Charles Tan’s murder charges dismissed
Former student smiles as he leaves court
Former Cornell student Charles Tan has just had the murder charges against him dismissed.
He was charged with second degree murder last February, accused of shooting his father.
When brought to trial at the end of September, the court decided on one thing: Tan could not be accused for a crime if he did not complete it “100%.”
Monroe County Court Judge James Piampiano had dismissed the jurors on October 8th when they had not yet reached a verdict. They were surprised they weren’t going to be provided more time.
When asked which side they were leaning towards, jurors refused to answer in order to provide Tan with a fair trial in the future.
This morning the charges were dismissed.
Tan and his lawyers planned to meet with Assistant DA William Gargan and Piampiano to discuss plans for his a re-trial.
The decision was finalized during the hearing when Piampiano ruled that the Gargan, regardless of having presented 30 witnesses, did not prove the case against Tan.
DA Sandra Doorley is looking for ways to appeal the decision, citing “prejudice within the criminal justice system” as she claimed that “This would never have happened to a city kid.”
UPDATE
Democrat and Chronicle reporter, Jon Hand, live-tweeted the drama from the courtroom: