Kimino Yasuhiro
Japan Top Court Backs Indefinite Term for Killer of Girl
Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court has upheld a high court ruling for an indefinite prison term given to a man who killed a six-year-old girl in Kobe, the capital of Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, in 2014.
The top court's First Petty Bench made the decision on Monday, turning down an appeal by public prosecutors who demanded capital punishment for the man, Yasuhiro Kimino, 52.
The ruling is thus set to be finalized.
In March 2017, Osaka High Court overrode the death sentence issued in March 2016 against the man in a lay judge trial at Kobe District Court, and instead gave him an indefinite prison term.
This is the fourth case in which the Supreme Court has upheld a high court ruling that overturned a death sentence handed down in a citizen judge trial at a district court.
The five justices at the First Petty Bench agreed that it cannot be said that a death penalty is unavoidable for Kimino in light of prudence and fairness, noting that the murder was not well planned and that Kimino had not committed a similar crime before.
Source: nippon.com, Staff, December 2, July 3, 2019
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Killer of 6-year-old Kobe girl gets death penalty
Kyodo
- • Mar 18, 2016
Yasuhiro Kimino, 49, lured the first-grader to his home by asking her to sit for a painting. He then strangled and stabbed her, dismembered her body and placed it in plastic bags, prosecutors say.
The prosecutors sought the death penalty, saying Kimino showed a brutal disregard for human life.
The case was tried by presiding Judge Takeshi Samo, two other professional judges and six lay judges.