
Court Observation | The Unfinished Su Case: The Seventh Civil Preparatory Proceedings
Last edited: 2026-07-27
The case of Su Chien-hō (蘇建和), Liu Bing-lang (劉秉郎), and Chuang Lin-xun (莊林勳) is a well-known wrongful death penalty case. In 1991, without any direct evidence proving the three were involved in the murder of the Wu couple in Hsichih Township, Taipei County, the Supreme Court upheld their convictions on February 4, 1995. Each was sentenced to two counts of death and lifelong deprivation of civil rights. On May 18, 2000, the Taiwan High Court ruled to initiate a retrial, which the Supreme Court subsequently remanded to the High Court for retrial on three occasions. On August 31, 2012, in the third retrial remand, the three men were finally acquitted. The duration from when they were accused of the crime to their final acquittal spanned approximately 21 years.
The public largely assumes this case has come to an end. However, in reality, the criminal incidental civil damage compensation suit filed by the victims' families in 1992 continued to be heard by the civil court after the criminal case was finalized. Both the first and second instances ruled that no damages needed to be paid. On August 26, 2020, the Supreme Court annulled the lower court's decision and remanded the case to the Taiwan High Court. This means that 30 years since the incident occurred, Su Chien-hō and the others must still continue to fight for their innocence within the judicial system.
On April 1, the Taiwan High Court Civil Division will hold the seventh preparatory proceedings after this case was remanded. The path to vindication is long, and we invite everyone to enter the courtroom with us to continue following this case.
Time
April 1, 2024 (Monday) at 4:30 PM
Location
Civil Courtroom 1, Taiwan High Court (No. 233, Sec. 1, Kueiyang St., Jhongcheng Dist., Taipei City)
Further Reading
- 4/15 Court Observation | The Unfinished Su Case: Summoning Reviewing Expert Professor Li Chun-yi regarding Henry Lee's Crime Scene Reconstruction Appraisal Report
- Op-Ed | 27 Years Later, Witnessing Snow in June Once Again: Is the Su Chien-hō Three Death Row Prisoners Case Endless?
- Report | Taiwan's Most Tortuous Wrongful Death Row Prisoner! After Enduring 21 Years of 'A Fate Worse than Death' to Finally Clear His Name and Devoting 16 Years to Public Welfare, He is Struck Hard Once Again by a New Judgment
This article is an AI-generated translation of the original Chinese text. In the event of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.