Iwao Hakamada; Japan: Part Three; Collateral Damage; Judge Morimichi Kumamoto: ''The Japanese Judge and the Boxer he sentenced to death'. No Attribution. The tragic story of Norimichi Kumamoto who headed the three judge panel that convicted professional boxer Iwao Hakamada of murder and sentencing him to death - only to becoming obsessed with exonerating him and saving his life… "In 2007, after a silence of 39 years, Kumamoto broke the rule that trial judges must keep their deliberations secret. He petitioned for Hakamada's retrial adding his voice to those calling for the same. "I could not bear my tortured conscience and so I quit my judgeship the following year [in 1969],” Kumamoto wrote in his petition. “Of course, I understand that I must keep the secrets of the tribunal. But I have been losing my physical and mental strength. I thought that it would be my last chance to bring about the retrial of Hakamada.”

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Now that Iwao Hakamada, now 88-years-old has been exonerated - and the Japanese courts have found that he was victim of evidence fabricated by the police, it is a good time to examine the collateral damage caused by this ugly miscarriage of justice - including the tragic story of former judge Norimichi Kumamoto , who later became obsessed with exonerating him,  and setting him free. Kumamoto's  internal struggle over ordering the death of an innocent man was beautifully captured  in this story by an anonymous reporter for the UCA News.

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In February 2017, a documentary film In the World of My Dreams describing Hakamada's life since his release was shown at a Gospel and peace gathering sponsored by the Fukuoka Diocese. Kumamoto was there in a wheelchair.  The former judge suffers from the effects of a stroke, Parkinson's disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, and speech disorders.  He can express himself only by saying easy words and crying.  Despite that, Kumamoto shouted "Iwao!" three times towards the screen. "

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STORY: "The  Japanese Judge and the Boxer he condemned to death", published  UCA (Bio of Catholic Asian News, on May 1 . 2017.  (Unfortunately, no attribution for the reporter  is this moving account is provided.  I can be reached at hlevy15@gmail.com if anyone can provide me with  the name of this masterful scribe. HL);

SUB-HEADING: "After issuing sentences Norimichi Kumamoto became a prisoner of his own conscience."

GIST: : "Four members of a family were killed in a murder-robbery-arson in Shizuoka City on June 30, 1966, the case study began,

 "Several months later, a former professional boxer, Iwao Hakamada, was arrested and tried," it continued. 

"Found guilty, he was given the death sentence. 

Due to reservations over his conviction and public pressure in the form of petitions for retrial, the sentence was never carried out. 

For the 46-years Hakamada was held on death row he was held in solitary confinement. 

While imprisoned, Hakamada was baptized as a Catholic in 1984. 

After nearly a half-century on death row, his execution and detention were suspended on March 27, 2014, and a retrial ordered. 

The court decided there was reason to think that evidence against him had been fabricated. 

Since his release from jail in 2014, he has lived with his elder sister. The now 81-year-old Hakamada's mind and body have deteriorated.  

 Hakamada is not the only one whose whole life was upended by this case. 

Norimichi Kumamoto, 79, a former judge of the Shizuoka District Court, has suffered pangs of conscience. 

 At the time of the trial, Kumamoto, who was the chief of the three-judge tribunal that heard the case, was convinced of Hakamada's innocence. 

However, he was not able to convince the other two judges and, as head of the panel, had to write the death sentence himself. 

He could not forget Hakamada's face as the sentence was handed down. 

Since then, the judge has never had a day when he does not remember "that day."

 In 2007, after a silence of 39 years, Kumamoto broke the rule that trial judges must keep their deliberations secret. He petitioned for Hakamada's retrial adding his voice to those calling for the same.  

"I could not bear my tortured conscience and so I quit my judgeship the following year [in 1969],” Kumamoto wrote in his petition. “Of course, I understand that I must keep the secrets of the tribunal. But I have been losing my physical and mental strength. I thought that it would be my last chance to bring about the retrial of Hakamada.”

In February 2017, a documentary film In the World of My Dreams describing Hakamada's life since his release was shown at a Gospel and peace gathering sponsored by the Fukuoka Diocese.

 Kumamoto was there in a wheelchair. 

The former judge suffers from the effects of a stroke, Parkinson's disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, and speech disorders.

 He can express himself only by saying easy words and crying.

 Despite that, Kumamoto shouted "Iwao!" three times towards the screen. 

Guilt and redemption: Kumamoto passed the judge's exam after graduating from law school and was well-known as a human rights judge.

 However, when he was 30-years-old, he wrote Hakamada's death sentence with tears in his eyes. 

So, he quit his judgeship and became a lawyer. 

He also lectured at a college.

 But Kumamoto's life began to fall apart.

 He drank to assuage his feelings of guilt.

 Eventually, he separated from his wife and children and lost his reputation and wealth.

 He became both mentally and physically ill. He wandered through the country looking for a place to die and tried suicide many times. 

He even went to a fjord in Norway, intending to kill himself there. 

In 1995, his license to practice law was revoked.

Fortunately, Kumamoto, who was nearly homeless, was helped by Kazuko Shimauchi, an innkeeper, in 2006 in Fukuoka Prefecture. 

"He was absent-minded both in the house and parks and always hoped to die," said Shimauchi, who continues to help care for Kumamoto who now lives at a nursing home in Fukuoka.

 "He tried to throw himself into the sea. One day, he jumped into the path of a train and came home covered with blood. I guess his wish to die continued." 

Sachie Momma, a Catholic social activist who has supported Hakamada for years, said, "Kumamoto wanted to apologize to Hakamada and went to the Tokyo detention center many times but only family members can visit prisoners on death row. 

Kumamoto was baptized as a Catholic in 2014. "Kumamoto desired baptism because he wanted to approach even a little the thinking of Hakamada who was baptized in prison," Momma said. 

"I have never seen deep repentance like this," she added. When Hakamada's retrial was decided, Kumamoto, who saw the news on television, raised his hands in delight. 

Momma called Kumamoto from the front of the Shizuoka District Court on March 27, 2014, that decided Hakamada’s retrial. 

When she phoned, him she heard him crying until he said with a dignified voice befitting a judge, "We've only gotten started." Hakamada's retrial has yet to be held."

The entire article can be read at:

 https://www.ucanews.com/news/the-japanese-judge-and-the-boxer-he-condemned-to-death/79017

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GOOGLE:  Japanese Judge: Norimichi Kumamoto:  Died: November 11, 2020; Age 83 years, Fukuoka, Japan;

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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;

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