Court Observation Recruitment | Third Criminal Retrial in the Case of Former National Handball Athlete Ch'en Ching-k'ai

In 2009, Ch'en Ching-k'ai lost his sight due to a car accident. After working hard on rehabilitation and returning to daily life, he was reported for alleged malingering of blindness. Despite an assessment from National Taiwan University, diagnostic reports from multiple hospitals, and testimony from a rehabilitation orientation and mobility instructor for the visually impaired, the court nevertheless concluded that Ch'en Ching-k'ai was not blind based on the fact that he could catch a frisbee, play ball, and write. It ruled that he committed 'malingering of blindness' to defraud car insurance payouts, and on February 14, 2018, Ch'en Ching-k'ai was convicted of fraud by a final judgment.

Four years have passed, and Ch'en Ching-k'ai's first two petitions for a criminal retrial were both dismissed.

Fortunately, in August and December 2020, two successive civil retrial lawsuits were won, yet the final mile toward criminal vindication has not yet been reached.

This criminal retrial marks the third retrial petition in this case, and is a retrial initiated by prosecutors from the Kaohsiung Branch of the High Prosecutor's Office pursuant to a resolution by the Final Conviction Review Committee of the Taiwan High Prosecutor's Office. The Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court held a retrial investigative hearing on April 1 to investigate whether there is a necessity to open a retrial in this case, and summoned Associate Professor Chang Ch'ien-hui of the Department of Special Education at National Taiwan Normal University to appear in court on July 1, followed by Professor Tseng Hsiang-fei of the Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness at Taipei Medical University on August 19.

The fourth pre-retrial investigative hearing for this case will be held on Friday, September 23. Regarding the evaluation of Ch'en Ching-k'ai conducted by the Taipei Medical University medical team at the request of the Control Yuan, expert witnesses Professor Lan T'ing and Professor Wu Ch'ang-wei (Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University) will be summoned to appear in court.

We sincerely hope that Ching-k'ai can reach the end of his vindication as soon as possible. We cordially invite everyone to come and observe this investigative hearing in person, follow the subsequent developments of this case, and walk the path of vindication together with Ching-k'ai!​

Online Registration

Time

Friday, September 23, 2022, 09:30

Location

Courtroom 4, 1st Floor, Kaohsiung Branch, Taiwan High Court (No. 586, Mingcheng 3rd Rd., Gushan Dist., Kaohsiung City)