Judge acquits the defense counsel of Chu Mei-feng's case

Judges on Friday found lawyer Lee Ming-yu (李明諭) innocent of charges of offence against privacy.

Lee had been indicted by Taipei prosecutors who felt that he had "talked too much" while his cases were being investigated.

"There was not enough evidence to prove Lee guilty of the charge on which he was indicted. As a result, the court has found him not guilty," the verdict read.

In January, Taipei prosecutors indicted Lee because, they said, he had leaked too much information to reporters regarding the investigation of the cases he was handling. The cases included the Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳) sex-VCD case and the sexcapade case of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Huang Hsien-chou (黃顯洲).

In indicting Lee, prosecutors had suggested that he receive a seven-year sentence. In addition, the Taipei Bar Association was considering suspending him.

Lee has acted as defense counsel for defendants in many controversial cases, such as the cases involving Chu and Huang.

In Chu's case, Lee defended Kuo Yu-ling (郭玉鈴), who had installed hidden cameras at Chu's apartment, recorded her having sex with her married boyfriend and tried to sell the video to local TV stations.

In Huang's case, Lee defended Huang's former girlfriend Chan Hui-hua (詹惠華). Chan was a young brothel owner and a prostitute herself. She stole Huang's money after Huang had a sex-and-drugs party with Chan and two other prostitutes in a hotel room.

Lee was among reporters' favorite sources because he always tried to answer reporters' questions in detail. This behavior, however, was seen by prosecutors as "talking too much," and prompted the indictment.