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Case Name Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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Himeji Post Office Robbery Himeji city, Hyogo pref. 2001/06/19 2001/06/20 |
Julius (nickname) Nigerian national (age 25 at time of the incident) |
Armed robbery of a post office ~~~~~~~ No. |
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Summary Two black men wearing ski masks robbed a post office with toy guns and left the money and other evidence in the defendant's garage. After Julius was arrested, one of the robbers came forward, confessed and implicated a separate Nigerian as as the co-culprit. Prosecutors pushed forward, prosecuted, and convicted Julius. This case is one of 12 endorsed by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations as a proven miscarriage of justice. ( See the list ) Court Chronology District Court 2004/01/09 Guilty 6 years. High Court 2005/12/08 Appeal is rejected. Supreme Court 2006/04/25 Confirmed. Later Actions 2009/01/17 Defendant served out the sentence and was transferred to immigration detention. Later paroled. First Appeal for Retrial: 2012/03/02 Retrial filed. Kobe District Court. 2014/03/28 Retrial rejected. Kobe District Court. 2014/04/03 Special Protest Lodged. Osaka High Court. 2016/03/15 Osaka High Court overturns the district court's decision and remands the case. 2018/April Retrial begins. Kobe District Court. 2020/06/15 Retrial denied. Civil Suit Filed 2018-State Redress Suit ( civil suit) filed. Kobe District Court Rejections 2019/06/15 1) Application for visa reinstatement is denied. 2) Retrial request is dismissed. 2019/06/16 Civil suit is dismissed. Note: criminal retrial and civil suits were dismissed within 24 hours of each other. 2019 June - Criminal retrial request and civil suit appeals are filed. |
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