Prosecutors said they would appeal a recent High Court ruling in which the judges commuted the death sentence for a convicted killer into life in prison, citing the defendant’s past academic record as evidence that he may be rehabilitated.
The Hualien branch of the Taiwan High Court upheld the guilty verdict against Tseng Chih-chung (曾智忠), 54, who was convicted of killing Chen Yi (陳誼), the mother of his girlfriend, Tsai Ching-ching (蔡京京), in 2012.
Judges in the first and second rulings had given Tseng the death sentence.
The Hualien court said that Tseng had performed well in high school and college, receiving high grades and several merit citations, which shows that “there is possibility for his rehabilitation.”
Tseng and Tsai met while studying in New Zealand in 2000.
Investigators said that Tseng and Tsai had not been working and had no income, so they asked for financial assistance from Tsai’s mother.
The two plotted the murder after Chen rejected their demand to give them NT$1 million (NT$29,892), they said.
Tseng was found guilty of strangling Chen with a rope, placing the body in a plastic bag and disposing of it at a beach in Hualien County in May 2012.
Tsai was given the life sentence as an accessory to the murder. An investigation showed that she did not participate in the killing, but helped Tseng dispose of the body.
The two got married in 2014 while Tseng was in custody pending trial.
Earlier rulings showed strong public support for the death sentence for Tseng, with many saying he did not show remorse during the court hearings and tried to produce fraudulent evidence and false testimonies in an attempt to pin the murder on someone else.
Media reports said that Tseng showed his knowledge of the law during the trials and was arrogant and scornful when answering questions by judges and lawyers.
The latest ruling has some legal professionals questioning the court’s basis for changing the sentence.
“Judges must conduct a trial properly, and investigate and examine evidence with care for the public to trust the court’s judgement,” Judicial Reform Foundation director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said.
“Otherwise, as in this case, the public might think that judges have too much power of discretion in making decisions,” Kao said.
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