THE HIGASHI-SUMIYOSHI CASE:
After 20 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment-Freedom.

Arson, Murder & Insurance Fraud

The Higashi-Sumiyoshi Case
A Case of Voluntary Confessions?
by
Michael H. Fox
Originally Published in Kansai Time Out Magazine

Link to photos from the fire scene.

Constitution of Japan: Article 38:2 Confession made under compulsion, torture or threat, or after prolonged arrest or detention shall not be admitted in evidence.

When the postwar occupation forces were designing the present Japanese constitution, one of their goals was to broaden the sphere of rights encompassing the individual citizen. A key beneficiary of these rights was to be the criminally accused. Those accused of capital crimes would be presumed innocent until proven guilty, coerced confessions would not be admitted as evidence, and if found innocent, the defendant could not to be put in double jeopardy-the prosecution would forfeit the right to appeal decisions of “not guilty.”

Many articles of the new constitution were welcomed, some were tolerated and some abhorred. To the judicial and political elite , these particular rights which protected the criminally accused clearly fell into the latter category. And over fifty years later, things still remain as they did before the war. A recent incident in Kansai demonstrates the contemporary treatment of the criminally accused, and the gap between legal theory and actual practice.

THE ACCIDENT
On July 22, 1995, Shimada Tatsuhiro, a 34 year old technician, stopped at a gasoline stand and filled the tank of his van before arriving at his home in Osaka`s Higashi-Sumiyoshi ward. Some ten minutes later he smelled smoke and noticed a small fire in the garage under his van. He quickly searched for an extinguisher while his wife called the fire department. Some neighbors also lent assistance. But the tiny fire grew and spread. The couple’s 11 year old daughter, who at the time was in the first floor bath, tried to escape but was overcome by smoke and died of asphyxiation.

Both the police and fire departments carried out detailed investigations. Japan has a proportionately high number of arson-for-insurance fraud incidents and so investigation is a routine matter. The fire itself did not arouse the suspicion of the authorities, but the circumstances of the family probably did. Police soon learned that the man and woman of the house did not share the same name nor were they legally married. They had lived together for six years-a common law marriage-and their two children were from the woman`s (Ms. Aoki's) previous marriage. Police also discovered that Mr. Shimada was a zainichi Korean (whose real family name was Boku)and that Ms. Aoki had life insurance policies on both of her children.

Life insurance coverage for children is quite usual in Japan, most couples carry it as a matter of course. The usual coverage for minors through major programs is five million yen which can be doubled to ten million yen for a nominal premium. The little girl who died was insured for fifteen million yen, somewhat above the national norm.

THE INTERROGATION
The investigation of the fire did not seem to produce any suspicious findings. If it had, the police would have issued arrest warrants right away. Perhaps something about this case annoyed their conformist sensibilities, particularly the irregular family circumstances. At seven a.m on Sunday, September 10, some six weeks after the tragedy, a squad of detectives arrived at the couple`s new domicile and requested both Boku and Aoki to come down to the police station for voluntary questioning. Each was taken to a separate station. This questioning soon turned into an interrogation- the police immediately demanded that each confess to arson, murder, and insurance fraud. When Boku refused, his interrogators became violent- they hit his head, kicked his knees and applied choke holds. After 14 hours of continued verbal and physical abuse, police lost patience with Boku and fabricated a story saying his eight year old stepson had already confessed to seeing him start the fire. They reminded him that Japan has a death penalty, and if he cooperated, he would be spared from the noose. In a state of despair, Boku broke down and signed a confession admitting to the charges.

Ms. Aoki received the same treatment. Detectives put their mouths to her ear and screamed a torrent of insults and abuse further aggravating her sense of guilt and grief over her deceased daughter. “You couldn’t save your daughter so you are responsible for killing her. You are a murderer.” By eight o’clock that evening, a psychologically broken Aoki signed a similar confession.

The next day, both were visited by lawyers. Both denied the charges, Aoki in tears.

Confessions: theory and fact.
This case illustrates many problems of the Japanese policing, particularly the function and the public’s perception of confessions. A survey of various reference books touching on the Japanese legal system uncovers some disturbing commentaries which all but heap praise upon the present system. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan asserts that incarceration and long interrogation of suspects without the presence of legal council, a condition unimaginable in other industrialized countries, enables the police to “develop a human relationship with the suspect, to the end of obtaining a confession or, in many cases, multiple confessions.(p, 275)
Assertions such as these are frequently made by western scholars of the Japanese criminal justice system. Such misinformed is very, very scary. In a recent issue of this magazine (KTO# 285 Nov 2000), a foreigner who had problems with the law advises, If you did it, confess. If you didn’t`t fight.” Most readers probably paid scant attention to this remark, finding it painfully obvious. But because ordinary Japanese are oblivious to law and obedient to authority, police are free to act as they please.
While Boku and Aoki were undergoing voluntary questioning, both had the right to stand up and walk out. But both were unaware of their rights and meek in the face of authority.

THE REENACTMENT
As the constitution of Japan prohibits conviction based solely on confession, prosecutors sought other evidence to cement their case. The police allege that on the day of the fire, Boku stopped in at a local store and bought a simple plastic pump, the 100 yen variety used for kerosene stoves in the winter. Upon arriving at home, he parked the van, pumped out six or seven liters of gasoline, laid the pump under the van, and ignited the fire with a disposable lighter.

