The Supreme Court in a retrial on Friday upheld the life sentence handed to convicted murderer Liu Chih-ming (劉志明), formally removing him from death row, where he has been for the better part of the past decade.
Liu’s case is the first time the court commuted a death sentence to a life term, after the Constitutional Court on Sept. 20 found the death penalty constitutional, but said it should be limited to special and exceptional circumstances.
The judgement was issued in response to a court challenge made by 37 prisoners on death row, who had filed the petition through their lawyers, saying that capital punishment was unconstitutional.
Photo: Taipei Times
Liu was convicted of sexual assault and larceny resulting in homicide for the violent murder of a woman in 2014 and was handed the death sentence.
In an appeal, the Kaohsiung branch of the High Court upheld the death penalty for Liu. The sentence was also upheld in the three retrials.
Liu, aged 52 at the time, in December 2014 was carrying a hammer while looking for his former girlfriend when he came upon a woman, a retired teacher surnamed Chen (陳), opening her car door, court documents showed.
Liu decided to rob Chen, who he had never met before, and attacked her. He used the hammer to strike her head 13 times, sexually assaulted her, bit off her nipple and took NT$2,000 from her purse, prosecutors said, citing evidence and recorded police statements.
Judges upheld the death penalty, saying it was a severe crime, as Liu had killed Chen by vicious and cruel means, and sexually assaulted her, adding that there was no likelihood of rehabilitation and that Liu should be permanently separated from society.
The High Court in the fourth retrial in May commuted Liu’s sentence to life in prison, saying there was a lack of evidence that Liu took the NT$2,000 and that Chen was a random target, so it was not premeditated murder and therefore did not fall under “most serious crimes,” according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
It also cited results of psychological assessments and pre-sentence investigations, saying that there was a possibility of rehabilitation for Liu, as he had shown remorse for the crime. Public prosecutors disagreed and filed to appeal the fourth retrial.
The Supreme Court in its ruling then upheld the life sentence handed to Liu in the fourth retrial, which is the final verdict.
Groups in favor of the death penalty were joined by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in condemning the Constitutional Court’s ruling last month, saying “it effectively abolished capital punishment in Taiwan” and that “the decision runs contrary to the expectations of the majority of Taiwanese.”
They also requested the Ministry of Justice to swiftly carry out the execution of the 37 convicted prisoners currently on death row.
The Taiwan People’s Party caucus yesterday said it would propose an amendment to the Criminal Code so that those handed a life sentence would not be given parole.
Additional reporting by Liu Wan-lin
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
RSS