Chol Soo Lee
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Chol Soo Lee is a Korean American immigrant who was wrongfully convicted for the 1973 killing of Yip Yee Tak, a San Francisco Chinatown gang leader and sentenced to life in prison. While in prison, he was sentenced to death for the self-defense killing of another prisoner. Chol Soo spent ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit, eight of those on death row. Investigative reporting by KW Lee (link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._W._Lee) sparked the formation of the Free Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee which spurred a national pan-Asian movement. Chol Soo finally won his freedom in 1983 through the help of the Free Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee.
A short timeline of the Chol Soo Lee case from A Conversation with Chol Soo Lee and K.W. Lee [1] by Richard S. Kim
Chol Soo was born in Seoul, Korea in 1952 and immigrated to America in 1964. Not speaking English or having parents to guide him, Chol Soo had a difficult life. Yip Yee Tak was gunned down in broad daylight on June 3, 1973. Chol Soo Lee was arrested on June 7, 1973 and convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
June 1977 Alerted by young Asian American supporters of Chol Soo Lee from San Francisco about his innocence, investigative reporter K. W. Lee at the Sacramento Union embarks on a six-month investigation into what became known as the “Alice in Chinatown Murder Case.”
October 8, 1977 Chol Soo Lee kills Morrison Needham in a prison yard altercation. Lee, who claimed self-defense, later charged with murder with special circumstances calling for the death penalty.
On January 29, 1978 the first of two articles by K.W. Lee appears in the Sacramento Union questioning the verdict in the first case.
In February 1978 The continuing investigative series prompts a local drive to form the first Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee, organized by then law school graduate Jay Yoo and Davis school teacher Grace Kim in Sacramento, third generation Japanese American college student Ranko Yamada, and third-generation Korean Americans Gail Whang and Brenda Paik Sunoo in the Bay area, leading to a national coalition of Asian American activists and Korean community groups and churches.
On August 11, 1982 the retrial of the first case begins and on September 3, 1982 San Francisco County Superior Court jury acquits Chol Soo Lee of the murder of Yip Yee Tak, and its foreman joins the Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee. On January 14, 1983 California’s 3rd District Court of Appeal nullifies Chol Soo Lee’s death sentence for Needham stabbing, citing the Stockton trial judge’s jury mis-instructions and for allowing hearsay testimony in the death penalty phase of the trial.
On March 28, 1983 San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Peter Seires orders Chol Soo Lee to be released, after Lee supporters pledged property worth twice the amount of $250,000 bail. However, the prosecution moves to retry Lee on the prison killing charge. Lee’s co-counsels able to plea bargain on the Needham case. Chol Soo Lee, who had served nearly ten years in prison, is given the credit for the time served and freed from prison.
Chol Soo Lee did not receive an apology or compensation from the state and is currently living in San Francisco.
In the midst of numerous speaking engagements, Lee now shares his story with Bay Area youth, stressing the importance of engaging with the Asian American community. He is also working on writing an autobiography and is taking college classes, but says that he is still in the process of adjusting to his free life.
[edit] References:
A Silent Plea, Chol Soo Lee, Amerasia Journal 31:3 (2005): 109-110[1]
A Conversation with Chol Soo Lee and K.W. Lee, Richard S. Kim, Amerasia Journal 31:3 (2005): 76-108[2]
[edit] References
- ^ A Silent Plea, Chol Soo Lee, Amerasia Journal 31:3 (2005): 109-110
- ^ A Conversation with Chol Soo Lee and K.W. Lee, Richard S. Kim, Amerasia Journal 31:3 (2005): 76-108
[edit] External links
What Price Justice? A commentary on the acquittal of Chol Soo Lee
A story of wrongful conviction - An interview with Chol Soo Lee by Alice Kim Sept 2006
The Story of Chol Soo Lee
