TOSHIKAZU SUGAYA; JAPAN. CLEARED BY DNA TESTS AFTER MORE THAN 17 YEARS BEHIND BARS; BULLIED INTO MAKING FALSE CONFESSION; PARALLELS WITH CARAVALLA;

"MR. SUGAYA WAS CHARGED WITH THE 1990 MURDER OF MAMI MATSUDA IN TOCHIGI, NORTH OF TOKYO, AND WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON BY A DISTRICT COURT IN 1993. HE FIRST ADMITTED TO THE CRIME BEFORE RETRACTING HIS CONFESSION AND PLEADING NOT GUILTY AT HIS INITIAL TRIAL. BUT HIS LIFE SENTENCE WAS UPHELD BY A HIGHER COURT AND AFFIRMED BY THE SUPREME COURT IN 2000, BASED ON HIS INITIAL TESTIMONY AS WELL AS DNA TESTS THAT WERE LATER FOUND TO BE FLAWED. LAST OCTOBER, FRESH DNA ANALYSIS CONDUCTED AT THE REQUEST OF MR. SUGAYA’S LAWYERS CAST DOUBT ON HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE CASE, AND THE UTSUNOMIYA COURT OPENED A RETRIAL. MR. SUGAYA WAS RELEASED IN JUNE. TAPES PLAYED AT THE RETRIAL SHOWED HOW AN INVESTIGATOR HAD CONFRONTED MR. SUGAYA WITH THE DUBIOUS DNA RESULTS, WHICH THE OFFICIAL SAID LINKED HIM TO SEMEN FOUND ON THE GIRL’S BODY. “YOU’RE A FAILURE AS A HUMAN BEING,” THE INVESTIGATOR SAID AT ONE POINT. DURING THE INITIAL INVESTIGATIONS, PROSECUTORS ALSO NEGLECTED TO TELL MR. SUGAYA THAT HE COULD CONSULT WITH DEFENSE LAWYERS AND THAT HE HAD THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, HIS LAWYERS SAID."

REPORTER HIROKO TABUCHI: THE NEW YORK TIMES;

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In a previous post, following the exoneration of Anthony Caravella in Florida, I suggested that when DNA exonerates a convicted inmate a crucial question must be posed: How could an utterly innocent person be convicted of a crime he or she did not commit? my unfortunate answer was that, "All too often the answer is that police and prosecutors (and occasionally judges) have to cut corners and "stretch" the system in order to get the conviction. (Like coercing or inducing a false confession). Ironically, the Caravella exoneration in Florida, which involved a false confession, was followed within hours by the exoneration in Japan of Toshikazu Sugaya, who's case also involved a false confession. Anthony Caravella lost 26 years of his life before being freed. Toshikazu Sugaya was locked up for 17 years before being freed. The State of Florida and the nation of Japan both saw the wisdom of retesting DNA in order to prevent miscarriages of justice - and all of the suffering they can entail. Why can't the State of Texas see this - in a case where Hank Skinner faces the ultimate punishment of execution?

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"TOKYO — For more than 17 years, Toshikazu Sugaya, a soft-spoken kindergarten bus driver, lived behind bars, serving a life sentence for the murder of a 4-year-old girl," the New York Times story, by reporter Hiroko Tabuchi, published earlier today begins, under the heading, "In Rare Reversal, Japan Clears Man Convicted of Murder."

"On Friday, the 63-year-old Mr. Sugaya was cleared of all charges after a judge acknowledged that he had been bullied by investigators into making a false confession — a practice that critics say is all too common in Japan’s criminal justice system," the story continues.

"It was only the sixth time since World War II that a defendant with a finalized death penalty or life sentence had been acquitted in a retrial, according to Kyodo News.

“We are truly sorry that your words of truth fell upon deaf ears,” Masanobu Sato, the presiding judge, told Mr. Sugaya at a retrial at Utsunomiya District Court, north of Tokyo, according to news reports. “I strongly hope something like this will never happen again.”

Human rights groups have long criticized the Japanese authorities for relying on confessions to take suspects to court, instead of building cases based on solid evidence. That practice, groups say, has led to abuses of due process and the conviction of innocent people like Mr. Sugaya.

Japan’s near-100 percent conviction rate in criminal cases cannot be compared directly with that of the United States, because there is no plea bargaining and prosecutors bring cases only when they are confident of winning. But critics say the high conviction rate creates a presumption of guilt in the cases that do come to court.

In 2007, a high court upheld the acquittal of a man who said he had been coerced into confessing to killing three women in the late 1980s. The court found that there was no evidence against the man other than his confession, which had been extracted from him after days of interrogations.

“There are deep-rooted problems in Japan’s criminal justice system,” said Kanae Doi, director of Human Rights Watch in Japan and a former criminal defense lawyer. “It is rampant with human rights violations.”

Mr. Sugaya’s case, which involved forced confessions and flawed DNA tests, has shown just how far the authorities will go to obtain confessions that will ensure severe sentences.

Mr. Sugaya was charged with the 1990 murder of Mami Matsuda in Tochigi, north of Tokyo, and was sentenced to life in prison by a district court in 1993. He first admitted to the crime before retracting his confession and pleading not guilty at his initial trial.

But his life sentence was upheld by a higher court and affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2000, based on his initial testimony as well as DNA tests that were later found to be flawed.

Last October, fresh DNA analysis conducted at the request of Mr. Sugaya’s lawyers cast doubt on his involvement in the case, and the Utsunomiya court opened a retrial. Mr. Sugaya was released in June.

Tapes played at the retrial showed how an investigator had confronted Mr. Sugaya with the dubious DNA results, which the official said linked him to semen found on the girl’s body. “You’re a failure as a human being,” the investigator said at one point.

During the initial investigations, prosecutors also neglected to tell Mr. Sugaya that he could consult with defense lawyers and that he had the right to remain silent, his lawyers said.

The retrial, and details of the interrogations Mr. Sugaya endured, have captured Japan’s imagination. A confrontation between the primary investigator and Mr. Sugaya in court earlier this year — where Mr. Sugaya demanded, but was not granted, an apology for his treatment — was played out on prime-time news shows and in national newspapers.

On Friday, the three judges at Mr. Sugaya’s trial bowed deeply, saying the court, too, had been at fault for not making sure that a fair investigation had been carried out. Mr. Sugaya bowed back, before leaving the court and collapsing, in tears, in the arms of supporters waiting outside.

“I feel completely different today from yesterday,” Mr. Sugaya said. “I feel refreshed by the verdict of complete innocence.”"

The story can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/asia/27japan.html

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;