The Supreme Court today remanded the case of a man sentenced to death for fatally shooting four people in central Taiwan in 2022, amid a tightening of the nation's criteria for imposing capital punishment.
The court ruled that the High Court must separately assess the sentences for multiple crimes committed by Lee Hung-yuan (李鴻淵), a former employee of Nantou County-based biotech contract manufacturer Kang Jian, citing Judgement No. 113-Hsien-Pan-8, issued in September last year.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
In that judgement, the Constitutional Court ruled that the death penalty is constitutional only for the "most serious" premeditated crimes that result in death — widely interpreted as a "de facto" step toward abolition of capital punishment.
Today's ruling marked a major shift in the case, after both the Nantou District Court and the Taichung branch of the High Court had previously imposed and upheld the death sentences against Lee.
On July 14, 2022, Lee killed the brother and daughter of Kang Jian chairman Lai Min-nan (賴敏男), as well as two employees surnamed Chang (張) and Liu (劉).
He also shot Lai in the head, although Lai survived.
The district court sentenced Lee to three death sentences and one life sentence for the murders.
Despite pleading guilty, the culprit appealed the ruling.
The Taichung branch of the High Court upheld the verdict in December 2023, ruling that Lee's actions constituted "the most serious crimes" defined by the UN.
Citing a forensic psychiatric evaluation indicating a low likelihood of rehabilitation, the High Court concluded that the death penalty was the only means to uphold justice and maintain social order.
Lee filed another appeal.
In March last year, the Supreme Court upheld his life sentence, but it did not immediately review the death sentences.
Instead, the court awaited a Constitutional Court ruling on the legality of capital punishment, following petitions for extraordinary appeals filed by 37 death row inmates.
Since President William Lai (賴清德) took office in May last year, only one inmate, Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱) — one of the 37 petitioners — has been executed.
Huang was sentenced to death in 2017 for the Oct. 1, 2013, rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend and the murder of her mother in New Taipei City's Sanchong District (三重).
Two death row inmates were executed during former president Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) two terms from 2016 to last year, while 33 executions were carried out during former president Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) administration from 2008 to 2016.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS