Prison letter sparks infidelity lawsuit, but court finds insufficient evidence

A Taiwanese woman's lawsuit against her incarcerated husband and his alleged lover has been dismissed due to a lack of conclusive evidence. The wife had accused her husband of infidelity after receiving a letter from him in prison that contained intimate terms like "baby," "husband," "wife," and "love you," but was addressed to another woman.

The wife, identified by the surname Hu, stated that her husband, surnamed Chen, was serving a prison sentence when she received the "family letter" in July of last year. Although the envelope was marked "sent to wife," the letter's content began with the name of a Ms. Liu and included affectionate language. Hu claimed that upon inquiring with her husband's family, she learned Liu was his mistress. She further alleged that Chen did not deny the affair when she confronted him during a prison visit, leading her to sue both him and Liu for NT$200,000 (approximately $6,400 USD) in emotional damages.

Chen, however, denied the accusations, explaining that while he did write the envelope, the letter's content was penned by a cellmate for his own pen pal, Ms. Liu. He claimed he was merely assisting the cellmate in sending the letter and had no extramarital affair. Liu also testified, stating she knew Chen but believed him to be unmarried when they met, and that they were only casual acquaintances. She also claimed she never received the letter.

The court examined the handwriting and found significant differences between the characters on the envelope and within the letter's body. Specifically, the character "宏" (Hong) was written neatly on the envelope but appeared scribbled and structurally different in the letter. The court also deemed it illogical for Chen to mail a love letter to a mistress to his own home address. Without further evidence to prove the letter's authenticity or Chen's admission of an affair, the court ruled in favor of the defendants, dismissing Hu's lawsuit. The ruling is subject to appeal.