Former National Athlete Ch'en Ching-k'ai Accused of Faking Blindness Wins Civil Retrial, but Injustice Awaits Redress—Press Conference on the Civil Retrial Judgment for Ch'en Ching-k'ai and Mingtai Insurance

Former handball national athlete Ch'en Ching-k'ai suffered severe vision impairment as a result of a traffic accident. Afterward, Ch'en Ching-k'ai worked hard to make his behavior resemble that of a normal person, but this was misconstrued as faking blindness in order to defraud insurance claims. On February 14, 2018, the criminal court sentenced him to 1 year and 2 months of imprisonment in a final judgment, and confiscated a total of over NT$5.22 million in insurance payouts from three insurance companies: Nanshan Life (which Ching-k'ai had insured with since high school), Mingtai Insurance (compulsory automobile liability insurance from the party at fault), and Cathay Life Insurance (student insurance from National Changhua University of Education). The three insurance companies also filed civil lawsuits against Ch'en Ching-k'ai to recover the insurance payouts. Ch'en Ching-k'ai has maintained his innocence from the very beginning, and the legal team launched rescue efforts for both the criminal and civil cases respectively.

This afternoon (the 27th) at 14:30, the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch delivered its judgment on the civil retrial case regarding the refund of insurance payouts between Mingtai Insurance and Ch'en Ching-k'ai. The original final judgment, the first-instance judgment of the previous proceedings, and the declaration of provisional execution were all revoked, meaning Ch'en Ching-k'ai won the case and is not required to return the insurance payouts. While the pro bono legal team is gratified by this rare piece of good news amidst despair, Ch'en Ching-k'ai's wrongful conviction remains unredressed and urgently requires attention and support from all sectors of society.

The Bumpy Road to Redress Over the Past Two Years

Following the final conclusion of the criminal case, the legal team pointed out multiple important pieces of evidence in the case file that had failed to be examined and filed a motion for retrial, which was dismissed in June 2018 by the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch under Ruling 107-Sheng-Tsai-Tzu No. 44. Subsequently, in Control Yuan Investigation Report 107-Szu-Tiao-0048, a professional team commissioned and consisting of Professor Hung Lan from the Graduate Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at National Central University and physicians from Taipei Veterans General Hospital used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to re-confirm that Ch'en Ching-k'ai's brain visual system exhibited extremely significant visual processing dysfunction, and under strong external visual stimuli, his optic nerve active response remained extremely low. Based on this, the legal team once again filed for a retrial, but it was dismissed once more in April 2019 by the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch under Ruling 107-Sheng-Tsai-Tzu No. 187. The grounds for dismissal revealed a widespread misunderstanding of visual science, dealing heavy blows to both Ch'en Ching-k'ai and the legal team. The civil litigation portion also encountered many difficulties, but fortunately, good news arrived today.

Wrongful Conviction Unredressed, the Legal Team Will Continue to Strive

Since the rescue efforts for Ch'en Ching-k'ai's case began, various sectors have continuously sought more scientific evidence to prove Ching-k'ai's innocence, and even hosted the international seminar "2019 Diagnosis, Education, and Rehabilitation of Cerebral Visual Impairment," hoping that through Ch'en Ching-k'ai's case, the academic and practical fields in both the disability and judicial domains of our country could better understand the predicaments and strategies of individuals with cerebral visual impairment.

Winning this case is not the end of the wrongful conviction rescue, and the pro bono legal team will continue to work hard moving forward, hoping that the day of redress will arrive soon. We also hope that all sectors will continue to pay attention to this case!

Attendees

Ch'en Ching-k'ai / Victim of Wrongful Conviction
Chien K'ai-lun, Esq. / Legal Aid Attorney for the Case
Yang Cheng-hua, Esq. / Pro Bono Attorney for the Case

Press Contact

Li Ming-ju, Esq. / Staff Attorney, Judicial Reform Foundation