Sat, Jul 22, 2023 page1

• Citizen judges issue their first ruling in murder case

  PERFORMED WELL: The system is meant to empower ordinary citizens, and in this case they showed meaningful participation asking the right questions, an expert said

  • By Wang Ting-chuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  The New Taipei City District Court yesterday sentenced a woman to seven years and two months in prison for murdering her husband in Taiwan’s first-ever criminal case to be tried by a mixed collegiate bench of lay and professional judges.

  Taiwan began assigning lay judges with the implementation of the Citizen Judges Act (國民法官法) on Jan. 1.

  A woman surnamed Chi (季), aged 63, was accused of stabbing her husband, surnamed Fan (范), aged 72, in his sleep on the evening of Nov. 30 last year.

  

  Six lay judges join professional judges at a press conference in New Taipei City yesterday.

  Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times

  She confessed to the killing but pled for leniency on grounds of diminished capacity by mental duress and pitiable circumstances respectively under Article 19 and Article 59 of the Criminal Code, the court said in the verdict.

  The prosecution did not contest the part of the defense’s case arguing that Chi’s voluntary surrender to the authorities qualified the defendant for sentencing mitigation, it said.

  Chi claimed to be a victim of chronic domestic abuse by the deceased, which the prosecution also did not dispute, it said.

  The prosecution contended that the accused was not acting under extreme mental duress at the time of the killing and her circumstances, albeit worth of sympathy, did not entitle her to further reductions to her sentencing, it said.

  The prosecution said that Chi would serve a shorter time in prison than the sentence for aggravated assault, if the court allowed further sentence reductions in addition to her voluntary surrender.

  The collegiate bench accepted the prosecution’s argument saying, based on Chi’s psychiatric examination, her capacity was not diminished at the time of the murder, it said.

  The examiner’s testimony indicated that Chi was aware that murder was against the law and that options other than that were available at the time of the crime, the court said.

  The court rejected the plea to reduce Chi’s sentence due to pitiable circumstances, as her case does not meet the legal standard “the offense is so pitiable that even the minimum punishment is considered too severe.”

  Therefore, the bench accepted the prosecution’s position that Chi should receive a prison term of between eight and 12 years, the court said.

  The collegiate bench handed down the sentence — which was close to the minimum prison term demanded by the prosecution — after three days of deliberations.

  The lay members of the bench have performed well in keeping their focus and being attentive to details, a legal expert who observed the case as part of the public audience said on condition of anonymity.

  The lay judges repeatedly asked to examine the “gruesome” crime scene photographs and asked relevant questions, they said.

  Though some of the questions posed by the lay judges can be construed as prejudicial, these missteps fall into the normal range of expectations, they said, adding that the system of lay judges was meant to empower ordinary citizens.
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