Faulty Toyota Brakes Strike: New Evidence in Koua Fong Lee's Favor

In April, we wrote about Koua Fong Lee, a Hmong refugee who has spent the last three-plus years in a Minnesota prison for vehicular manslaughter while driving a Toyota Camry. Lee swears he hit the brakes and that they just didn't work, but the court didn't believe him.

With all the new evidence of Toyota's electronic malfunction that lead to sudden acceleration and brake failure, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office agreed to reinspect Lee's vehicle. And guess what they found? It appears that Lee, as he has repeatedly sworn, was deploying the brakes prior to collision, after all. The inspection showed that the brake light filaments exploded upon collision — something they will only do if the brake light is on. Correction: While this evidence may have been available to Lee's initial defense at his trial, it was not used in court to support Lee's claim. Lee's first attorney has since been fired.

And yet the Ramsey County Attorney's Office has issued no statement about the results of the re-inspection or on the impact this will have on Lee's life. The inspection was over two weeks ago and Koua Fong Lee still waits in prison for the news. What's the holdup, Ramsey County?

Ramsey County is apparently waiting for the full report to reach their desks, as well as for a report from Toyota on the inspection's findings. But shouldn't Ramsey County be putting on the pressure given that a man who looks more and more innocent remains in jail?

In April, we asked you to sign this petition for Ramsey County to recommend that Lee be released from prison pending re-inspection of his vehicle. When he was sentenced to prison the Toyota malfunctions had not yet been uncovered and thus Lee's defense lacked critical evidence in his favor. When new evidence emerges that suggests a prisoner's innocence, to the extent that a retrial is in order, releasing the defendant until the new trial takes place is a standard procedure. But Lee was not released.

Now that the inspection has turned up solid evidence that Lee did try to use the faulty brakes, we're asking you to put pressure on the Ramsey County Attorney's office to let the public, and more importantly Mr. Lee, know the details of the inspection and their impact on Lee's case. With the evidence slanting in his favor, Koua Fong Lee deserves a retrial and to be let immediately out of prison.