District Court.

The grounds of appeal are examined.

1. The Criminal Procedure Act adopts the principle of substantial direct trial as one of the elements of the principle of public trial-oriented trial that the formation of a conviction conviction against the substance of a criminal case ought to be based on a trial in the court.

This is because the judge can form accurate convictions on the case by directly investigating original evidence in court and give the defendant an opportunity to directly state his/her opinion on original evidence, thereby finding substantial truth and realizing fair trial.

The court shall ensure that the above substantial principle of direct cross-examination is fully realized in the court of first instance, which is the principle procedure in which the parties’ allegations and evidence are examined, focusing on the court in the process of criminal proceedings and the trial process.

When determining the credibility of the testimony after the first instance court conducted the witness examination procedure, it is necessary to assess the credibility of the testimony considering all the circumstances that make it difficult to record in the witness examination protocol, including the appearance and attitude of the witness, and the penology of the statement, and the penology of the statement, as well as whether it conforms to the rationality, logic, and empirical rule of the content itself or other evidence.

On the other hand, in principle, the appellate court's judgment on the credibility of the statement made by the witness at the court of first instance is based on the records including the witness examination protocol, so it is difficult to reflect the appearance and attitude of the witness at the time of making a statement that can be considered one of the most important elements when determining the credibility of the statement in the evaluation.

Considering these circumstances, the first instance judgment on the credibility of the statement made by a witness of the first instance court is clear in light of the content of the first instance judgment and the evidence examination conducted by the first instance court.