The Supreme Court has decided to review the four-year prison term the Taiwan High Court imposed on former New Party legislator Elmer Feng (馮滬祥) for sexually assaulting his Filipina house-keeper after Feng submitted a statement from forensic expert Henry Lee (李昌鈺).
Feng told reporters yesterday that because Lee had provided a forensic statement to the Taiwan High Court and the Supreme Court that raised questions about two pieces of underwear with his semen on them, the Supreme Court decided to review his sentence.
The Filipina victim had provided the courts with the underpants she wore after she was raped and the pair she wore after she took a shower six hours after the rape.
Feng said that Lee had questions about the semen on the underwear because the spots looked similar and were lake-shaped, rather than strip-shaped, leading Lee to ask whether the spots were the result of discharge from the woman's vagina or had been smeared on by hand.
A man produces around 3cc to 5cc of semen by a single ejaculation, Lee said in his statement, adding that it would be suspicious if the spots of semen on the two pieces of underwear totalled more than 5cc.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that "the semen on the underwear should be an arguable point and one which was in favor of the defendant Feng, but the Taiwan High Court failed to resolve the matter."
The Taiwan High Court ruled last August that the former lawmaker was guilty because the DNA collected from sperm taken from the housekeeper's vagina and her underwear matched that of Feng.
Feng said yesterday he was glad the Supreme Court was giving him a chance to prove his innocence and restore his reputation.
"I appreciate Dr. Lee's help with my lawsuit. I obtained his help after a couple of old friends helped me to contact him," Feng said.
He said his former housekeeper had framed him by taking semen from a condom he had used when having intercourse with his wife.
Feng was accused in February 2004 of raping his housekeeper, identified only as Rose, in November 2003.
After the scandal erupted, Feng paid Rose NT$800,000 and sent her back to the Philippines. Rose's supporters said the cash was hush money.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
MARITIME SECURITY: Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a ‘threat’ for various reasons, including the amount of time they spent loitering near subsea cables, the CGA said Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the nation, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday, as the nation seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by the CGA earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of Taiwan. The vessel is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the CGA said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt
RSS