In order to support this story, the authorities commissioned the Scientific Criminal Investigation Laboratory, a governmental organization, to carry out a reenactment of the case. The institute is quite meticulous- it procured a similar vehicle, built a garage to the same specification as Park’s, spread seven liters of gasoline on its floor, turned on their video cameras and set the entire thing ablaze.

The results of this reenactment were problematic and digressed from the evidence left by the actual blaze. In the reenactment, the paint on the van burned evenly, and the rising smoke covered the ceiling uniformly. In the actual fire, the paint on the van burned linearly and the smoke marks were spotty and uneven. This evidence, confirmed by witnesses who gave statements to the police, points to a small fire which gradually grew, not the sudden blaze recorded by police cameras.

How then did the fire begin? According to a report drafted by Hideaki Mochizuki, a technical investigator who belongs to the Institution of Professional Engineers, the most probable cause were sparks from the air compressor which ignited gasoline that had leaked from the fuel line`s canister. Boku had overfilled the tank at the gas station and a small quantity probably escaped from a crack in the canister or other places in the fuel line. The problem with the air compressor, made by subsidiary manufacturer, was so widespread that Honda and other manufacturers issued a recall in 1991.

Defense attorneys have challenged other allegations made by the police.They called as a witness, the owner of the small store where Boku is alleged to have bought the plastic kerosene pump used to spread the gasoline. The owner testified that he had no recollection of Boku ever purchasing such a pump nor, for that matter, any customer ever requesting one in the middle of the summer.

After nearly forty hearings apiece for both Aoki and Boku in separate trials, the Osaka District Court issued judgement. On March 30, 1999, it sentenced Boku to life imprisonment. Some six weeks later, it sentenced Aoki to the same.

AN ATTEMPT AT EXPLANATION
The lingering question in this case is Why? Why would police and prosecutors be so eager to build a case against Aoki and Boku? And why were the judges persuaded so easily. This case shows a side of police work which is not well acknowledged in the public`s eye. In Japan or anywhere else, law enforcement authorities are considered to be protectors of the peace, a force against crime and social disorder. But to those of us who study and work within the system, the grim realities of police work are hardly a secret. In many cases, the struggle to convict a suspect has no more ethical foundation than a soccer match: two teams, prosecution and defense, compete against each other with one objective --victory. Moral categories of good and evil, right and wrong, guilty or innocent are altogether unimportant. The judges decision, (99.5% of suspects in Japan are found guilty), certifies the result and the game is validated for the police and prosecution, and rather unfortunately, in the eye of the public.

In any trial, it is difficult to elucidate all the factors which motivate and influence both the procedures and the players. It is quite possible that police and prosecutors have another ulterior motive in this case. I asked defense attorney Saito Tomoyo if discrimination has been playing a role. Park had never revealed his Korean identity to his wife`s father,she explained, " and after both were arrested, Aoki's father, upon hearing the name Boku for the first time, asked a detective who he was. The response was 'Oh, you didn't know your daughter was bedding down with a Korean?."

THE CASE CONTINUES
After the sentences of life imprisonment were handed down, the defense teams immediately appealed to the Osaka High Court. Though the Japanese constitution guarantees the right to a speedy trial the current appeals cases did not begin until July, 2000, 14 months after initial sentencing. In an opening statement before the court, defense attorney Ogawa Kazue attacked the validity of the confessions. “What would an ordinary middle class couple without financial difficulties have to gain from the amount of insurance money? How could they know that fire would spread and the smoke rise with the necessary precision to kill their daughter? If this was in fact a conspiracy, is it really possible that an ordinary couple could engineer a master crime in which the evidence points to an accident? A plan which specified details of how and when to call the fire department, what lies to feed the police, what belongings to remove, and where to live after the building was destroyed?”

Let us hope the high court deliberates these questions and the many other contradictions in this case before it issues a decision.


//////////////////////////
(SIDE BAR) Problematic Crimes Involving Confessions

Kabutoyama Case (Hyogo 1974) Two mentally impaired children at an institution were found drowned. After 16 days of morning to evening interrogation, a young governess confessed to "unconscious murder." She was soon released, sued the police, and was vengefully rearrested and tried four times before final acquittal in October of 1999.

Midori-so Case (Oita 1981) After insisting on his innocence, a young man confessed to rape and murder of his neighbor while "sleepwalking." He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial and declared innocent in the appeals case.

Sayama Case (Saitama 1962) A case that became a rallying symbol for anti-discrimination groups, a young Burakumin confessed to rape and murder. The confession included authorship of a well written ransom letter-highly problematic since the accused was only semi-literate Burakumin. He was released from prison after serving 32 years, in 1994. The case is being appealed.

Kaizuka Case (Osaka 1979) Five men, four of whom were minors, confessed to rape and murder. All pleased innocent in court and but were sentenced to serve between ten and eighteen years in prison. After finding that police used undue "physical and psychological coercion," the court declared four of the defendants innocent in 1986, the fifth in 1989. Ten years later, the defendants were awarded 12.6 million in compensation.