Former independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (
The case stems from Lo's assault on Lee during a legislative committee meeting on March 28 last year. Lo was filmed on closed circuit television slapping Lee in the face.
The security tape which recorded the incident appears to show Lo's assistant Kao Ming-ta (高明達) stopping Lee's assistant from helping her. Lee subsequently filed a civil suit and criminal charges for the assault against Lo and Kao on April 9 last year. Taipei prosecutors officially indicted the pair on Oct. 8 last year.
In Taiwan, civil and criminal actions relating to the same alleged offenses are tried in joint proceedings.
The Taipei District Court yesterday held its second hearing on the suit. Lo and Kao, accompanied by their lawyer Tu Ying-ta (
The attorneys for both parties agreed to seek a private, out-of-court settlement.
The judge agreed to the plan and adjourned the case for one month to enable them to come to a settlement. If they fail to do so, the trial will resume.
Adjourning the hearing, Judge Tsai Ju-chi (
Judges in Taiwan have discretion to drop criminal charges in the event that the defendant and plaintiff to the related civil proceedings reach a private settlement.
The hearing lasted for approximately 10 minutes.
Before the hearing began, Lo told the press that he was sincere in his remorse and would do "whatever it took" to ease the pain he has caused. But Lo added that he had as yet received no response from Lee or her lawyer.
"I've said that I'm sorry more than once," Lo said. "I've been trying to reach her and let her know that I'm sorry. And I'll keep on trying until she receives my message. I think we can resolve this."
Kao and Tu had no comments.
Lee Fu-tien, however, said that neither he or Lee had ever received a call or notification from Lo of his apology. While he agreed with Lo's proposal at the hearing, he stressed that it did not mean a settlement had been reached.
"Diane wants to solve this case, too," he said. "However, we do not know how to make it happen since Lo, Kao and their lawyer have never spoken with us. We don't know what their bottom line is. And we really don't know how sincere Lo's apology is."
He said that Lee would accept Lo's apology "only under certain circumstances."
"The damage to her reputation is what she cares about the most," Lee said.
"If Lo's compromise and apology cannot fix the damage, she will not accept it."
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS