Man freed after spending 21 years in Pa. prison

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man imprisoned for 21 years for a restaurant slaying was released Thursday, a day after a judge granted a new trial and prosecutors quietly dropped the case.

"It's tough because I never had a chance to see my nephew and my niece grow up, and my parents are getting old," said Ah Thank "Allen" Lee, 40, of New York. "I've never seen a cellular phone, compact disc, camcorder, computer."

Lee had been convicted in part on the identification of the victim's sister, who witnessed the crime.

In the latest review of the case, the defense argued Lee had been mistaken for a look-alike killer. Judge David N. Savitt granted a new trial motion Wednesday, and prosecutors said they would neither pursue a second trial nor appeal his order.

"It was one of those magical moments you get in your career," defense lawyer Peter C. Bowers said Thursday after his client's release.

Lee and two other men were convicted of killing Jade Wong, a University of Pennsylvania graduate student, who managed the Ho Sai Gai restaurant, in an August 1983 robbery.

Assistant District Attorney Edward McCann said his office was not conceding Lee's innocence and hadn't found any new evidence exonerating him. But bits of information over the years shaped their decision.

For instance, one of two other men convicted confessed, but never mentioned Lee as a participant. The sister had also picked out a photograph of the look-alike suspect, Kin Fong Wong, after earlier pointing to one of Lee. Wong was killed in a 1984 shooting in New York.

Thanks for sharing this with us, Otter. It sounds like the worst of all nightmares and it makes you wonder if it could happen to "one of us".
Hopefully, modern science is making the art of crime solving much more accurate.

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Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly.

Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy.

I cannot even imagine serving time and not having done the crime for 21 yrs!!!

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