Japan court orders retrial of deceased man convicted in 1984 murder
July 11, 2018 (Mainichi Japan)
(Photo: (Above) Hiromu Sakahara's son applauds the ruling granting his deceased father a retrial.)
OTSU, Japan (Kyodo) -- A court ordered on Wednesday a retrial for a deceased man who was convicted of murdering a 69-year-old woman in 1984 in western Japan, endorsing new evidence and suspecting that he was forced into confession after being beaten by police officers.
The decision by the Otsu District Court in Shiga Prefecture quashed the Osaka High Court's ruling in 2011 that dismissed Hiromu Sakahara's plea for a retrial. Sakahara died the same year, and in 2012, his family filed a second retrial petition with the district court.
It is believed to the first time a Japanese court has ordered a retrial sought by the family of a deceased convict.
Sakahara was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on charges he killed Hatsu Ikemoto, a liquor store manager in Hino, Shiga, and seized her cash box.
After being arrested and indicted in 1988, Sakahara argued that his original confession during the investigation was made under coercion.
The focal point of the trial was the method of the murder and whether Sakahara's confession was credible.
The family's defense team claimed it was impossible to murder the woman in the way Sakahara had explained in his confession, and as new evidence, submitted a lab result by a forensic doctor.
The new evidence showed the woman had been knocked down on her back and strangled, while Sakahara had confessed to strangling her from behind.
The district court weighed the evidence and supported the defense team's claim that wounds on the woman's body did not match the way Sakahara had said he murdered her.
The court also denied the credibility of his confession, the strongest evidence for his conviction, suspecting he was forced to confess after police beat him and threatened to harm his family.
In 1995, the district court found Sakahara guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. The high court and the Supreme Court later upheld the ruling, finalizing his conviction in 2000.
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Retrial OK’d for dead man over 1984 murder
7:34 pm, July 12, 2018
Jiji Press
OTSU (Jiji Press) — The Otsu District Court granted a retrial on Wednesday for a man who was accused of robbery and murder in the town of Hino in Shiga Prefecture in 1984 and died in prison in 2011.
The district court accepted the second appeal filed in 2012 by surviving members of the family of the man, Hiromu Sakahara. He died at the age of 75 while serving an indefinite prison term.
This is believed to be the first time since World War II that a retrial has been granted for a deceased prisoner serving an indefinite term or facing the death penalty.
Sakahara initially confessed to the crime but claimed he was innocent during his trial. He was accused of killing a woman and robbing her of a cashbox.
No material evidence was found that linked Sakahara directly to the crime.
During the second appeal, new evidence that raised doubts about Sakahara’s involvement in the crime was presented by the defense.
Prosecutors claimed that Sakahara led police to the site where the cashbox was retrieved and that police photos used as evidence during the trial were taken on the way to the site. The photos were, in fact, taken on the way back from the site.
Presiding judge Teruyuki Imai denied that Sakahara was actually led to the site by the police. However, he did point to the possibility of the police prompting Sakahara with clues and interpreting his remarks and behavior as signs of guilt.
Imai also said Sakahara could have led the police to the site where the dead body was found in a similar manner.
The decision by the court to sentence Sakahara to indefinite imprisonment on the grounds that he knew exactly where the cashbox and the woman’s body were to be found was “substantially weakened,” he said, adding that Sakahara’s confession contradicted objective evidence and lacked credibility.
He also doubted that the confession was made voluntarily, saying the prisoner may have been assaulted or threatened by police officers.
Judging from the written opinion of a doctor, Imai noted contradictions between the account of the murder given by Sakahara and the injuries found on the victim’s body.
In addition, Imai also pointed to the possibility that Sakahara was at a party on the night of the murder, on the basis of testimony given by his acquaintances. In view of circumstantial evidence as well, the arrest and sentencing of Sakahara cannot be justified, Imai added.
“It’s like a dream,” said Sakahara’s 57-year-old son, Koji, pleased that the court has decided to reopen the case.
“There were many times when I was close to giving up on this,” he added.