The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death sentence for Cheng Chieh (鄭捷), who was convicted of stabbing four people to death and injuring 22 in a May 21, 2014, attack in the Taipei MRT rail system.
The verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
The court’s ruling said it upheld the death penalty because there was clear evidence that the defendant had committed an act defined as one of the most severe crimes by the UN’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The New Taipei City District Court on March 6 last year convicted Cheng of four counts of murder and 22 counts of attempted manslaughter, handing down the death sentence for each murder charge and prison sentences ranging from five to eight years for a total of 144 years on the manslaughter charges.
It also ordered him to pay NT$30.91 million (US$956,078) in compensation to his victims, as well as NT$8.55 million to the families of the four dead.
The Taiwan High Court in October last year upheld the convictions, but ordered Cheng to pay NT$61.39 million in compensation to his victims and the relatives of those slain.
Photo: CNA
Cheng’s defense appealed that verdict to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court said the four death sentences were “commensurate with the crimes committed,” adding that the rulings handed down by the courts must be based on the laws of the nation, which still include capital punishment.
The justices also said that Cheng was of sound mind and in control of his actions at the time of the attack, and there was no indication of a psychiatric disorder or loss of mental faculties.
They said that even if an appraisal by experts indicated the defendant had a minor psychological disturbance, it still would not affect their decision.
Liang Chia-ying (梁家贏), one of Cheng’s defense lawyers, said the verdict was regrettable.
“The courts did not fully investigate Cheng’s motives, nor did they attempt to determine if his mental state was affected by illness,” Liang said.
Cheng is currently the 43rd death row inmate.
Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) denied a media report that top judiciary officials had met in the afternoon to determine when to execute Cheng.
“We have not received the official documents of the judgment, and we did not discuss this issue. We do not have a schedule for the execution,” she said.
The father of Chang Cheng-han (張正翰), one of the four slain, said that he hopes the execution can be carried out soon.
“The ruling provides justice for society. The murderer must pay with his life for his crimes,” he said. “We still see random killings in our society. The sooner Cheng Chieh is executed, the sooner it will serve as a warning to people and prevent such killings from happening again.”
Chiu Mu-sen (邱木森), husband of Pan Pi-chu (潘碧珠), another slain victim, said he thought justice had been served.
Chiu, who had been married to Pan for more than 40 years, said “a fair verdict had been handed down for her murder.”
Additional reporting by CNA
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique