Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - The Taipei Prosecutors Office is seeking a 4 year prison term for entertainer Makiyo under aggravated assault charges, yesterday evening, while continuing the investigation over whether the police had intentionally covered up the video footage that revealed Makiyo kicking a taxi driver, which functioned as a key piece of evidence in the assault case, yesterday.
The Taipei Prosecutors Office said yesterday that it is currently determining whether the Taipei Xinyi District Police Office had intentionally delayed turning in the crucial video footage taken by a taxi driver, surnamed Chiang, who was a witness of the entire incident.
Police Under Fire
The police may be charged with offenses of destroying criminal evidence and potentially of disclosing evidence to the media, it said.
The video footage recorded by the onboard camera in Chiang's cab seems to reveal that Makiyo in fact had joined her Japanese friend Takateru Tomoyori in attacking a taxi driver, surnamed Lin, contrary to her previous claims of merely watching as the dispute developed and worsened.
Chiang had originally handed the footage to a police officer from the Sanmin Branch of the Songshan District Police Office on Feb. 2, who then passed it to another officer from the Shenchangli Police Station of the Xinyi District.
The Xinyi officers had trouble reading the disc, and, figuring that it must be a spare copy of footage provided by another taxi driver, surnamed Yang, they never paid attention to the video until nearly one week later, when local media visited the police station upon receiving a complaint from Chiang claiming the police had not properly handled the evidence.
The Xinyi District Police Office had apologized for its negligence on Feb. 9, and the Taipei City Police Department (TCPD) had issued punishments for the Shengchangli police officers around midnight the same day.
President Ma Concerned
President Ma Ying-jeou had personally contacted National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Wang Cho-chiun at around noon to inquire about the Xinyi District Police Office's negligence in handling the case, Presidential Office Spokesperson Fan Chiang Tai-chi said yesterday.
After Wang reported to Ma the punishments handed out to the police officers, the president instructed that the police should learn their lesson in properly handling evidence and also to lawfully unravel the truth behind the case.
Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin also instructed the TPCD to thoroughly investigate the mistakes the police officers had made in the process of passing on the evidence and leaving it unattended, asking for the police officers involved to be harshly punished.
Makiyo Charged
With the video footage provided by Chiang as well as other audio recordings of the incident provided by local convenience stores, which clearly recorded Makiyo goading Tomoyori into beating Lin harder, the Taipei Prosecutors Office officially indicted the two on aggravated assault charges, with prosecutors seeking 4 years for Makiyo and 6 years for Tomoyori.
Yaz and Vanessa, the local starlets who had accompanied the two during the attack and had allegedly committed perjury by denying the fact that Makiyo had kicked the victim, will be indicted separately, the Taipei Prosecutors Office said.
Cab Drivers Furious
In addition to stirring up waves of anti-Makiyo sentiment, the incident of Makiyo and her Japanese friend over the attack on a taxi driver has also fueled outrage among taxi drivers in Taiwan.
In terms of the Japan Interchange Association (JIA) in Taipei only expressing concern for the legal aspect of how Tomoyori is handled and not paying attention to whether the taxi driver Tomoyori had beaten was recovering in the hospital intensive care unit, "This is too much!" the local taxi driver association claimed.
Of the 80,000 taxies in Taiwan, 60,000 of them operate in Taipei, the association said, pointing out that the great number of taxi drivers has made driving taxi in Taipei a very difficult way to make a living; with an average hourly wage of NT$72, a taxi driver has to work for 12 hours a day to support his family.
Lin had been working so diligently, yet the JIA had paid no attention at all to his livelihood, the association protested, asking the JIA to solemnly apologize over the incident, and requesting the Taiwan government pay taxi drivers the proper respect they deserve.
Injured Driver Forgives Makiyo
While the taxi driver association and the general public raged on the offenders' repeated dishonest behavior, Lin, the driver allegedly seriously injured by Makiyo and Tomoyori, thought otherwise.
"If Makiyo and her friends admit to their misbehaviors and tell the truth, I am willing to forgive them," Lin's lawyer quoted his client as saying yesterday, astonishing the public.
The incident had begun with a misunderstanding, Lin was quoted to have said. Paraphrasing what Lin had revealed to him, the lawyer said Makiyo had made sudden and big gestures from the backseat of the cab to stop Vanessa, sitting next to Lin, from paying the taxi fee.
Makiyo's motions had startled Lin, who reflexively made a blocking gesture, and might have accidentally had physical contact with Makiyo. Tomoyori and Yaz had already gotten out of the cab at this point and had not witnessed these exchanges, Lin said.
Upon getting out of the taxi, Makiyo had kicked the vehicle; Lin told her off and started calling the police. Makiyo and Tomoyori conversed in Japanese, and the Japanese man began beating him, Lin recalled. He remembered that a female had also kicked him.
Despite being seriously injured, Lin asserted that it is the attitude after making a mistake that is important. Life carries on after big mistakes; face the mistakes and do not lie, and I will forgive them, Lin was quoted as saying.
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