Youth may help spare murder suspects

The Shihlin District Court yesterday said that the two suspects in the murder of former Hsinhu Elementary School teacher Wu Hsiao-hui (吳曉蕙) will not face a death sentence or life in prison if convicted.

According to police, the two suspects, 23-year-old Huang Chi-feng (黃啟峰) and 19-year-old Wang Yu-chuan (王鈺銓), who were arrested on Wednesday, were only 15-years-old and 11-years-old respectively when they allegedly murdered Wu.

Article 271 of the Criminal Code (刑法) states that a person who kills another shall be put to death or handed a life sentence.

According to Article 2 of the Law Governing the Disposition of Juvenile Cases (少年事件處理法), "the term `juvenile' ... means a person 12 years of age or older but less than 18 years of age."

Article 85-1 of the same law specifies that suspects under 12 years of age are to be handled in a juvenile court.

Article 18 of the Criminal Code (刑法) says that criminal acts committed by those under the age of 15 are not punishable. Those between 15 and 18 face reduced punishment compared with those faced by adults.

"That means Huang will face an imprisonment period longer than 10 years [if found guilty], although he would not be sentenced to death or life in jail," said Lee Cheng-chi (李正季), the presiding judge of the Shihlin District Court's Juvenile Division.

"As for Wang, according to the Article 54 of the Law Governing the Disposition of Juvenile Cases, the worst scenario for him would be two years of probation," Lee said.

Article 54 says that if the person convicted is 18-years-old, the punishment may not extend beyond the age of 21.

"Wang is 19. He will have less than two years of probation if he is convicted," Lee said.