Taiwan's Supreme Court has ended a 13-year-old corruption case with an acquittal for Hualien's council speaker, good news for him but a blow to prosecutors.

• Chang Chun, now speaker of the Hualien County Council, was first sentenced to nearly eight years for taking kickbacks on LED streetlight deals.
• The high court threw out his conviction last year, and the Supreme Court has now made that final.
• Handwriting tests could not prove he signed the grant paperwork, and his claim that someone forged his name was accepted.
• Prosecutors said LED firms used middlemen to invent fake demand in townships, then split the profits with councillors who steered subsidy money their way.
• Several other councillors and township chiefs stayed convicted, though their sentences were cut because the case dragged on more than eight years.

Outlook: The case is closed for Chang Chun, while one company's asset forfeiture goes back to a lower court for another look.