Chol Soo Lee

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 The 1989 film True Believer is loosely based on Lee's retrial and acquittal, and the character of Shu Kai Kim in the film (played by Yuji Okumoto) is based on Lee,

Jeff Adachi joined Lee's defense committee while Adachi was attending college and credits the case with sparking his eventual pursuit of a career in law.

Free Chol Soo Lee, a documentary, was screened in January 2022 as part of the Sundance Film Festival. The film was directed and produced by Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, and produced by Oscar-Nominated producer Su Kim. Producer Su Kim received the 2022 Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Nonfiction Features for her work on the documentary. It was selected by The Better Angels Society as the runner-up for the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. It won Outstanding Historical Documentary at the 45th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards in 2024.