Lawyers for Nigerian man convicted of 2001 robbery submit DNA evidence for retrial
HIMEJI, Hyogo -- Lawyers for a 36-year-old Nigerian man, who had been convicted of robbery in 2001 and sentenced to six years in prison, submitted fresh DNA evidence to the Himeji branch of the Kobe District Court on Oct. 30 to press for his retrial.
The Nigerian man has filed for a retrial to prove his innocence. The DNA analysis was conducted on balaclavas and other materials believed to belong to a suspect in the 2001 robbery of a post office in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. The DNA analysis did not detect the Nigerian man's DNA but the DNA of a third person, the lawyers said. The defense team said, "This is clear evidence to prove that the (Nigerian) man is not the culprit."
In June 2001, two black men wearing balaclavas broke into a post office in Himeji, took 22.75 million yen in cash and fled. The Nigerian man has consistently insisted on his innocence. A foreign man, who was arrested as an accomplice in the case, had stated, "There is another accomplice (different than the Nigerian man)." But the Himeji branch of the Kobe District Court gave the Nigerian man a prison sentence, and the term was confirmed in 2006 when the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal. The Nigerian man filed for a retrial with the Himeji branch of the Kobe District Court in March this year.
The defense team asked Shigemi Oshida, professor emeritus at Nihon University, to conduct analysis on a balaclava which was said to have been used by one of the suspects and left at the scene of the robbery and on another balaclava which was found in storage at the Nigerian man's office and believed to have been used by one of the suspects. The Nigerian man's DNA was found in neither of the balaclavas. Instead, DNA of two different persons was found, according to the lawyers.
The defense team also said it had submitted to the court an excerpt of an expert opinion prepared by the crime lab at Hyogo Prefectural Police on pieces of hair that were attached to the balaclavas.
October 31, 2012(Mainichi Japan)
強盗事件:「新証拠」提出…ナイジェリア人男性再審請求
毎日新聞 2012年10月30日 22時17分（最終更新 10月31日 00時34分）
兵庫県姫路市で０１年に起きた郵便局強盗事件で懲役６年の実刑が確定したが、無実を訴え神戸地裁姫路支部に再審請求しているナイジェリア人男性（３６）について、弁護団は３０日、犯人のものとされる目出し帽などのＤＮＡ鑑定結果を新証拠として同支部に提出した、と発表した。鑑定では、目出し帽から男性のＤＮＡは検出されず第三者のＤＮＡが見つかったという。弁護団は「男性が犯人ではないことを証明する明白な証拠」としている。
この事件は、０１年６月、目出し帽をかぶった黒人２人組が郵便局に押し入り、現金２２７５万円を奪って逃げたとされる。男性は一貫して無罪を主張。共犯として逮捕された別の外国人男性も「（彼とは）別の共犯者がいる」と供述したが、同支部は男性に実刑判決を言い渡し、０６年、最高裁が男性の上告を棄却して判決が確定。男性は３月、同支部に再審請求した。
弁護団は押田茂実・日大名誉教授に、犯人が現場に残していったとされる目出し帽と、男性の事務所の倉庫から見つかり犯人が使ったものとされる目出し帽の鑑定を依頼。どちらからも男性のＤＮＡは検出されず、別の２人分のＤＮＡが見つかったという。
弁護団はまた、県警科学捜査研究所による目出し帽に付着していた毛髪の鑑定書を接写した写真を提出。再審請求前に男性が地検姫路支部で閲覧した資料で、「２人との類似点は乏しい」としている。【幸長由子】
