A defendant in one of a number of death penalty cases said by human rights lawyers to be deeply flawed was sentenced to death for the eighth time yesterday, drawing anger from observers who say there is no forensic evidence to justify a conviction.
Hsu Tsu-chiang’s (徐自強) mother, Chen Hsiu-chin (陳秀琴), broke down when the judges at the Taiwan branch of the High Court read the judgment in the 14-year-old case, collapsing against a wall and sobbing uncontrollably.
The courtroom was packed to capacity as supporters, family and observers squeezed into the room and crowded the corridor outside to hear the judgment. Some wore T-shirts bearing the faces of the Hsichih Trio, another ongoing death penalty case that, like Hsu’s, was finalized by the Supreme Court — sending the defendants to death row — but later reopened because of flaws or new evidence.
PHOTO: YANG KUO-WEN, TAIPEI TIMES
After the judgment, Hsu’s mother had to be propped up as she walked out of the courthouse, and collapsed again on the steps outside, surrounded by reporters and photographers.
Dozens of human rights activists, lawyers and others gathered outside the courthouse, holding signs that read “injustice” as Chen cried on the pavement in front of them.
Hsu’s case had a significant impact on judicial procedure in 2004, when the Council of Grand Justices ruled that it was unconstitutional to use the confessions of his codefendants against him without allowing his lawyers to cross-examine them.
Constitutional Interpretation No. 582 applies to new cases, but because of limited resources, was applied retroactively in Hsu’s case alone, which was reopened in 2005. By that time, Hsu had spent five years on death row.
Hsu, 44, was one of three people convicted in the 1995 murder of Huang Chun-shu (黃春樹). Huang was kidnapped outside his home and murdered shortly afterward, his body disfigured and abandoned in the countryside in Taipei County.
Attempts by the murderers to secure a ransom from the family enabled police to track down two suspects. Those two remain on death row and were linked to the murder by forensic evidence.
Hsu, however, was convicted based solely on the confessions of the other two, his lawyers say. One of the two later said Hsu was innocent and that they had implicated him because they wanted revenge over a private conflict.
The Control Yuan in 2001 issued a scathing report on Hsu’s conviction, citing serious flaws in the case, while the prosecutor-general filed a record five extraordinary appeals in the case, seeking to reopen it.
The Supreme Court agreed only after the Council of Grand Justices’ ruling.
Prosecutors say the evidence against Hsu is solid, citing the fact that one of the suspects (who left the country and was never caught) stayed at Hsu’s home around the time of the crime and that a car rented by him was one of several cars used for the crime.
Defense lawyers dismiss these arguments as circumstantial and add that all the other cars used for the crime were stolen, and it was therefore extremely doubtful that the perpetrators would have been careless enough to rent one of the cars under one of their own names. Hsu was tricked into renting a car for his “friends,” who didn’t have one and said they needed it for the day, his lawyers say.
The Control Yuan agreed that prosecutors’ arguments were “illogical.” It also said prosecutors ignored testimony indicating that Hsu was not at the scene of the crime.
Before the judgment was announced, as Chen waited in the hallway for guards to arrive with her son from Taipei Detention Center, she said Hsu no longer believed he would ever be free.
“They only have the confessions to go on,” she told the Taipei Times. “How can that be justice?”
“He wants to give up. He told me long ago: ‘This case is hurting everyone so much, let me go mother [let the execution proceed],’” she said.
After the judgment, between sobs, Chen said she had prepared lunch and new clothes for her son, hoping he would finally come home with her, but the clothes will go unworn.
In an interview the day before the latest judgment, Hsu’s lawyer Greg Yo (尤伯祥) said there is no evidence that Hsu participated in the 1995 murder.
On the other hand, “there is plenty of evidence that the two codefendants lied when they implicated Hsu,” he said.
The case will now go to the Supreme Court, which is likely to return the case to the lower court for a retrial.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated