PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "According to Innocence Project Japan, out of 26 postwar cases in which defendants were exonerated after retrials, convictions in 22 of them were based on coerced confessions later ruled to have been false. The difficulty for those arrested to secure bail if they remain silent or deny charges and a "no-contact" rule prohibiting them from communicating with anyone other than their defense attorneys are said to form structural pressures that lead to forced confessions."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Kanae Doi, the Japan director of international nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch, said, "Even after 58 years (following Hakamata's arrest), the problem of hostage justice persists." In another known as the "Fukawa Case" in Ibaraki Prefecture, two men who were sentenced to life in prison and later acquitted in a retrial were detained for approximately 29 years. Both of them sought criminal indemnity and received around ¥130 million each in compensation. Shoji Sakurai, one of the two, later sued the national and prefectural governments for damages. In August 2021, the Tokyo High Court recognized the illegality of the police and prosecutors' interrogations and ordered them to pay roughly ¥74 million in damages. "Unless we eliminate the practice of extracting confessions through prolonged, harsh interrogations, these false convictions will continue," Doi warned."
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STORY: Japan’s ‘hostage justice’ system breeds false convictions, groups say,” published by The Japan Times, on October 9, 2024.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Hideko Hakamata (left), the older sister of ex-boxer Iwao Hakamata, and Hideyo Ogawa, an attorney on his defense team, speak at a news conference on Tuesday in the city of Shizuoka, following prosecutors' decision not to file an appeal against the Shizuoka District Court's not-guilty verdict in a retrial of a 1966 murder case against Iwao Hakamata.
GIST: "This week's exoneration of a former boxer over a quadruple murder in 1966 and a lawsuit filed by the former chairman of a publishing company in recent months have put Japan's "hostage justice" system back into the spotlight.
Former Kadokawa Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, who has consistently maintained his innocence amid accusations of bribery, filed the lawsuit in June to challenge the controversial system, in which suspects are often denied bail unless they confess to the crimes they are accused of.
Human rights groups argue that the system creates a breeding ground for false convictions.
According to Innocence Project Japan, out of 26 postwar cases in which defendants were exonerated after retrials, convictions in 22 of them were based on coerced confessions later ruled to have been false.
The difficulty for those arrested to secure bail if they remain silent or deny charges and a "no-contact" rule prohibiting them from communicating with anyone other than their defense attorneys are said to form structural pressures that lead to forced confessions.
Another recent case that drew attention to the issue involved Yokohama-based spray dryer manufacturer Ohkawara Kakohki.
In 2020, three of the company’s executives were arrested on suspicion of illegal exports, but the charges were dropped in 2021.
All three had maintained their innocence. One of the accused, a former company adviser, then 72, was diagnosed with stomach cancer during his detention and died before the charges were dropped.
In December 2023, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the arrests of the three people in the case by the Public Security Bureau of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department lacked reasonable grounds and ordered the metropolitan and central governments to pay them a total of ¥160 million in damages.
When defendants are acquitted in retrials, they can seek compensation based on the number of days they were detained, with a cap of ¥12,500 ($84) per day.
In some cases, victims of false convictions have also filed lawsuits against the state, seeking damages for emotional distress.
For 88-year-old former boxer Iwao Hakamata (sic), his road to exoneration took over half a century.
Hakamata (sic) , who was acquitted in a rare retrial by the Shizuoka District Court last month, was arrested by the Shizuoka Prefectural Police in August 1966 on allegations of robbery and murder, which he was later convicted of.
He spent approximately 47 years and seven months in prison before being released in March 2014, when the court first granted a retrial.
The decision to hold the retrial was finalized in 2023, and he was found not guilty in the retrial.
The not-guilty ruling by the Shizuoka District Court last month was finalized Wednesday, after local public prosecutors waived their right to appeal it.
It marked the fifth case in which a retrial finds a convict on death row not guilty in crimes that occurred in Japan after World War II.
The Shizuoka District Court ruled in the retrial that Hakamata's confession had been coerced.
His legal team plans to seek compensation based on the number of days he was detained and is considering a lawsuit for damages against the state.
Kanae Doi, the Japan director of international nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch, said, "Even after 58 years (following Hakamata's arrest), the problem of hostage justice persists."
In another known as the "Fukawa Case" in Ibaraki Prefecture, two men who were sentenced to life in prison and later acquitted in a retrial were detained for approximately 29 years.
Both of them sought criminal indemnity and received around ¥130 million each in compensation.
Shoji Sakurai, one of the two, later sued the national and prefectural governments for damages.
In August 2021, the Tokyo High Court recognized the illegality of the police and prosecutors' interrogations and ordered them to pay roughly ¥74 million in damages.
"Unless we eliminate the practice of extracting confessions through prolonged, harsh interrogations, these false convictions will continue," Doi warned."
The entire story can be read at
:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/10/09/japan/crime-legal/hostage-justice/
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;
