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PROSECUTORS APPEALED JAY LEE’S bribery case to the Supreme Court.
The audience stood up and the cameras flickered as the thirteen justices
took their seats on August 29. The big question? Whether or not the
appellate court had given Jay Lee a properly rigorous trial, and used an
adequate definition of the word “bribe” when it decided that Jay had given
a lesser amount in bribes than the amount that resulted in the verdict of the
first trial.
The Supreme Court justices ruled that “there was an error in the form
of a misinterpretation of the legal doctrine on illicit solicitations.” The
lower court, the justices ruled, should have considered the possibility that
three horses that were donated by Samsung—rather than one horse, as it
was originally decided in Jay’s very first trial two years earlier—were
bribes.
The Supreme Court voided the appellate court’s decision that Jay Lee
was responding “passively” to government demands and sent his case back
down for a retrial.
The verdict was a victory for the prosecutors. And Jay’s problems were
compounded. A retrial could open the way for even more charges against
him—and more prison time.
“Samsung’s Lee Faces a Retrial That Could Put Him Back in Jail,”
Bloomberg News reported.
Samsung asked the public for leniency and understanding.
“In this increasingly uncertain and difficult economic environment, we
ask for support and encouragement,” the company said in a statement, “so
we can rise above the challenges and continue to contribute to the broader
economy.”
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FIVE MONTHS AFTER DELAYING the release of the Galaxy Fold, Samsung
decided the phone was ready. Released in America on September 28,
reviews were skeptical and lackluster. The phone was heavy, expensive at
$1980—and, by Samsung’s indication, excessively fragile. Each device
came with a warning label that read: “Do not press the screen with a hard or
sharp object, such as a pen or fingernail. Do not place cards, coins, or keys