Fines have been finalized against an apartment resident who sent a parked car into an upper level of a mechanical parking tower without checking whether anyone was inside, causing the passenger to fall to his death, and against the building's facility manager, who failed to properly supervise the parking facility.
The Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Kwon Young-joon, upheld a lower court ruling that fined A, the facility manager of an officetel — a studio unit used as either a home or an office — 10 million won for professional negligence resulting in death, according to legal sources on the 7th. B, a resident of the building who was tried alongside the manager, was fined 5 million won.
The victim, identified as C, had fallen asleep drunk in the back seat of a car in January 2023 after a designated driver parked the vehicle on the car elevator of a mechanical parking facility at an officetel in Busanjin District, Busan, and got out. B later spotted the car after finishing charging an electric vehicle. After looking inside the car, B mistakenly concluded that no one was in it, failing to see the victim in the back seat because the windows were tinted. B went to the security office, notified security guard D and then sent the car to a pallet at a height equivalent to about the 15th floor. D, who was writing a security log at the time, allowed the car to be moved without checking the site or taking other measures.
When C woke up, he opened the door and stepped out without realizing the car had been moved to an upper level of the parking tower, falling to the ground. He died while receiving treatment. A, B and D were indicted on charges of failing to fulfill their duty of care.
The first trial court sentenced facility manager A and security guard D each to 10 months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence, and fined resident B 10 million won. The court found that A had neglected duties to have the security guard complete training as a mechanical parking facility operator and to supervise the guard in closely monitoring the operation and safety of the parking facility through closed-circuit television during night shifts. The court also found that parking management fell within the security guard's duties, given that D had routinely handled cars parked in an abnormal manner. D did not appeal and his sentence of 10 months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence was finalized.
Facility manager A and resident B appealed the first ruling. The appellate court upheld their convictions but reduced the penalties. Citing considerations including that "the degree of the defendants' breach of their duty of care does not appear to be serious" and that "the victim also appears to bear considerable responsibility for the accident," the court fined A 10 million won and B 5 million won.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's judgment. The court said there was "no error of exceeding the limits of the principle of free evaluation of evidence by violating the rules of logic and experience, or of misapprehending the principle against adjudicating beyond the indictment or the legal principles on the establishment of professional negligence resulting in death."
