The High Court yesterday upheld a life sentence for a man convicted of killing a three-year-old girl, known as “Little Light Bulb” (小燈泡), in a gruesome knife attack in Taipei in 2016.
In the retrial, doctors for the prosecution said that Wang Ching-yu (王景玉), although diagnosed with schizophrenia, was cognitively normal during the attack and capable of controling himself, High Court spokeswoman Wang Ping-hsia (王屏夏) said.
The High Court saw no reason to reduce the life sentence imposed by the lower court, the spokeswoman said, citing Article 19 of the Criminal Code, which lists mental illness as possible grounds for a commuted sentence.
The court decided against imposing the death penalty, as it concluded that Wang Ching-yu’s schizophrenia could improve with proper treatment, reducing the likelihood of recidivism, she added.
Wang Ching-yu is believed to have committed the crime while having hallucinations induced by his schizophrenia, she said, citing doctors’ testimony.
Wang Ching-yu’s family was not aware of his condition and he had not received psychiatric treatment, the spokeswoman added.
The case can still be appealed.
The killing occurred on March 28, 2016, when Little Light Bulb and her mother, Claire Wang (王婉諭), were walking to an MRT station in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
Wang Ching-yu grabbed the child from behind and beheaded her with a cleaver.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office had sought the death penalty for Wang Ching-yu, but the Taipei District Court gave him a life sentence in May 2017 and the High Court upheld the ruling in July 2018.
Prosecutors appealed the case, taking it to the Supreme Court, which sent it back to the High Court in December 2018 for retrial, saying that no medical testimony had been presented in the lower court.
Claire Wang, who became a social advocate after the death of her daughter, was nominated for legislator-at-large on a New Power Party ticket in the Jan. 11 legislative elections and is to begin serving in the Legislative Yuan next month.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS