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 Lawyers for the 15, who face charges ranging from homicide to
negligence, said that once coastguard rescuers had reached the
sharply listing vessel, the crew's job was over.
"The crew share the belief that they thought the coastguard should
be fully capable of the rescue because there was a distress call and
they arrived and they were the ones with professional skills and
equipment," lawyer Im Ju-young told the court on the second day of
the trial in Gwangju, the closest city to the scene of the disaster.
The Sewol, overloaded and travelling too fast, sank off the
southwest coast on April 16 on a routine journey from Incheon on the
mainland to the southern holiday island of Jeju.
Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and
teachers from the same school on the outskirts of Seoul. Only 172
people were rescued and the remainder are all presumed to have
drowned.
Crew members, including the captain, were caught on video abandoning
ship while the children stayed in their cabins as told, wearing life
jackets and awaiting further orders.
 Im represents three crew members, including one charged with
homicide. The court granted a defence request to call coastguard
officials who first reached the sinking Sewol as witnesses.
The court also plans to call some of the surviving students from the
Danwon High School to hear testimony after they finish their term
exams, presiding Judge Lim Young-youb said.
Captain Lee Joon-seok, 68, and three senior crew are charged with
homicide, facing a maximum sentence of death. Two crew are charged
with fleeing and abandoning ship that carries a maximum term of life
in prison. Nine face negligence charges.
"They were in a panic and it didn't even occur to them to go to
rescue action stations," state-appointed defence lawyer Ju Chul-soo,
who represents two of the defendants, told the court.
Family members in court were more subdued on Tuesday than on the
first day of the trial last week when they had shouted abuse at the
captain, with one calling him a "murderer" as he entered.
DEFENCE STRATEGY
The lawyers have now settled to the task of combing through more
than 1,400 items of evidence submitted by the prosecution.
Judges said they would travel to Incheon, where the ferry company
was based, with three of the defendants and their lawyers on June 30
to inspect the Sewol's sister ship to gather any evidence that may
be related to the case.
Last week, defence lawyer Lee Kwang-jae, who represents the captain,
argued that the charge of homicide was excessive and the primary
responsibility fell on the coastguard.
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"I think it is reasonable that rescue activities for the passengers
should be done by the coastguard that comprehensively managed and
monitored the accident and handled rescue-related equipment, rather
than the crew members," he said.
Im, Lee and Ju are among the six defence lawyers appointed by the
court and face the unpopular task of building a defence when the
crew have already been found guilty by an angry public.
All are junior lawyers who have been recently admitted to the bar
and have yet to open private practices.
They declined to comment on strategy when reached at an office they
share near the court but they have consistently tried to build an
argument that there was clear absence of wilful negligence.
The coastguard has been publicly criticised for its slow and
ineffective response. President Park Geun-hye, in an emotional
public apology, last month said she would break up the coastguard
and transfer the rescue role to an agency yet to be created.
Legal experts said putting the blame solely on the coastguard was
unlikely to work.
"It's barely convincing," said Kim Hyun, a maritime lawyer.
"The crew stayed on the bridge for about 40 minutes and didn't do
anything to rescue passengers although they knew the ship was going
to sink. What crew members are claiming is hard to accept."
Authorities are still searching for Yoo Byung-un, 73, head of the
family that owned the operator of the ferry, on charges of
embezzlement seen as a key factor that led to compromised safety
management.
Police have arrested executives of the ferry operator and
subsidiaries of the investment firm held by Yoo's family but they
have yet to go on trial.
The Gwangju court next sits on June 24.
(Editing by Jack Kim and Nick Macfie)
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