Lee was born in
Seoul, Korea, in 1952, the son of a Korean woman who was raped and abandoned by her family. His mother then married a US soldier and emigrated to America, leaving Lee with an aunt and uncle. In 1964 she returned to Korea to bring her twelve-year-old son to the US. and
Joe Boys. Tak was shot at the intersection of Pacific and Grant, near the
Ping Yuen Housing Projects. and an unrecorded witness pointed out the empty five-shot
.38 Special revolver used by the killer had been discarded in Beckett Alley, where it was recovered. Five witnesses were taken to the police station to view mugshots; three had witnessed the shooting, and two saw a man wearing the clothing described by the first three witnesses moving away from Pacific and Grant; all five were white males. Lee's photograph was among the mugshots selected by the witnesses as the potential gunman, in Chinatown.
Retrial and exoneration Lee filed a petition for a writ of
habeas corpus in July 1978, alleging that key evidence had been suppressed at his first trial. Lee was not aware of the remedy of
habeas corpus due to his limited education and experience until he was provided an attorney from the San Joaquin County public defender's office on October 18, 1977, following his
arraignment for the stabbing of Needham. On 21 July 1980,
Leonard Weinglass was confirmed as Chol Soo Lee's court-appointed defense attorney. In February 1982, Lead defense attorney Leonard Weinglass withdrew, and
Tony Serra and
Stuart Hanlon joined the defense team. On August 11, 1982, the retrial of the first case began, and on September 3, 1982, the
San Francisco County Superior Court jury acquitted Lee of the murder of Yip Yee Tak, and its foreman joined the Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee. On January 14, 1983, California's 3rd District
Court of Appeal nullified Chol Soo Lee's death sentence for the Needham stabbing, citing the Stockton trial judge's incorrect jury instructions, and for allowing hearsay testimony in the death penalty phase of the trial.
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Peter Saiers ordered Chol Soo Lee to be released on March 28, 1983, after Lee's supporters pledged property worth twice the amount of the $250,000 bail. However, the prosecution moved to retry Lee on the prison killing charge. Lee's co-counsels were able to secure a guilty plea for second degree murder in the Needham case. Lee, who had served nearly ten years in prison, was given credit for time served and freed from prison.
Later life Lee never received an apology or compensation from the state. He lived the rest of his life in San Francisco. While he was wrongfully convicted, Lee often admitted that he was not an angel on the outside, but, at the same time, was not the devil. Lee and a friend were hired to burn down a house belonging to
Peter Chong in 1991; the arson went awry, leaving Lee with third-degree burns over 90% of his body. Lee subsequently testified against Chong after those who had hired him for the arson failed to pay. He was later arrested for the arson and sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty. In the midst of numerous speaking engagements, Lee shared his story with Bay Area youth, stressing the importance of engaging with the Asian American community. He also drafted an autobiography entitled
Freedom without Justice, which was completed after his death by University of California at Davis professor Richard S. Kim. Chol Soo Lee died on December 3, 2014, in San Francisco from complications of a gastric disorder. He was 62 years old. ==Legacy==