Haing Ngor (Killing Fields actor) killer's conviction overturned.
04-28-04, 01:29 PM
#1
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Haing Ngor (Killing Fields actor) killer's conviction overturned.
The way I heard it, Ngor's killer was sent by some remaining factions of the Khmer Rouge. Tragic case, anyway. Now this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3662273.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3662273.stm
A man convicted of murdering Cambodian actor Haing Ngor, who won an Oscar for his role in The Killing Fields, has had his conviction overturned.
Tak Sun Tan was convicted of the first degree murder and robbery of Ngor, shot dead at his California home in 1996.
But Los Angeles district judge Margaret Morrow found the prosecutor in Mr Tan's 1998 trial misrepresented evidence.
She ruled Mr Tan, serving a minimum sentence of 56 years, must either be given a new trial or set free.
Ngor, a doctor who survived the Khmer Rouge genocide, won a best supporting actor Academy Award for his role as photographer Dith Pran in 1984's The Killing Fields.
His body was found outside his apartment in Los Angeles' Chinatown neighbourhood, aged 55.
Hardships stressed
Judge Morrow approved the recommendation of a federal magistrate judge, who found the prosecutor in Mr Tan's trial had played on jurors' emotions by stressing the hardships Ngor faced under the Khmer Rouge.
During the 1998 trial, prosecutors argued that Mr Tan, now 27, and two other men killed Ngor because he refused to give up a gold locket containing his only photograph of his wife, who died with their unborn child in a Cambodian concentration camp.
But investigators found a negative of the image in Ngor's house, a fact which was not disclosed in the original case.
Prosecutors were also criticised for urging the jury to convict Mr Tan based upon Ngor's "laudable life or the injustice of the victim's prior suffering" under the Khmer Rouge.
Tan's lawyer, Janyce Imata Blair, said the ruling could also result in new trials for co-defendants Indra Lim, 27, and Jason Chan, 26.
State officials have not decided whether to appeal against the ruling.
Tak Sun Tan was convicted of the first degree murder and robbery of Ngor, shot dead at his California home in 1996.
But Los Angeles district judge Margaret Morrow found the prosecutor in Mr Tan's 1998 trial misrepresented evidence.
She ruled Mr Tan, serving a minimum sentence of 56 years, must either be given a new trial or set free.
Ngor, a doctor who survived the Khmer Rouge genocide, won a best supporting actor Academy Award for his role as photographer Dith Pran in 1984's The Killing Fields.
His body was found outside his apartment in Los Angeles' Chinatown neighbourhood, aged 55.
Hardships stressed
Judge Morrow approved the recommendation of a federal magistrate judge, who found the prosecutor in Mr Tan's trial had played on jurors' emotions by stressing the hardships Ngor faced under the Khmer Rouge.
During the 1998 trial, prosecutors argued that Mr Tan, now 27, and two other men killed Ngor because he refused to give up a gold locket containing his only photograph of his wife, who died with their unborn child in a Cambodian concentration camp.
But investigators found a negative of the image in Ngor's house, a fact which was not disclosed in the original case.
Prosecutors were also criticised for urging the jury to convict Mr Tan based upon Ngor's "laudable life or the injustice of the victim's prior suffering" under the Khmer Rouge.
Tan's lawyer, Janyce Imata Blair, said the ruling could also result in new trials for co-defendants Indra Lim, 27, and Jason Chan, 26.
State officials have not decided whether to appeal against the ruling.
04-28-04, 10:53 PM
#2
DVD Talk Special Edition
I watched the Killing Fields for the first time this very week after seeing Amadeus and being shocked Tom Hulce didn't win Best Supporting Actor. I rarely watch a film for a performance, but I needed to here since I thought Hulce was a virtuoso. Ngor underwhelmed for the first half of the Killing Fields, but he earned his Oscar in the 2nd half for my money.
I do hope in some way it was the Rogue that somehow got to him and offed him. It would be far easier to think that than imagine the cruelty of fates of having him, after the real life journey he survived, was killed in a random act of violence.
Whatever the case, I hope they retry this individual and he gets a fair shake.
There are some great stories about Ngor on the Killing Fields DVD, but I was taken with this. After his death, when they found his Oscar, they saw the gold had been rubbed off, presumbibly because Ngor spent so much time holding it, and Roland Joffe detailed what it meant to him. He also closed the commentary with his opinion that Ngor, a buddhist, probably found peace in his death by violence, because Joffe always felt he carried a "survivor's guilt" after seeing more than 30 of his family members murdered, and he hopefully could die without guilt, knowing violence took his life too.
I do hope in some way it was the Rogue that somehow got to him and offed him. It would be far easier to think that than imagine the cruelty of fates of having him, after the real life journey he survived, was killed in a random act of violence.
Whatever the case, I hope they retry this individual and he gets a fair shake.
There are some great stories about Ngor on the Killing Fields DVD, but I was taken with this. After his death, when they found his Oscar, they saw the gold had been rubbed off, presumbibly because Ngor spent so much time holding it, and Roland Joffe detailed what it meant to him. He also closed the commentary with his opinion that Ngor, a buddhist, probably found peace in his death by violence, because Joffe always felt he carried a "survivor's guilt" after seeing more than 30 of his family members murdered, and he hopefully could die without guilt, knowing violence took his life too.
04-28-04, 11:02 PM
#3
DVD Talk Hero
I truly think he was killed by those punks who probably didn't even know who he was. It saddened me deeply when it happened and this ruling brings that sadness back. Perhaps the judge's ruling is correct but they should retry the case and I'll bet they can get another conviction.
The Killing Fields is a great film and Ngor deserved his Oscar.
The Killing Fields is a great film and Ngor deserved his Oscar.
04-28-04, 11:51 PM
#4
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally posted by movielib
I truly think he was killed by those punks who probably didn't even know who he was. It saddened me deeply when it happened and this ruling brings that sadness back. Perhaps the judge's ruling is correct but they should retry the case and I'll bet they can get another conviction.
The Killing Fields is a great film and Ngor deserved his Oscar.
I truly think he was killed by those punks who probably didn't even know who he was. It saddened me deeply when it happened and this ruling brings that sadness back. Perhaps the judge's ruling is correct but they should retry the case and I'll bet they can get another conviction.
The Killing Fields is a great film and Ngor deserved his Oscar.
