On November 5 the Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Court revoked the NT$100,000 bail granted by the Pingtung District Court to a man suspected of drink-driving as a repeat offender and killing a 20-year-old university student on her way home for a funeral, and sent the matter back to the district court. The prosecutors’ appeal was accepted.
According to Taiwan’s United Daily News and ETtoday, the crash happened at about 6:51 p.m. on November 2 near Sanhe Road in Ligang Township, Pingtung County. A 25-year-old man driving an SUV without a licence hit the 20-year-old student, who was riding a scooter; she was taken to hospital and died. This paper does not name the suspect.
광고 문의 · 300×250The victim studied architecture at a national university in Kaohsiung and had come home for the funeral of her grandfather, who had died of cancer. She went out to buy dinner when she was struck, ETtoday reported. The driver’s breath alcohol reading was reported as 0.81 mg per litre, and he identified himself as the driver at the scene and was booked on a public-endangerment charge. Reports differ on how far she was dragged, and this paper could not confirm it.
The bail ruling and the appeal
Prosecutors had sought detention, but on November 3 the Pingtung District Court set bail at NT$100,000 with residence restrictions. According to United Daily News, the court said the file held only a table of prior records without supporting documents, and that the circumstances of the earlier case differed, so a risk of repeating the same offence had not been shown. The suspect was convicted of drink-driving in 2024 and had served that sentence, and was placed on Kaohsiung’s published list of repeat drink-driving, drug-driving and test-refusal offenders in June and July this year.
Prosecutors appealed on November 4, asking in effect whether a fatal crash was needed before a risk of reoffending could be found. They also argued that he often drinks with coworkers and could drive again because of his job, and that with a statutory minimum of five years, NT$100,000 was not enough to prevent flight. ETtoday added that prosecutors said surrendering at the scene matters only for later sentencing and does not remove the risk of flight.
The High Court revoked the ruling on the evening of November 5 and remanded it. Its specific reasons were not reported and could not be confirmed. The Pingtung court is to set a hearing and notify the suspect, and what it decides on detention could not be confirmed. The ruling concerns detention and bail only; guilt and sentence will be decided at trial.
