Lawmakers and rights groups yesterday called for a retrial or an extraordinary appeal for death row inmate Cheng Hsin-tze (鄭性澤), who was convicted of murdering a police officer in a case activists called “an obvious miscarriage of justice.”
“No clear evidence proved that Cheng shot a police officer in Fongyuan District (豐原), Greater Taichung, on Jan. 5, 2002, but he was still given the death penalty,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) told a press conference.
There were numerous flaws in the handling of the crime scene and the interrogation, and the judges presiding over the case were ignorant of evidence favoring the defendant, lawyer Law Bing-ching (羅秉成) said.
Cheng was accused of killing police officer Su Hsian-pi (蘇憲丕) with a Glock handgun in a shootout at a KTV, where Cheng, Luo Wu-hsiung (羅武雄) and four other men were partying. Luo also died in the shootout.
Cheng’s conviction was based on a confession, allegedly extracted through torture, and the testimony of witnesses, Law said.
Police investigators failed to take photographs of the crime scene, note the positions of the guns involved, collect fingerprints from the guns or perform ballistic analysis, the lawyer added.
However, throughout the 21 court proceedings relating to the case, the judges failed to recognize these errors, he said.
Citing the “Hsichih Trio” case, in which three former death row inmates were cleared of murder charges on Sept. 1, but only after 21 years of trials and appeals, Law said Cheng’s case “was simpler” and “it did not take a genius to know there were many things wrong in the investigation.”
A ballistic analysis would be enough to prove that Cheng did not fire one shot and a blood splatter analysis would also show that Cheng could not possibly have changed his position after being shot in the leg and fired at Su as the police investigators claimed, Law said.
“But those reports, along with the police department’s video recordings, have been missing from start to finish,” the lawyer said.
That was why legislators and rights groups demanded that the police submit all available information and a retrial be held, Law said.
DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) appealed to Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), saying Huang “would not be comfortable with signing Cheng’s execution order.”
“If the Hsichih Trio could be proved innocent after 21 years in a case which was much more complicated than Cheng’s, I don’t understand why Cheng does not at least deserve a retrial,” DPP Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS