‘HORRENDOUS ORDEAL’:Cheng Hsing-tse wrote to police officer Su Hsien-pi’s son, telling him that they and their families were all victims who suffered from the tragedy
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 27, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
The Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Court yesterday acquitted death row
Death-row inmate Cheng Hsing-tse, left, who was acquitted after his prior conviction was overturned by the Taiwan High Court’s Taichung branch in a retrial yesterday, and his lawyer Chiu Hsien-chih, right, are surrounded by reporters in Taichung yesterday. Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
inmate Cheng Hsing-tse (鄭性澤) of all charges, overturning his convictions in a long-running case stemming from the 2002 killing of a police officer in Taichung.
Cheng, 50, maintained his innocence throughout his 14-year imprisonment, of which he spent 10 years on death row.
“I have been waiting for this day for 15 years,” Cheng said in a statement after the verdict. “Up until today, I was a man without a tomorrow. From this moment, I want to start a brand new life.”
Cheng’s case went through seven trials and eight retrials, including the Supreme Court’s 2006 decision to uphold the death sentence.
In March last year, prosecutors applied with the Taiwan High Court for a retrial after new evidence emerged. Cheng was released on bail in May that year.
The details of the case remained unclear. There were doubts regarding the death of police officer Su Hsien-pi (蘇憲丕) and contradictory testimony over who at a Taichung karaoke parlor fired the gun that killed him. [FULL STORY]