Even if Taiwan grants exonerated death row inmate Cheng Hsing-tse the compensation he is asking for, it will never make up for the years he lost behind prison walls.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/08/07
By: Stephen Hsu
July 19th, 2018 was an emotional day for Cheng Hsing-tse (鄭性澤) and his family. It was Cheng’s first time back to the Taichung High Court since the judges returned a not guilty verdict for his retrial on October 26th, 2017. Cheng was due back in court for his compensation hearing, during which he asked for NT$21.6 million (US$706,470) for being detained 4,321 days after being wrongfully convicted of murder.
In 2002, Cheng was accused of killing police officer Su Hsien-pi (蘇憲丕) in a Taichung karaoke bar shootout. In 2006, Cheng was found guilty of murder and possession of a firearm and was sentenced to death. He remained on death row for 11 years.
“I thought the most I would be charged with was gun possession,” Cheng told The News Lens after his 2017 exoneration. “After the death sentence judgment, I was hopelessly disappointed and surprised.”
Cheng Hsing-tse: Finally Free from Death Row’s Shadow
At last year’s retrial hearing, the court heard new evidence that Cheng was tortured by police after being detained and gave his confession under duress. The court found that key evidence was withheld from the initial autopsy report, and could not rule out ballistics reports indicating that the gangster Luo Wu-hsiung (羅武雄) – who was killed by police after starting the shooting by firing a pistol at the ceiling – had killed the officer.
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