The Taiwan High Court yesterday reduced the prison sentence of a woman convicted of killing her baby, ruling that she was emotionally unstable when she committed her crime.
The 34-year-old woman, surnamed Chien (簡), told prosecutors that she had an affair with a colleague of her husband’s surnamed Wu (吳) shortly after she married. In May 2008 she found out she was pregnant and suspected Wu was the father.
She gave birth to a baby boy in February last year, but was diagnosed with post-partum depression.
In June, four months after giving birth, she killed the baby, first smashing him into a wall and then stabbing him 51 times. Chien then tried to kill herself.
Prosecutors investigating the case said DNA testing showed Chien’s husband was the father of the baby.
At the first trial, at the Banciao District Court, prosecutors sought a life sentence. The court sentenced Chien to 15 years in prison.
The High Court yesterday reduced the sentence by more than half to seven years.
Judges said in their ruling that they had to consider that Chien had suffered emotionally and regretted her crime, and that she had been diagnosed with psychological disorders including depression and hallucinations and committed the crime when she was emotionally unstable.
The ruling is not final and can be appealed.
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS