Ruling on a bizarre murder case dating back to 1994, the California state Supreme Court has refused to reinstate a double murder conviction against Lisa Peng over the deaths of her millionaire husband's mistress and their baby in Orange County.
Peng, now aged 49, was originally sentenced in 1995 to life in prison without possibility of parole for the fatal stabbing of Jennifer Ji, 25, and the suffocation of her five-month-old son, Kevin.
During that trial, Peng's lawyers claimed the husband was the killer. The jury was deadlocked at her first trial, but she was convicted at a retrial.
But in a 3-0 ruling last October, the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction on the grounds that police had failed to advise Peng of her rights, ignored her requests for a lawyer, demanded that she confess, and then used her husband as their agent to elicit incriminating statements.
The court unanimously denied review of a lower-court ruling that granted her a new trial on the grounds that she was coerced and deceived into incriminating herself through her husband, who cooperated with sheriff's deputies.
The bodies were found in a Mission Viejo apartment where Ji, Jim Peng's mainlander mistress, lived. He owned a company called Ranger Communications, which made CB radios in Asia.
The Pengs, parents of two sons, had divided their time between Taiwan and a home in Rancho Santa Margarita.
According to trial testimony, Lisa Peng knew of her husband's affair, which started in 1992, and had threatened to harm Ji. She once found them staying in the family home after returning from a trip to Taiwan, and later discovered the mistress' clothes and cut holes in them.
After the killings, Jim Peng agreed to help authorities by hunting through his wife's closet and then her financial records, for clues.
Then, according to a state appellate court, after Lisa Peng had been interrogated for many hours, officers sent the husband in to question her in Chinese.
Lisa Peng burst into tears and told him she had bitten his mistress in a confrontation hours before her death, and that Ji, who had 18 stab wounds, had accidentally stabbed herself after falling.
Authorities used her statement against her and matched her DNA to a bite mark on the victim's arm.
The highly-publicized trials in the mid-1990s made major headlines in Asia -- especially in Taiwan, home to both Pengs -- and even spawned a grisly Hong Kong-made murder mystery, called Lover's Lover.
The murder and subsequent trials have also been compared to the OJ Simpson case, as both involved two victims and DNA evidence.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS