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If I reach a settlement with the victim, will I receive a verdict of not guilty?

I am the victim, having suffered assault and bodily injury. In my case, the offender is brazenly taking the position that everything will be fine as long as he settles with me. He is pressing me to settle by mentioning a large settlement amount, and he is boasting that the matter will surely end at the prosecution stage. If I simply settle with him, will a verdict of not guilty really be handed down? Will he avoid prison? Considering the medical costs, I need the settlement money, but when I think of that person, who received money, acting arrogantly and treating me as if I were the criminal, I do not want to settle, and it troubles me.

criminal case

criminal

settlement

crime not punishable against the victim's will

crime requiring a complaint to prosecute

Answer to Related Inquiry

Author: 박동일

It appears that you have suffered harm from assault or bodily injury and are weighing whether to reach a settlement over the harm.

If a crime is committed that cannot be prosecuted against the victim's expressed will, such as a crime not punishable against the victim's will, then where a settlement is reached with the victim and the victim's wish not to punish is obtained, prosecution cannot be brought.

Representative crimes not punishable against the victim's will include assault, intimidation, insult, defamation, intrusion upon habitation, and destruction of property and the like exist.

However, unless such an exception applies, even if you reach an amicable settlement with the victim and obtain a wish not to punish, there is a high likelihood that a guilty verdict will be rendered.

In particular, the crime of inflicting bodily injury is not a crime not punishable against the victim's will, so even if a written statement of no wish to punish is obtained through a settlement, the offender is punished according to the degree of the act.

However, where substantial recovery of the harm, the offender's use of the criminal deposit system is shown, along with a sincere display of reflection, the offender's punishment may be mitigated.

Through a consultation with a criminal law attorney, you may from the victim's position demand strict punishment through representation in filing a complaint, so we recommend that you first receive a consultation on the matter and then prepare a solution that allows the offender to be punished even after you receive the settlement money.