There will be no second murder trial for Charles Tan. The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, seeking to set aside the trial judge’s ruling that dismissed the charge.
The appeals court ruling says to retry Tan would be a violation of double jeopardy. The unanimous decision says there is no legal basis for the prosecution to appeal Judge James Piampiano’s order.
Judge Piampiano was censured for judicial misconduct this week over his handling of the trial, for giving interviews on the case while it was still pending, and for threatening to handcuff prosecutor William Gargan when he objected to dismissal of the second degree murder charge.
Charles Tan was a 19-year-old Cornell University freshman when he was accused of shooting his father, Jim Tan, to death in their Pittsford home. The trial ended in a hung jury in 2015.