The High Court yesterday found a man guilty of stabbing and killing a railway police officer last year, overturning an earlier acquittal.
The court sentenced the man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), to 17 years in prison, after which he must undergo five years of custodial protection to monitor and treat his mental health issues.
Upon learning of the ruling, the mother of slain Railway Police Bureau officer Lee Cheng-han (李承翰) said: “With some reluctance, I can accept this decision.”
Photo: Wang Shan-yen, Taipei Times
“I think the sentencing can help to make our society safer,” she said. “By the time that Cheng finishes his prison sentence, I hope that he will never again endanger the public.”
“It conforms more to society’s expectations,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said of the ruling.
Cheng, 55, was found guilty of homicide and of using violence against a public official on duty.
A psychiatric evaluation had found that Cheng had mental disorders, impaired judgement and diminished capacity, but that he still had enough control over his actions to be held responsible.
“The panel of judges concluded to overturn the earlier acquittal decision, since it was based on an erroneous interpretation of Cheng’s mental condition from the psychiatric evaluation,” presiding judge Chen Lien-fa (陳連發) said.
“We also believe that if Cheng does not receive appropriate treatment, he is likely to pose a danger to society when released from prison, and could cause bodily harm and threaten people’s lives, so we have imposed five years of custodial protection following his release to monitor and treat his mental condition,” Chen added.
Yesterday’s ruling was the second in the case. The defendant and the prosecution can appeal.
Lee, 25, was killed in the line of duty on July 3, 2019, after being stabbed by Cheng, who did not have a ticket and refused to pay for his fare on a northbound express train.
Cheng’s actions were captured on video by other passengers.
Many people hailed Lee as a hero who acted with courage to protect the train’s passengers. A plaque was later put up at the station to commemorate his heroism.
On April 30 last year, when the Chiayi District Court acquitted Cheng of murder based on the psychiatric evaluation, there was a public outcry.
Lee’s father told reporters after the Chiayi court’s verdict was announced: “This is outrageous.”
“My son was killed in the line of duty as a police officer and the court gave a not-guilty ruling,” he said. “It is painful for me right now. The judges have lost their senses and reason.”
The father died one month after the first ruling from a stomach hemorrhage.
Lee’s mother said that it was her wish that her husband could have been there to hear yesterday’s decision, “because he very much cared about the outcome of the case and some justice has been restored.”
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS