Court Observer Recruitment | The Su Chien-Ho Case Is Not Over: We Still Have More to Say
Last edited: 2026-08-29
The case of Su Chien-Ho, Liu Ping-Lang, and Chuang Lin-Hsun is one of Taiwan's best-known wrongful-conviction cases involving death sentences. Although no direct evidence linked the three men to the 1991 murders of Wu Ming-Han and Yeh Ying-Lan, their convictions became final on February 4, 1995. Each received two death sentences and deprivation of civil rights for life.
On May 18, 2000, the Taiwan High Court granted a retrial. The Supreme Court subsequently remanded the retrial proceedings to the High Court three times. On August 31, 2012, after the third remand, all three were finally acquitted. Roughly 21 years had passed from the time they were accused until their acquittals became final.
Most people assume the case ended there. In fact, the victims' family had filed an incidental civil action for damages in 1992. After the criminal proceedings became final, the civil courts continued to hear the damages case, and both the first- and second-instance courts held that Su and the other defendants were not liable for damages.
On August 26 of this year, however, the Supreme Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case to the Taiwan High Court. Twenty-nine years after the original incident, Su Chien-Ho and the others therefore still have to continue defending their innocence within the judicial system. The Supreme Court ruling drew strong concern from civil-society groups including the Judicial Reform Foundation, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan Innocence Project, Covenants Watch, and Amnesty International Taiwan.
The road to full exoneration is long. We invite you to join us at the Taiwan High Court's Civil Division and continue following the case.
Time
December 7, 2020, 3:45 p.m.
Meeting Point
Main Entrance, Civil Division, Taiwan High Court (No. 233, Sec. 1, Guiyang St., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City)
Schedule
15:45-16:00 Gather
16:00-16:45 Observe the Hearing (actual timing may vary depending on the court's schedule)
16:45-17:00 Post-Hearing Discussion
Supplementary Materials
This article is an AI-generated translation of the original Chinese text. In the event of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.