Man's death penalty commuted to life sentence after four retrials

Kaohsiung, May 7 (CNA) A Kaohsiung man's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment Tuesday by the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court, after his case was retried for the fourth time.

According to the court's verdict Tuesday, the man surnamed Liu (劉) was accused of robbing and killing a woman near Haluo market in Kaohsiung's Zuoying District on Dec. 3 2014.

According to previous verdicts, Liu rode a scooter looking for his ex-girlfriend that day hoping to get back together, while carrying a hammer and planned to threaten her if she refused, but his girlfriend was not at home so he left.

Later the same day he saw a woman, who had just finished grocery shopping at Haluo market and was getting in her car, whom he proceeded to attack with the hammer in an attempt to steal the vehicle. The strike caused the woman to fall into the passenger seat, the initial verdicts said.

When the victim appeared to be regaining consciousness after the initial attack, Liu struck her on the head another 13 times.

However, he was unable to drive the car away as the steering wheel was locked and so took NT$2,000 (US$61.79) from her purse and raped her before leaving, the earlier verdicts concluded.

The woman, a retired teacher, was later found dead in the car by police.

Liu received the death sentence for robbing and killing the woman in all four previous verdicts.

However, after several appeals and the Supreme Court sending the case back to the Kaohsiung court four separate times, the latter ruled Tuesday that the woman Liu robbed and killed was a random target.

The Kaohsiung court ruled that Liu did not plan to rob and kill the woman and therefore the crime does not fit the category of "most serious crimes" listed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the death penalty can only be implemented under such circumstances.

In addition, the court ruled that there is lack of evidence proving Liu stole NT$2,000 from the victim, despite the fact he confessed to doing so, and it is difficult to ascertain with certainty that he intended to kill the victim when he attacked her with the hammer.

Furthermore, the court said that results of psychological assessments and pre-sentence investigations showed that Liu is still civilizable, therefore his death penalty was commuted to a life sentence and disenfranchisement for life.

The ruling can still be appealed.

Meanwhile, Liu's sentence of 10 years for rape has already been affirmed in previous rulings.

Learning about the latest ruling, the victim's husband said he will do everything in his power to fight for justice for his wife.

Carrying the purse stolen from his wife by Liu, the husband, surnamed Chang (張), told reporters that Liu cut the hammer shorter to make it easier to carry with him, which indicates he did "plan to kill someone."

He added that Liu made sure his wife was alone, followed her and waited for her to get in the car. "Does this not count as planning (to kill her)?"

Chang then questioned why the court said there was a lack of evidence Liu stole from his wife and asked the family to produce evidence of the exact amount stolen, when Liu himself admitted to stealing about NT$2,000 during the investigation.

He also argued that Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital's report indicated there is a high possibility Liu could commit sexual offences again in 15 years, while Kaohsiung Municipal Kai-Syuan Psychiatric Hospital confirmed the man does not have mental health problems, all of which the court ignored.

In addition, Chang noted that Liu has three lawyers from the Legal Aid Foundation while he initially only had one from the Association for Victims Support. Even after hiring a second lawyer, he still has less representation.

Chang went on to said that in countries where the death penalty has been abolished, there is often the option of life imprisonment without parole to ensure that perpetrators cannot re-enter society.

However in Taiwan, a life sentence still comes with the possibility of parole, which not only fails to provide closure for victims and their families but also adds to their fear.

Under current conditions, Taiwan is not ready to abolish the death penalty, he stressed.