On Monday afternoon, July 14th, the Santa Clara Superior Court held the second hearing for the case of Chinese former Google engineer Liren Chen, who is accused of killing his wife. At the prosecution’s request, the defendant’s ex-girlfriend, referred to as J, submitted her Google diary as one of the key pieces of evidence in the case.
J’s attorney submitted the documents on her behalf but simultaneously requested the court to issue a special protective order to prevent the content from being made public.
J’s attorney stated that since testifying in court on June 25th, J has been subjected to online harassment, with her address being searched and disclosed, her inbox flooded, and her mental and emotional well-being impacted. The attorney also requested to have the Chinese diary translated in advance and for J to provide translation suggestions.
The prosecution opposed this request, arguing that the diary contains crucial details related to the case and that J had already disclosed the content of the diary during previous testimony, thus no longer maintaining a private nature.
The diary’s content includes the defendant’s contemplation of divorce, purchasing a house in the Bay Area with J, the possibility of reconciling with her, Bay Area meetings, as well as interactions with the victim, Liren Chen’s wife, Xuan Yi Yu, the day before the tragic event.
Furthermore, the prosecution contended that witnesses should not be involved in the translation process of the documents.
Ultimately, J’s attorney presented the highly anticipated document in court.
The judge rejected the special protective order but, out of caution, agreed to issue a general protective order restricting the document to be displayed only in court and not to be disclosed publicly.
On Monday, Liren Chen also appeared in court. His attorney submitted his medical records from various medical centers including El Camino, Santa Clara Valley, Stanford, and Kaiser, which will be presented during the hearing on August 4th. The attorney mentioned that medical records from China have also been adequately prepared.
Liren Chen is charged with beating his wife, Xuan Yi Yu, to death with his fists on January 16, 2024. Over the past year and a half, the case has gone to court more than 10 times, and the hearing on July 14th was a procedural legal event rather than a trial testimony, focusing on evidence preparation. The court is scheduled to determine the official trial date on October 8th.