PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter spent years in Toronto working as Executive Director of The Association in Defence of The Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC), now known as 'Innocence Canada.' I was privileged to spend some time with Rubin (who is on my 'personal heroes list) over the years) - and with John Artis, Rubin's also innocent and exonerated co-defendant in New Jersey- also one of my heroes. During this period, I learned about a series of letters Iwao Hakamada had written in which he revealed his gratitude towards Rubin for all the hope and support he gave him, after forcefully taking on his cause. In a fortunate juxtaposition of time, Iwao Hakamada was exonerated a few weeks ago (on September 26) just several days before the October 2 "innocence Canada" event at which I was to receive this honour bearing Rubin's name (for which I am extremely grateful). So, I decided to work references to these letters, on which I had previously posted, into my acceptance comments. (By way of preface, in my opening comments, I described how I prepared for this acceptance speech - namely, by visiting a Toronto pub called 'Hurricane's Roadhouse in Ruben's neighbourhood, which Rubin occasionaly visited. Drop by if you can! Momentoes to the great fighter are still on the pub's walls. Standing there in front of the audience, I raised my glass and toasted Rubin, and then I proceeded with my acceptance speech, in part as follows):
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PORTION OF ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS: "After toasting Rubin, there in Hurricane's, I thought of the incredible hope, encouragement and support he gave to so many wrongly convicted people, in Canada, through AIDWYC and Innocence Canada, in the United States, and around the world.
Yes, around the world - even Japan - as in this example:
Rubin had pledged his support to Iwao Hakamada, a celebrated boxer who was known as 'The Japanese Rubin Carter' - and was believed to be the longest serving death row inmate in the world.
Like Rubin, who, protested his innocence from the outset, Iwao Hakamada was caught in a dark, cruel justice system.
Yes, cruel. As if the death penalty was't cruel enough.
In Japan, death row inmates are informed of their executions just a few hours before they are hanged.
They wake up every morning, dreading that this day could be their last.
What could be more cruel than that?
After learning about Hakamada's plight, Rubin made videotaped message to the Government of Japan, for a special charity event for Hakamada's cause, in which he said:
“Now is time to free the ‘Eastern Hurricane.’ (I guess that made Rubin the 'Western One !')
Now is time to free Hakamada to show the people that you are a civilized society, Rubin continued.
Free Mr. Hakamada now, said Rubin.
Free all of us, because anytime one person is wrongly convicted and sentenced to prison, that’s convicting all of us.”
Iwao Hakamada had extraordinary support from Hideko, a loving sister, who sacrificed her life to free him.
“As a fellow former professional boxer and a man wrongfully convicted, I now have the urge to chant … ‘banzai’ from the window of my cell in the deepest corner of Japan’s largest prison. Mr. Carter, I am so glad that you have cleared your name. Congratulations!” (March 1989)
I discovered that 'Banzai' is a term of great respect which one uses when greeting the emperor.
He used it for Rubin.
Rubin's acquittal had a special significance for Hakamada, who had thought that his former career in the ring worked against him in the courts.
As Iwao wrote in a letter in March 1989: “An idea that blatantly disregards human dignity, that a boxer would likely commit murder, was put to an end, and Mr. Carter, who is innocent, was exonerated in a retrial … . I will do my best to follow suit.” (March 1989).
Let me repeat those words. "I will do may best to follow suit."
Well, he sure did.
On September 26, just a few days ago, Iwao Hakamada was finally acquitted of murder, more than a half a century after he was wrongfully convicted.
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;
