Hong Kong murder case heads to retrial after deadlock
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong’s High Court has ordered murder suspect Matthew Choi to face a retrial after a seven-member jury failed to reach a verdict following a 23-day trial. The central issue at trial was the defence claim that Choi was suffering from psychosis and delusions that authorities were harassing him with electromagnetic waves when he killed a taxi driver in Sai Ying Pun in October 2021.
Key Points
- Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping discharged the jury on Wednesday after jurors deliberated for more than a day without reaching a verdict.
- Defence lawyers said the jobless 36-year-old was suffering from psychosis when he attacked taxi driver Wai Kim-hung, 48, in an apparently unprovoked assault.
- The court heard Choi boarded the cab outside the WE hotel on Eastern Street at 4.52am on October 12, 2021, then stabbed Wai in the neck.
- Choi fled less than a minute later, while Wai cried out for help, collapsed near the taxi, and was later certified dead at Queen Mary Hospital at 6.17am.
- Police identified Choi after he left a bloodstained jacket and mobile phone in the taxi, and arrested him near Yung Shue Wan Ferry Pier at 8.36pm the next day.
Why It Matters
The retrial means the High Court will have to rehear a case centred on criminal responsibility and mental state, rather than on the identity of the attacker. For Hong Kong readers, the case also draws attention to how juries assess psychiatric defences in serious violent crime trials.