Court Observation Recruitment | The Chiu Sung-Cheng Case: A Knife-Wielding Murder Case Without a Knife | Investigation Hearing for the Fourth Remand and Retrial of the Motion for Retrial

Almost 10 years have passed since the court finalized the judgment in 2015, concluding that Chiu Sung-Cheng wielded a "concealed fruit knife" and "fiercely stabbed the back of Cheng, who was running away with his back turned, penetrating deep into the lungs inside the chest cavity," resulting in Cheng's death, and sentencing Chiu Sung-Cheng to life imprisonment with lifetime deprivation of civil rights.

Even though the JRF commissioned experts to examine the surveillance footage of the scene to create a crime scene reconstruction map, conducted a separate bloodstain analysis for this case, and submitted new evidence proving that "the clothing worn by Chiu Sung-Cheng could not have concealed a fruit knife," "no fruit knife used in the crime was seized in this case," "what Chiu Sung-Cheng was holding in his hand was a mobile phone, not a fruit knife," "the surveillance footage shows that the closest distance between Chiu Sung-Cheng and Cheng was no less than 150 centimeters, making it impossible to stab Cheng even with a fruit knife," and "the stain on Chiu Sung-Cheng's clothes was not a bloodstain at all," Chiu Sung-Cheng's motions for retrial have been repeatedly dismissed by the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch (hereinafter referred to as the Kaohsiung High Court).

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has overturned the Kaohsiung High Court's dismissal of Chiu Sung-Cheng's motion for retrial for the 4th time. In this ruling (Supreme Court Ruling 114-Tai-Kang-422), the Supreme Court explicitly pointed out that the Kaohsiung High Court failed to thoroughly investigate key evidence such as "the item in Chiu Sung-Cheng's hand" and "whether the cut mark near the left hip on the deceased's back was caused by blood contamination," and also failed to explain why the appraisal opinions of the two experts submitted by the pro bono defense counsel were deemed untrustworthy.

On October 31 at 10:00 AM, the fifth retrial investigation hearing for Chiu Sung-Cheng will be held again in the 4th Courtroom of the Kaohsiung High Court. We invite everyone who cares about whether forensic science evidence is valued by the courts and whether the wrongfully convicted party can clear his name soon, to come and show support for Chiu Sung-Cheng and follow the progress of this case together.

＊After the court observation concludes, defense counsel for this case will also share the controversies of the case outside the courtroom. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Court Observation Time

References

The Chiu Sung-Cheng Case

Contact Person

Legal Specialist Chang Chia-chi
04-2329-2372 #14
jc@jrf.org.tw