PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Hakamada's legal team argues that he was framed by the police for a crime he did not commit. Yet, prosecutors are again seeking the death penalty in his retrial in Shizuoka, despite his advanced age (88) and his mental and physical frailty, which has rendered him unable to attend the trial in person. The odds may not be in the prosecutors' favor – in several previous retrials, the defendants were all found not guilty. But Hakamada's sister, who has fought for decades to clear her brother’s name, is not taking anything for granted. She will come to the FCCJ with Hakamada's lawyer, Hideyo Ogawa, to discuss the case, its legal implications and why prosecutors continue to insist that her brother is guilty."
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RELEASE: Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan: Will the state execute Iwao Hakamada: Hideko Hakamada, Sister of Iwao Hakamada; Hideyo Ogawa, Attorney at law'; 14:00-15:00 Wednesday, July 3, 2024: Language: The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation; n 14:00-15:00 Wednesday, July 3, 2024 Language: The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation;
GIST: "Iwao Hakamada has been called "the world's longest-serving death row prisoner" and served decades in prison after being convicted of murdering a family of four in 1966, largely on the basis of a confession he insists was coerced. After his conviction was finalized in 1968, he lived in solitary confinement for much of the 45 years he spent awaiting execution. He has always maintained his innocence. In 2014, the Shizuoka District Court freed Hakamada, saying he should be retried because items of clothing and other evidence presented at his trial by the police "may have been fabricated." His lawyers say DNA tests on his bloodstained clothes prove the blood was not his.
Hakamada's legal team argues that he was framed by the police for a crime he did not commit. Yet, prosecutors are again seeking the death penalty in his retrial in Shizuoka, despite his advanced age (88) and his mental and physical frailty, which has rendered him unable to attend the trial in person. The odds may not be in the prosecutors' favor – in several previous retrials, the defendants were all found not guilty. But Hakamada's sister, who has fought for decades to clear her brother’s name, is not taking anything for granted. She will come to the FCCJ with Hakamada's lawyer, Hideyo Ogawa, to discuss the case, its legal implications and why prosecutors continue to insist that her brother is guilty.
How to attend:
Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, the name of your media outlet, and FCCJ membership number. Due to space restrictions attendance will be limited. Doors open 15 minutes before the event. Please sign in and giving your name and contact details at the reception.
How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live
The entire release can be read at:
https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/press-conference-will-state-execute-iwao-hakamada
PUBLISHER'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;
