The Changhua District Court on Wednesday sentenced a repeat drunk driver who killed two Vietnamese migrant workers and injured another to seven years and six months in prison, but the conviction drew complaints from netizens who said that the judicial system was too lenient on repeat offenders.
Cho Chia-wen (卓家文), 36, was convicted of drunk driving resulting in death for the January incident in which his car hit the migrant workers, who were riding motorcycles, in Changhua County’s Hemei Township (和美).
A Breathalyzer test at the time showed that Cho’s blood alcohol level was 1.15 milligrams per liter (mg/L). The legal limit is 0.15 mg/L.
In its ruling, the court said the penalty was merited because the accident led to two deaths, Cho had broken his promise to reach a financial settlement with the families of those he killed as well as the injured victim, and he had a prior conviction for drunk driving in July 2001 in which two people were injured.
Cho’s Breathalyzer test after the 2001 accident showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.3 mg/L; his conviction for that incident was a suspended sentence of six months and three years of probation.
Wednesday’s ruling said that Cho continued to flout the law despite his 2001 conviction.
“Cho had blood alcohol level far in excess of the legal limit. He was driving at about 80kph when he slammed into the other vehicles, killing two female migrant workers from Vietnam, and injuring another. It was a tragedy for the victims, and their families lost their economic pillars … not to mention the indescribable emotional trauma the deaths brought,” the ruling said.
Many netizens said that as a repeat offender, Cho should have received a sentence of at least 20 years or even life in prison for killing two people.
Judges are insensitive to the innocent victims killed by drunk drivers, netizens wrote.
However, Changhua District Court spokesman Wang Yi-min (王義閔) on Wednesday said the law stipulates that the penalty for drunk driving resulting in death is between three and 10 years in prison.
“The judges have handed down what is deemed a severe punishment, a sentence of more than seven years,” he said.
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