Press Conference | Clearing Lo Ming-Tsun's Name Despite Every Obstacle: Calling on the Prosecutor-General to File Another Extraordinary Appeal

On October 27, 2021, we gathered outside Xinzhuang Precinct to offer our support for the exoneration of Lo Ming-Tsun, former head of the precinct's Criminal Investigation Division. From the place where the story began, we then walked toward the Supreme Prosecutors Office, symbolizing our determination to accompany Lo on the road toward clearing his name.

A late prosecutorial appeal caused an acquittal that should have become final to be unlawfully reopened and ultimately replaced by a conviction. Correcting that flawed final judgment now requires the Prosecutor-General to file an extraordinary appeal and the Supreme Court to recognize an error in the application of law. In December 2018, Prosecutor-General Chiang Hui-Min sought extraordinary appeal on precisely that ground. Yet on January 31, 2020, the Supreme Court, in Ruling No. 108-Tai-Fei-13, dismissed Lo Ming-Tsun's extraordinary appeal .

Today we have returned to the entrance of the Supreme Prosecutors Office to ask the Prosecutor-General to file another extraordinary appeal for Lo Ming-Tsun and to announce the launch of a public petition supporting him.

A cardboard figure of Lo stood some distance from the entrance. Between the legal team and the figure was an installation representing the many obstacles that have blocked the case. At the opening of the press conference, Lo's daughter carried the figure through those obstacles toward the Supreme Prosecutors Office.

Attorney Lin Chun-Hung / Member of the Lo Ming-Tsun Pro Bono Legal Team; Convener, JRF Case Assistance Division

Thank you for continuing to follow this case. The Prosecutor-General filed an extraordinary appeal in 2018, but the Supreme Court held that the record did not establish that the prosecutor's original appeal had been late. Yet the High Court had a longstanding bad practice of entering a future date on documents at the time of service, and the bailiff who made the service testified that this had occurred. We investigated the contemporaneous receipt records further. They show that the prosecutor continued receiving other documents on February 4, 6, and 8-including documents in matters that were not themselves appealable-while the appealable case at issue lacks the corresponding receipt record. In our view, that evidence confirms that the extraordinary appeal previously filed by the Prosecutor-General was correct.

Beyond the procedural defect, we firmly believe Lo Ming-Tsun is innocent. He has an alibi. Statements by co-defendants are problematic; the identification procedures are problematic; and the polygraph evidence is problematic. This is a case riddled with evidentiary defects. Lo was once a highly promising criminal investigator, yet this wrongful conviction forced him to spend the latter half of his life first in flight and then in prison. The justice system must ask how it came to destroy a person in this way. We hope the Prosecutor-General will again seek extraordinary appeal and that the Supreme Court will have the courage to confront its earlier error.

Attorney Yang Shu-Ling / Member of the Lo Ming-Tsun Pro Bono Legal Team

Lo was acquitted in the first remand proceedings because the substantive evidence was deeply problematic. There was no physical evidence. Much of the witness testimony had been obtained through improper questioning involving inducement or deception. The identification procedure was extraordinary: a witness who did not know Lo was shown his interrogation record before being asked to identify him, and when the witness could not make a selection, police effectively selected for the witness. Lo also had an obvious heart condition that made polygraph testing inappropriate, yet the polygraph material was nevertheless used against him. These defects help explain why the first remand court acquitted him.

After finally obtaining an acquittal, Lo nevertheless faced a prosecutorial appeal filed after the deadline; the court accepted the appeal and he was ultimately sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment. Lo was an outstanding police officer, but this case destroyed his life. Whether or not we are lawyers, the basic questions are evidence and procedural justice. On this record, we do not see proof that Lo is guilty. We believe he is innocent.

Attorney Lin Shih-Hsun / Member of the Lo Ming-Tsun Pro Bono Legal Team

Neither the substantive evidence nor the factual record proves that Lo Ming-Tsun accepted a bribe. The first remand acquittal was correct. What must now be confronted is the prosecutor's unlawful late appeal. The Supreme Court has recently addressed the practice of delayed service and held that courts must investigate whether and when documents were actually served on prosecutors. We do not believe a bad administrative practice can validate an unlawful appeal. The purpose of extraordinary appeal is to require the Supreme Court to face and correct that legal error. An unjust judgment can do more damage than repeated unlawful acts: individual wrongs pollute the stream, but an unjust judicial decision pollutes the source. Clear Lo Ming-Tsun's name.

Ms. Lo / Family Member of the Wrongfully Convicted Person

Thank you to the members of the media and to everyone who has helped us. After so many years, there have been times when the road seemed endless, but everyone's support gives me the strength to keep going. We believe Dad is innocent. We hope this campaign will bring the case to the Prosecutor-General's attention. Dad is already old. We simply want him to come home, live the rest of his life with us, and give our family a chance to be reunited.

We sincerely hope that the Lo Ming-Tsun case-pushed over the edge by a deeply flawed judicial practice-can finally move toward exoneration through action by the Prosecutor-General and the continued support of everyone who stands with him.

Petition Page: https://luomingcun.jrf.org.tw/

Attendees

Ms. Lo / Family Member of the Wrongfully Convicted Person
Attorney Lin Chun-Hung / Member of the Lo Ming-Tsun Pro Bono Legal Team; Convener, JRF Case Assistance Division
Attorney Yang Shu-Ling / Member of the Lo Ming-Tsun Pro Bono Legal Team
Attorney Lin Shih-Hsun / Member of the Lo Ming-Tsun Pro Bono Legal Team

Supporting Organizations

Taiwan Association for Innocence
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty
Covenants Watch
Taiwan Innocent Action Alliance
Association for Public Advocacy Taiwan

Press Contact

Ma Chien-Ya / Legal Specialist, Judicial Reform Foundation