Koua Fong Lee

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Charge:	Vehicular Homicide (Incl. Culpable negligence)
Sentence:	8 years
Years Imprisoned:	2.67
Year Crime:	2006
Year Convicted:	2007
Year Cleared:	2010
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Minnesota
County or Region of Crime:	Ramsey
City of Crime:	St Paul
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Koua Fong Lee was wrongly convicted in October 2007 of vehicle homicide in the death of three people on June 10, 2006 when his 1996 Toyota Camry crashed into the rear of their car at a stop light at an Interstate off-ramp. Lee's defense was he had his foot on the brake but his car did not slow down. Koua Lee was sentenced to 8 years in prison. After Koua Lee's conviction there was national publicity about people experiencing unexplained acceleration and the inability to break their Toyota vehicle. Lee's conviction was overturned on August 5, 2010 after a four-day evidentiary hearing based on new expert evidence that his brakes did not work and the testimony of nine 1996 Toyota Camry owners who had a similar problem of sudden acceleration and brake failure. The judge ordered that Lee could be released on bail. An hour after the judge's ruling the Ramsey County district attorney announced that Lee would not be retried. Lee and other victims of the crash subsequently filed a federal lawsuit against Toyota. On June 13, 2011 federal Judge Ann Montgomery ruled that Toyota was not liable for damages for the time that Lee was imprisoned. On February 10, 2016 it was reported that Lee would be receiving compensation for his wrongful imprisonment from the State of Minnesota, and on April 13, 2016 it was reported that Lee would receive $395,000 in compensation. Lee was one of three men who would be the first to receive compensation under Minnesota's wrongful imprisonment compensation law enacted in 2014."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous expert testimony that Lee's Toyota couldn't have accelerated unexpectedly and that the brakes were in perfect working order.
Innocence Proved By:	"Lee's conviction was overturned on August 5, 2010 after a four-day evidentiary hearing based on new expert evidence that his brakes did not work and the testimony of a number of Toyota Camry owners who had a similar problem of sudden acceleration and brake failure."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$395,000 (State of Minnesota, February 2016)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	29
Age When Released:	32
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Asian
Information Source 1:	"Man guilty in crash that killed father, son, By Pat Pheifer (staff), Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Ocrober 12, 2007"
Information Location 1:	http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/11545131.html
Information Source 2:	"Judge limits ability of Minn. man jailed for fatal crash to sue Toyota; lawsuits can advance, Associated Press, Washington Post, June 13, 2011"
Information Location 2:	http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/judge-limits-ability-of-minn-man-jailed-for-fatal-crash-to-sue-toyota-lawsuits-can-advance/2011/06/13/AGVR9bTH_story.html
Information Source 3:	"Koua Lee case witnesses - Cars just roared off, By Pat Pheifer (staff), Minneapolis Star-Tribune, August 3, 2010"
Information Location 3:	http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/99809654.html
Information Source 4:	"Toyota Driver Freed From Prison, Prosecutor Drops Charges, By Angela M. Hill and Susanna Song (staff), ABC News, August 5, 2010"
Information Location 4:	http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/koua-fong-lee-driver-rejects-plea-deal-spring/story?id=11333090
Information Source 5:	"Minn. panel approves payment of $1.8M to three freed after wrongful convictions, By Matt Sepic, MPRNews (St. Paul), April 13, 2016"
Information Location 5:	http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/04/13/payments-to-wrongfully-convicted
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Koua Fong Lee

Charge:

Vehicular Homicide (Incl. Culpable negligence)

Sentence:

8 years

Years Imprisoned:

2.67

Year Crime:

2006

Year Convicted:

2007

Year Cleared:

2010

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Minnesota

County or Region of Crime:

Ramsey

City of Crime:

St Paul

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous expert testimony that Lee's Toyota couldn't have accelerated unexpectedly and that the brakes were in perfect working order.

Innocence Proved By:

"Lee's conviction was overturned on August 5, 2010 after a four-day evidentiary hearing based on new expert evidence that his brakes did not work and the testimony of a number of Toyota Camry owners who had a similar problem of sudden acceleration and brake failure."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$395,000 (State of Minnesota, February 2016)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

29

Age When Released:

32

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Asian

Information Source 1:

"Man guilty in crash that killed father, son, By Pat Pheifer (staff), Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Ocrober 12, 2007"

Information Location 1:

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/11545131.html

Information Source 2:

"Judge limits ability of Minn. man jailed for fatal crash to sue Toyota; lawsuits can advance, Associated Press, Washington Post, June 13, 2011"

Information Location 2:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/judge-limits-ability-of-minn-man-jailed-for-fatal-crash-to-sue-toyota-lawsuits-can-advance/2011/06/13/AGVR9bTH_story.html

Information Source 3:

"Koua Lee case witnesses - Cars just roared off, By Pat Pheifer (staff), Minneapolis Star-Tribune, August 3, 2010"

Information Location 3:

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/99809654.html

Information Source 4:

"Toyota Driver Freed From Prison, Prosecutor Drops Charges, By Angela M. Hill and Susanna Song (staff), ABC News, August 5, 2010"

Information Location 4:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/koua-fong-lee-driver-rejects-plea-deal-spring/story?id=11333090

Information Source 5:

"Minn. panel approves payment of $1.8M to three freed after wrongful convictions, By Matt Sepic, MPRNews (St. Paul), April 13, 2016"

Information Location 5:

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/04/13/payments-to-wrongfully-convicted

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