A box of Orion brand Choco Pie snacks (Orion)
A box of Orion brand Choco Pie snacks (Orion)

A purported larceny case surrounding unauthorized snacking has gone to an appellate court, after a local court held a hearing concerning a truck driver who is alleged to have eaten snacks valued at about 1,050 won (76 cents).

The Jeonju District Court on Thursday held the first hearing of the appellate trial for the 41-year-old defendant, a truck driver of a company in North Jeolla Province who was indicted for taking snacks out of the company's refrigerator without permission in January. He was accused of taking one Choco Pie worth 400 won and a Custard cake worth 650 won — both of which are snack products commonly sold in stores.

The defendant was found guilty of larceny in a May ruling and was ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 won.

"I can't help but wonder if this case is worth all this trouble. ... That notwithstanding, the court will decide if the case constitutes larceny," presiding Judge Kim Do-hyeong said in the trial. "The defendant's actions do not appear to be malicious in nature, but the court will review whether or not it presents issues from a legal standpoint."

The case was initially summarily indicted, which refers to prosecution asking for a summary court order on trivial cases with minor punishments, but the defendant requested an official trial, insisting on his innocence.

The defendant's lawyer in Thursday's hearing said that the refrigerator in question was in an open area and the defendant had no intention of stealing the snacks. The company said that while truck drivers were provided snacks from that same refrigerator, the drivers never directly took the food out.

The earlier ruling pointed out that refrigerator was in a rest area not accessible to drivers, and said the defendant would have known that he was not intended to have access to the food.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com