An Asian Man’s Wrongful Conviction Of Murder

Summary

A documentary film tells the story of Chol Soo Lee, a Korean immigrant wrongfully convicted of murder in San Francisco's Chinatown and later exonerated through an Asian American movement.

Abstract

Chol Soo Lee was a young Korean immigrant who was wrongfully convicted of a gangland murder in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1973. Journalists Julia Ha and Eugene Yi co-directed a documentary film, "Free Chol Soo Lee," which tells the story of Lee's conviction, imprisonment, and subsequent release. The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Lee was sentenced to life in prison for the murder, but was later convicted of fatally stabbing another inmate in self-defense, leading to a second murder conviction and a transfer to death row. An investigative journalist, Kyung Won "K.W." Lee, became interested in the case and questioned the ability of the white witnesses to identify Lee. A Free Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee was formed, which raised more than $100,000 to hire attorneys and investigators. Lee was eventually acquitted of the Chinatown murder and released from prison in 1983. However, he struggled with addiction and returned to prison in 1990 on a drug charge. He spent his final years speaking to Asian American studies classes at nearby universities before his death in 2014.

Opinions

The producers of the documentary wanted to tell Chol Soo Lee's story to show the difficulties faced by Asian Americans and their resilience in the face of adversity.
The film is seen as a way to change how America sees Asian Americans and how they see themselves.
The film highlights the importance of diversity, racism, adversity, hardship, fortitude, and perseverance.
The film is based on a true story and is a reminder of the importance of fighting for justice and the power of community activism.

A documentary movie has been made about his story

He was a young Asian man when he was convicted

It was a false arrest which happened nearly fifty years ago. A Korean immigrant was convicted of a gangland murder in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Journalists Julia Ha and Eugene Yi are co-directors of a new documentary which tells the story of the Asian American movement which exonerated him for the wrongful conviction.

“Free Chol Soo Lee” is a documentary film which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. It chronicles the conviction, the imprisonment, and subsequent release of Lee. He was a former street hustler. There was an Asian American movement to free him by people who were convinced that he was innocent and that he had not been treated fairly.

There was a member of a local young gang who was shot to death in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1973. Lee had served time in juvenile hall and had been written up for accidentally discharging a firearm in his room. Some white witnesses picked Lee out of a police lineup. Lee was a 21-year-old Korean immigrant at that time. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 1974 and sent to prison.

Lee was serving a life sentence when he was convicted of fatally stabbing another inmate. He said the killing in 1977 was in self-defense against a self-proclaimed white supremacist who was trying to stab him.

That was his second murder conviction so he was transferred to state prison and put on death row. Kyung Won “K.W.” Lee was an investigative journalist who became interested in the case. K.W. questioned the ability of the white witness to identify Lee.

A Free Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee was formed. It raised more than $100,000 to hire attorneys and investigators. A retrial of his first case was held. A San Francisco jury acquitted Lee of the Chinatown murder on September 3, 1982. Lee was released from prison on March 28, 1983, after his second conviction was overturned.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the prison case to avoid facing another challenge with the legal system.

Lee felt like an outsider for much of his life. It was touching for the producers of the film to see so many people supporting him. He toured to thank his supporters for some years. His difficult upbringing and the wrongful conviction took its toll. He became addicted to cocaine and returned to prison in 1990 on a drug charge. He became involved with some Chinatown gangs.

He was ordered to commit arson in 1991 and suffered burns. He entered witness protection to testify against the gang which ordered him to do the arson. He spent his final years speaking to Asian American studies classes at nearby universities. He died in 2014 at the age of 62.

The producers of the documentary wanted to tell his story. He had major problems, but he kept trying. Life was difficult for him. They realized that Asian Americans often experience those feelings as he did.

“We see Asian Americans get erased so easily, sidelined, we don’t get to be fully human, even when the truth tells us otherwise,” said Ha, referring to the 1989 film “True Believer,” loosely based on Chol Soo’s case. “We’re not even allowed to occupy the roles of the hard-charging investigative reporter or the people who lead a movement of resistance. I think we just felt like this film was the chance to be like, ‘No, we did play those roles, and they will be seen and heard in our film in these fully humanized roles.’”

“One of the things that we’ve always talked about almost ad nauseam is just how this film can change not only how America sees Asian Americans, but also how we see ourselves,” Yi said.

Watching this film about a person of Asian descent in America will help the general public learn about diversity, racism, adversity, hardship, fortitude, and perseverance.