(Event Cancelled) Court Observation | Evidentiary Hearing on the Retrial Petition in the Chiu Sung-Cheng Case

On the day of the incident, brothers Chiu Sung-Cheng and Chiu O-Ming had arranged to meet others at Tongtingyuan Restaurant to negotiate a debt. Instead, more than ten people carrying clubs arrived and surrounded them. No one expected a routine debt negotiation to end in a fatal confrontation.

The court found that Chiu Sung-Cheng had carried a "pre-concealed fruit knife" and "forcefully stabbed the back of Cheng, who was unarmed, no longer attempting to attack, and running away with his back to Chiu, penetrating the chest cavity and lung," causing Cheng's death. Chiu was sentenced to life imprisonment and deprivation of civil rights for life. But after JRF retained experts to examine surveillance footage and prepare a reconstruction of the scene, numerous doubts emerged: Chiu's clothing could not have concealed the alleged knife; no knife was ever seized; the object in his hand appears to have been a mobile phone rather than a knife; the surveillance footage shows the closest distance between Chiu and Cheng was at least 150 centimeters, too far for the alleged stabbing; and Chiu's clothing showed no blood spatter.

JRF assisted Chiu Sung-Cheng in petitioning for retrial. The Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court initially dismissed the petition on the ground that the new evidence was insufficient to undermine the final judgment (Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court Criminal Ruling 109-Sheng-Tsai-123).

The Supreme Court later granted the interlocutory appeal and vacated that ruling (Supreme Court Criminal Ruling 110-Tai-Kang-355). The Kaohsiung Branch Court then scheduled a renewed evidentiary hearing on the retrial petition for May 13 at 3:00 p.m. in Criminal Courtroom 9 of the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court.

To help participants understand the case before entering court, we will first hold a case briefing at National University of Kaohsiung and then travel together by chartered bus to the courthouse. Everyone is welcome to register for the briefing. If you cannot attend the briefing, you are still welcome to go directly to court, sit in the public gallery, and observe how the justice system actually operates.

Online Registration

Time and Venue

• Case Briefing: May 13 (Thu.), 1:00 p.m. - Classroom 103, College of Law, National University of Kaohsiung
• Court Observation: May 13 (Thu.), 3:00 p.m. - Criminal Courtroom 9, Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court

Schedule

Time	Program	Venue
1:00-2:00 p.m.	Court-Observation Briefing	Classroom 103, College of Law, National University of Kaohsiung
2:00-2:40 p.m.	Chartered Bus from National University of Kaohsiung to the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court	Transit
2:40-3:00 p.m.	Meet and Enter the Courtroom	East Entrance on Nanping Rd., Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court, No. 586, Mingcheng 3rd Rd., Gushan Dist., Kaohsiung City
3:00-4:00 p.m.	Observe the Hearing	Criminal Courtroom 9, Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court
4:00-4:30 p.m.	Post-Hearing Discussion and Q&A	East Entrance on Nanping Rd., Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court

Notes

• The actual hearing time may vary depending on the court's schedule.
• To comply with COVID-19 prevention measures, please wear a mask throughout the court-observation activity.