Dad in jail 25 years for fatal fire freed over poor arson science

[Annihilation]

Dad in jail 25 years for fatal fire freed over poor arson science

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 10 August, 2014, 6:44am
UPDATED : Sunday, 10 August, 2014, 6:44am

Associated Press

Han Tak Lee will either be tried again within 120 days or released.

A South Korean man who has spent nearly 25 years in US prison for starting a fire that killed his daughter took a big step towards freedom on Friday when a federal judge threw out his murder conviction, ruling it was based on now-discredited arson science.

US District Judge William Nealon quashed Han Tak Lee's state conviction and life-without-parole prison sentence, ordering that Lee either be tried again within 120 days or released.

Lee, owner of a clothing store in New York, had taken his mentally ill daughter to a religious retreat at the suggestion of the family pastor. Early on July 29, 1989, the cabin they shared became engulfed in flames. Lee escaped, but 20-year-old old Ji Yun Lee's body was found in the ashes, curled in the fetal position.

Lee has long said the fire was accidental, and in 2012, the court granted his request for an independent examination of evidence. That review, completed in June, concluded that "much of what was presented to Lee's jury as science is now conceded to be little more than superstition".

His case is one of dozens around the United States that have come under scrutiny because of entrenched but now-discredited beliefs about how arson can be detected.

Monroe county, New York, District Attorney David Christine said it was too early to say whether he would retry Lee if the court rejects his probable appeal.

Christine, who prosecuted Lee in 1990, said he continued to believe the jury got it right.