Summary
Episode 12 is comprehensive, but it manages to make the trials and tribulations over a self-defense case seem wild and entertaining.
This recap of the Netflix k-drama series Law School episode 12 contains spoilers.
The twelfth chapter of Law School is very trial-led, which is not a bad thing at all — this series works best when in the courtroom.
Law School episode 12 opens up with Lee Man-ho strangling Assemblyman Ko in the bathroom, continuing from the previous chapter — Professor Yang tells Lee Man-ho that was he is doing is not enough to kill the politician, and he asks him to try harder while taking photos of them both; Lee Man-ho kicks Professor Yang as he realizes he is recording the incident and flees — Assemblyman Ko and Professor Yang discuss Ye-seul and how his son is capable of recovering from rehab. Meanwhile, the courtroom is waiting for Professor Yang.
The trial is back in session
Episode 12 is very sensitive for sexual abuse victims; it articulates the problem survivors endure today — justice may prevail, but it doesn’t mean it is any less traumatizing, reliving all the events.
Back in the court session, Professor Yang decides not to cross-examine the witness, which confuses everyone. Instead, he shows pictures on the screen of the abuse Ye-seul suffered; they are bruises over her body. The prosecution tries to refute, but they have no evidence to suggest Yeong-chang did not abuse the defendant — the prosecution versus defense begins. However, the prosecution tries to prove that Yeong-chang took her to the hospital for her bruises and suggests that he did not do it.
The rape kit and the sex tape
And then, episode 12 turns uncomfortable…
The subject of the rape kit comes up, and the medical examiner is cross-examined — she observes a few things she saw would not have happened with consensual sex. The prosecution asks if these same things can happen during “rough sex,” and she agrees. Professor Yang then tries to prove that the sex video was not consensual, showing the CCTV how Ye-seul reacted when she first saw it — she fainted. Han Joon-hwi was there when she fainted, so that supports the evidence at the witness box.
Han Joon-hwi admits to the prosecutor that he wants to ensure his friend does not suffer injustice. However, the prosecution states he did not know for sure that what she received was a secret video. They make a dig at Professor Yang and how he can’t teach the basics to his students and that Han Joon-hwi has a close relationship with him. As they corner Professor Yang and accuse him of defending Ye-seul for different reasons, Kang Sol A’s mother says she needs the restroom, sparking a recess.
Prosecutor Jin queries Han Joon-hwi on his friendship with Ye-seul
Han Joon-hwi tells Professor Yang that they know when Ye-seul first watched the sex video and wonders if Seong-jae will testify. Back in the trial, Han Joon-hwi is questioned even more. Prosecutor Jin asks him if he’s friends with Ye-seul and nothing more and asks he has feelings for someone else in the study group. The prosecutor presses him to who it is, but we never see his answer.
Yeong-chang is brought into the court
The prosecution asks Ye-seul why she didn’t report Yeong-chang to the police as in the past she has reported someone who stalked her. Then, suddenly, Yeong-chang attends the court session while still in his hospital bed; this is definitely an emotional ploy to sway the jury. The prosecution then tells Ye-seul that it doesn’t make sense that she didn’t report sexual assault because she loved him. Ye-seul starts crying under pressure and tries to leave her seat. The judge tells her if she leaves, it may be used against her.
Yeong-chang speaks and tells the judge that he’d like to give judge what Ye-seul wants; he explains they were going to get married, she cheated on him with a smarter student, and let her professor threaten and toy with her, and that’s the reason he wanted to end things — he says it’s his own fault. He says he understands why she got angry and lashed out of her — he says he’d happily be called a rapist as long as she is happy. Yeong-chang has a seizure, but it’s later confirmed he was faking it, and he was trying to gain sympathy. After the series of events, Ye-seul tells Kim Eun-sul and Professor Yang that she doesn’t want to do this anymore.
Classroom approach
Law School episode 12 sees Professor Yang on the back foot and needing to find a different way to protect his student.
Professor Yang tells the courtroom that he can no longer defend Ye-seul and that he resigns. The judge is irritated, but he apologizes — he tells the judge that he’s stepping down because Ye-seul has the right to defend herself. Then, he looks at Ye-seul and says he is the teacher and acts like it’s the classroom — he asks for her full participation. Professor Yang asks her if secret recordings are enough to claim self-defense and why prosecutors disagree with this argument. Ye-seul begins to answer the questions and talks about the situation in the third person and other cases she had studied that Professor Yang had given to her. She claims this is an extraordinary circumstance because she was raped by the man she was engaged to and loved.
Professor Yang asks why partner rape is different from normal rape — she says if it were a stranger, she’d think of it as a terrible nightmare and shake it off. But it was her boyfriend, who was part of a future she had dreamed of. She explains if she had never responded to Yeong-chang the first time he texted her about the sex video, she would have been contacted a hundred times until she did. Meanwhile, Han Joon-hwi has secured CCTV of the incident between Ye-seul and Yeong-chang in the parking lot, which supports Ye-seul’s claims. They pass the recording to the prosecution to see for themselves.
Ye-seul’s admission
Ye-seul tells Professor Yang that he is wrong — that she wanted to kill him when he threatened to disseminate the video. She says she didn’t report it to the police because she couldn’t bear telling them what she went through, including being raped by the man she loves. Professor Yang asks Ye-seul what she would do if she were the judge. She asks the judge what they would do if they were in her position, and she’s pondered what to do since the days she was abused; she raises how she’d conclude that she acted in self-defense and lists the criminal code act. The prosecution sees the new video footage for themselves, and they look uncomfortable.
Episode 12 demonstrates how incredible Professor Yang is — he managed to get Ye-seul to defend herself, and rightfully so.
The ending
The prosecution tries explaining self-defense — in the video, they see that Ye-seul kicked Yeong-chang even though the phone was on the ground. Ye-seul admits she did, and the prosecution argued it could not be self-defense if she kicked him after he dropped his phone. Kang Sol A’s mother speaks out of turn and raises how she kicked him because she was afraid he would pick up the phone and share the video. Assemblyman Ko wants Kang Sol A’s mother kicked off the jury after making a good point.
As the episode nearly closes, Kang Sol A shows a camera showing her sister made it home safe, but Han Joon-hwi notices something. Meanwhile, Prosecutor Jin tells Ji-ho that he somehow managed to win Reporter Choi over; he questions how Ji-ho wants to clear his father’s name by making him a defendant — he tells him to stop messing with him and advises that he learns about the law.
Professor Yang learns that since the article was released about Lee Man-ho, he hasn’t stepped out of his house. When Professor Yang gets in his apartment, Lee Man-ho grabs him from behind and expresses how he gave him blood and saved his life — he’s holding an injection in his hand.
Law School episode 12 is comprehensive, but it manages to make the trials and tribulations over a self-defense case seem wild and entertaining.
Additional points
- Joon-hwi chases Lee Man-ho and shows him Professor Seo’s pen that has a hidden camera — he says Professor Yang gave it to him.
- Kang Sol A feels guilty that her mother has to be a juror on trial, especially as it involves domestic abuse — her mother has suffered from domestic abuse.
- Assemblyman Ko is annoyed because Attorney Song did not pay child support, which drew attention away from his political trial, and diverted it to his son’s. Kim Eun-suk tells the politician to keep to his promise.
- Han Joon-hwi tells Kang Sol B that he’s the smoking gun as he worked with his uncle on her dissertation.
