Su Yao-hui Attempted Murder Retrial: High Prosecutors' Office Appeals Acquittal

The attempted murder case involving Su Yao-hui, which previously resulted in a final 8-year prison sentence, has been acquitted by the Taiwan High Court following a retrial. The Taiwan High Prosecutors' Office has filed an appeal. The High Prosecutors' Office stated today that there were errors in important matters such as the identification process, the interpretation of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 384, polygraph examinations, the determination of related facts, and the application of empirical and logical rules, which may violate the law. The High Prosecutors' Office believes the original judgment violated the law and has therefore filed an appeal in accordance with the law. The case originated in November 1997, when Su Yao-hui was accused of wearing a full-face helmet and conspiring with an unidentified adult male to slash a man surnamed Chan and his wife, surnamed Pan, at their home in Tucheng District, New Taipei City. In September 2005, the Supreme Court upheld an 8-year prison sentence for Su for attempted murder. Su refused to accept the verdict and went on the run. During this time, he applied for a retrial, which was granted, and the High Court acquitted him on April 29 of this year. The High Court's retrial determined that in the absence of physical evidence such as helmets, murder weapons, blood-stained clothing, fingerprints, or footprints, the prosecutor's indictment was based primarily on testimonial evidence (identification and polygraph tests) and indirect evidence such as testimony from police officers and neighbors. While these could prove that the couple had been slashed and injured, they could not prove that the couple's identification was reliable, nor could they corroborate Su's involvement in the case, leading to the acquittal.