The Supreme Court has finalized the ruling in Taiwan’s first trial involving citizen judges, sentencing a Taichung man who murdered a colleague to life in prison.
A 23-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃) has been sentenced to life imprisonment with lifetime deprivation of civil rights for stabbing and killing his friend, surnamed Shih (施), who rejected his confessions of love.
The case was the first to be trialed under the Citizen Judges Act (國民法官法) with randomly selected members of the public forming part of a judging panel.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public
The first ruling sentenced Huang to life in prison, which was upheld by the second trial.
The Supreme Court recently rejected an appeal, finalizing the sentence.
Shih had invited Huang, a fellow recent graduate of Tunghai University, to join the direct sales company where he worked, court documents said.
Huang developed feelings for Shih, but was rejected by Shih when he confessed, they said, adding that the two were not able to return to being close friends, leaving Huang distressed.
The court heard that on Oct. 20, 2022, Huang snuck into Shih’s residence and hid, resulting in a confrontation between the two when Shih returned home.
Huang took out two kitchen knives that he had brought to the residence and stabbed Shih 13 times before calling the police to confess.
Shih was sent to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office pressed charges against Huang, including homicide.
Huang’s lawyer argued that the defendant had autism spectrum disorder, suggesting he undergo treatment and rehabilitation.
However, the court found no evidence of intellectual disability and noted that Huang had not sought treatment before the incident.
Additionally, the court found that Huang’s actions were premeditated, and believed that Huang confessed as he believed he would be easily identified, rather than due to remorse, so he did not meet the conditions for a reduced sentence.
The Taichung branch of the High Court upheld the first ruling after an appeal, finding no issue with the original trial.
Huang then appealed to the Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal and finalized the ruling.
Shih’s parents filed an additional civil suit, requesting NT$8.02 million (US$244,628) in compensation.
In November last year, the civil section of the Taichung District Court ordered Huang to pay NT$7.37 million to the family.
Although this was the first case involving citizen judges, as the first trial alone took almost one year to reach a verdict, 27 other cases have since been finalized by panels involving citizen judges.
Additional reporting by Chang Wen-chuan
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