PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This excellent series has four parts. Due to a publishing mishap - the first I am aware of in 15 years - this first instalment did not appear when scheduled - and is being published after parts two and three, with part four yet to come. The good news is that all four parts work well one their own - as does this rather late Part One. Part Four will follow in a few days. My apologies.
Harold Levy: Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.
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BACKGROUND: (From an earlier post: (Link below): "Retrial of 1966 murders begins, sister claims brother is innocent," published by The Mainichi, on October 27, 2023: "It is likely that Hakamada will be acquitted, as the criminal procedure law says that a retrial will be opened if there is "clear evidence to find the accused not guilty." He initially confessed to the killings during intense interrogation but pleaded not guilty at his trial, where he was indicted for murder, robbery and arson. His death sentence was finalized in 1980 based on a ruling that blood on five clothing items found in a miso tank 14 months after the murder matched the blood types of the victims and Hakamada. The retrial comes after the Tokyo High Court, which was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2020 to re-examine its 2018 decision not to reopen the case, reversed course and ordered the retrial in March, citing the unreliability of the main evidence used. The high court said there was a strong possibility that the five pieces of blood-stained clothing that Hakamada allegedly wore during the incident had been planted by investigators in the tank of miso soybean paste in which they were found. Prosecutors argue there was no basis for fabricating the evidence and plan to question a forensic scientist."
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/7148405271082128623
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STORY: “Hakamada writes, ‘God, I’m innocent,’ at the start of ordeal,” The Asahi Shimbun (Reporters Yuri Murakami and Ryuichiro Fukuoka) reports, on May 14, 2024,
ILLUSTRATION: “On a letter to his mother, Iwao Hakamada says he is innocent of the 1966 murder of a family of four in Shizuoka Prefecture.”
ASAHI SHIMBUN EDITOR’S NOTE: “Asahi Shimbun editor’s note: Editor’s note: A retrial of Iwao Hakamada, 88, who had been incarcerated for nearly half a century on murder charges, is to conclude on May 22. Before the retrial’s last hearing, we shine a spotlight on letters he wrote on death row in a four-part series. This is the first installment.”
GIST: "The odds were always stacked against Iwao Hakamada.
Prosecutors in Japan have a 99-percent conviction rate for individuals charged with crimes. And for inmates who insist they are innocent, getting a court to grant a retrial has been extremely rare.
Hakamada, 88, is also fighting against time to clear his name. He was recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest serving death row inmate.
The former professional boxer was 30 when he was arrested on suspicion of murdering four people--a manager of a miso manufacturer and three members of his family--robbery and arson in 1966.
The Supreme Court in 1980 finalized his conviction and death sentence.
But in 2014, a district court accepted Hakamada’s second appeal for a retrial, citing the possibility that key evidence against him had been fabricated.
The court also ordered Hakamada’s release, ending his incarceration spanning more than 47 years.
However, the time on death row took a heavy toll on his mental condition.
For his retrial, which started in October, Hakamada is not required to appear in court because he is not deemed mentally fit to give credible testimony.
***
HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka Prefecture--Eight plastic trays holding thousands of letters in various stages of decay sit in a closet of an apartment here in central Japan.
Some of the letters have yellowed with age. Others have gathered mold.
The letters were written by Iwao Hakamada mainly to his family between 1967, when he first stood trial at the Shizuoka District Court, and 1995, when he was fighting for a retrial as a death row inmate.
The letters are now kept at the home where Hakamada and his sister, Hideko, live.
In mid-October, just before the retrial started, Hideko, now 91, placed the letters on a table at their apartment.
“Iwao never stopped writing, seizing every opportunity available,” said Hideko, who has waged a tireless campaign for her brother’s release. “I have kept and bound his letters together. That is something I thought I can do for him.”
Although the subject matter varied, and Hakamada’s mental illness was apparent in his later letters, one thing remained consistent throughout his decades of correspondence: He always maintained his innocence.
“God. … I am innocent. I shout this every day, praying with all my heart that what I am crying out will ride the wind from Shizuoka to reach the ears of people outside.” (Around January 1967)
His early letters were addressed to his mother. But after her death, he wrote mainly to Hideko. Other relatives and defense lawyers who received letters from Hakamada entrusted Hideko to preserve them.
After he was imprisoned, Hakamada learned pen calligraphy, one of the things he took up to pass the time.
Some letters showed the masterful handwriting skills he acquired behind bars. But in other letters, his longhand was “just flowing,” said Hideko.
He seemed preoccupied with unloading everything from his heart, rather than paying attention to how his handwriting looked.
“Even when I reread those letters, I never got sentimental,” Hideko said. “I’ve had much bigger things to worry about.”
Locked up in prison, Hakamada could only find solace when he met his family members.
In his letters, he described how encouraged he felt when his relatives visited him and how much he looked forward to their next visits.
Hideko made it a point to see him regularly. She wanted him to know that his family would never give up on him.
She recalled that on one visit, the time flew by because Hakamada spoke nonstop, leaving her time only to nod.
Nevertheless, she was heartened that he was in good spirits.
Hideko had also sent him money for buying daily necessities in prison.
In one letter at the end of the text, Hakamada scribbled down in small letters: “Please send me 3,000 yen” ($20).
In another letter that arrived at the end of the same month, he listed items he had bought with the money-- bananas, milk coupons and toilet paper. He added, “Thank you.”
He seemed hopeful that the truth would emerge in the judicial process.
“I, too, believe that it is extremely difficult for humans to try other humans. There are many mistakes in the world. I would like the court to try my case earnestly.” (Around April 1967)
A team of Asahi Shimbun reporters studied more than 2,000 pages of his letters after obtaining permission from Hideko and others in their possession to trace his life in incarceration.
His thousands of letters are now invaluable testimonials about his thoughts and feelings during his long battle for vindication.
The letters show a roller-coaster ride of emotions: hopeful of being found innocent, devastated by being sentenced to death, and encouraged by supporters campaigning for his freedom.
But his declining mental health became reflected in his writing. Toward the end of his incarceration, his letters contained paranoid ramblings about his battles against the devil and painful electrical existences.
(This article was written by Yuri Murakami and Ryuichiro Fukuoka.)
For details of Hakamada's trial and letters, check out https://www.asahi.com/special/hakamadaletters/en/;
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15137601PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
————————————————————————————
YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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