At this trial, only one out of the three witnesses appeared in court and spoke against the defendant. Mr. Song appeared in court while Mr. Kim was only available via phone call because of community service duties. Mr. Bae, the third witness, could not be reached.
Mr. Song was called to the stand and asked, "On August of 2012, around autumn or winter, did you purchase methamphetamine for 500,000 KRW (~$453 USD)?" and "Did Kwon Ki Beom also use ecstasy?" To both questions, Mr. Song answered "Yes," and commented that although the purchasing dates weren't exact, the places where he purchased, such as hotel, karaoke, a particular department store, and in front of the bank, were relatively detailed and the information was correct.
The prosecutor also asked, "Were there times that the witness purchased ecstasy from Kwon Ki Beom besides the times I've asked about?" and, " There are several witnesses who claim to have injected or purchased methamphetamine, but only the defendant is denying it. Is that true?" Mr.Song answered yes to both questions.
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In addition, the defendant's lawyer asked Mr.Song, "When and why did you come in contact with Kwon Ki Beom?" to which the witness answered, "I'm not sure of the exact date but it was around 2011, 2012."
The defendant's lawyer continued his questioning and asked, "Do you remember exactly what happened when you were buying?"
The witness replied, "I would call Kwon Ki Beom and ask him to come out. I would buy it when we would meet. I think he brought out the the drugs right then." At first, Mr. Song stated that he wasn't sure if it was 0.5g of 1g. However, he then confirmed that he believed it was 1g and bought it for 500,000 KRW ($453 USD) in cash.
Throughout the questioning, the witness seemed confused and was having trouble remembering the specifics of the incident. Mr. Song kept confusing the names of the drugs, the date, and even the amount of drugs he had purchased. But when the attorney kept asking for specifics, Mr. Song revealed, "I don't remember cause it happened so long ago."
Then when the witness was showing signs of confusion, the prosecutor asked, "Are you getting confused because you purchased methamphetamine and ecstasy multiple times from the defendant?" The witness replied, "yes."
The judge then asked again to confirm the exact date that the witness had purchased the drugs from Kwon Ki Beom, to which the witness replied, "I met with Kwon Ki Beom daily and purchased multiple times that I don't remember the exact dates or the place. It is true that I did purchase frequently during that time."
The defense lawyer stated, "Because you say vaguely around autumn and around winter, I want to know the specific dates. And because the defendant is a celebrity and has a schedule, if you can provide a specific date there is a possibility that the defendant might have had a performance in the countryside and provide an alibi. We're not sure how they will respond, but we are planning to have a person from the agency act as witness after checking the defendant's schedule."
The next trial is to be held on January 5, 2015 at 4PM KST.
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