Court denies report that it's short of judges

The Supreme Court yesterday denied a news report that it would have problems supplying judges to hear appeals in the case of the Hsichih Trio.

The report said that there would be only one Supreme Court judge eligible to hear the case because appeal judges cannot hear cases in which they have already participated

Presiding Judge Lu Chao-tze (呂潮澤), of the Supreme Court's No. 11 Criminal Court, was now alone among the 12 criminal court presiding judges in having never heard any of the hearings in the Hsichih Trio's 11-year legal odyssey, the report said.

Appeal hearings are always held by three judges, including one presiding judge.

However, Lu Yung-fu (呂永福), a spokesman for the Supreme Court, said yesterday that the rules barring judges from hearing another trial in the same case did not apply in all circumstances.

"I think this is a misunderstanding of the system, I am afraid," Lu told the Taipei Times.

The rule only applies when a judge had heard earlier hearings at a lower judicial level, Lu said.

The rule did not apply in the case of judges who had heard earlier hearings at the same judicial level, including Supreme Court judges who had heard earlier appeals in the Supreme Court, the spokesman said.

If a judge has been promoted to a higher court since participating in an earlier hearing or when, following an appeal to a higher court, the higher court sends the case back to the lower court for a retrial, the rule will apply, Lu said.

"This is the real meaning of the system. It is quite different from what the news story says," Lu said.

"As a result, as you can see, there will be no problem for us if either party to the Hsichih Trio murder case wants to appeal. We will take care of it in the usual way," Lu added.

Lin Hsien-tung (林憲同) and Yang Szu-chin (楊思勤), the plaintiffs' lawyers, said on Monday that they would appeal to the Supreme Court on behalf of the victims, Wu Ming-han (吳銘漢) and Yeh Ying-lan's (葉盈蘭) surviving family members of the victims, including Wu Tang-tang (吳唐糖) and Wu Tang-chieh (吳唐接) -- mother and older brother of Wu -- and Wu Tung-yen (吳東諺), the 17-year-old handicapped son of the couple.

If the Supreme Court upholds Monday's verdict of the Taiwan High Court, then the trio will be freed from restrictions imposed on them by the court, under which they must not move from their current home addresses or travel outside the country.

If, on the other hand, the Supreme Court decides to grant the appeal and send the case back to the Taiwan High Court, the restrictions will remain on the three men, who will remain out of prison unless they are later convicted at the retrial in the High Court.