《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taipei citizen judges make history

UNCONVINCING REMORSE: Although the accused claimed to qualify for reduced sentencing, citizen and professional judges agreed with the prosecution

By Wen Yu-te and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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The Taipei City District Court yesterday sentenced a man to seven years and two months imprisonment for killing a person while driving drunk, in the first trial by citizen judges conducted in the jurisdiction.

The verdict is subject to appeal.

Lee Chia-hsiu （李佳修）, 23, was convicted of committing an offense against public safety that resulted in death, the court said, adding that the bench imposed a heavy sentence due to the defendant’s lack of remorse and other factors.

The accused had a blood alcohol level of nearly 1.1mg per liter and was driving double the speed limit when the incident happened, the court said, adding that he also tried to attack police officers and made untrue statements during the investigation to deflect blame.

Lee was arrested close to the scene of a deadly traffic collision in the Zhongxiao W Road tunnel in Taipei’s Zhongshan District （中山） on the morning of Nov. 14 last year, it said.

Lee, who attempted to flee from the crash scene in a vehicle, resisted the arrest and was shot in the leg by a police officer before being detained, it said.

Investigators later concluded that Lee was racing an underage person surnamed Chiang （江） after a night of partying, the court said, adding that the two did not have a driving license.

Lee veered off course and crashed into the vehicle of a driver surnamed Wang （王）, it said.

Lee admitted to the crime during the trial and said he regretted it in a plea for leniency, it said, adding that a written confession and 30 handwritten copies of the religious text Heart Sutra were submitted to the court.

The defense argued that Lee qualified for reduced sentencing as he had no prior record of driving under the influence and was willing to pay compensation to the victim’s family, the court said.

Taipei prosecutors argued that Lee’s confession omitted the most damning aspects of the crime, it said.

The prosecutors argued Lee’s show of remorse had no sincerity as the copied sutras contained six typographical errors, the court said.

The prosecution additionally stated that Lee would not have met the legal standard for leniency even if he had voluntarily surrendered to police, the court said.

A collegiate bench of citizen and professional judges agreed with the prosecution’s demands for a sentence between seven years and six months to nine years in prison, it said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES