STORY: "Boxing: Acquitted death row prisoner, ex-pro Hakamada to attend match," published by Mainichi (Japan) one November 22, 2024.
GIST: "Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada, recently acquitted over a 1966 quadruple murder after becoming the world's longest-serving death-row prisoner, will attend a bout at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall, the Japan Pro Boxing Association said Friday.
The 88-year-old will greet fans at the venue next Friday when he steps into the ring alongside unbeaten WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani, who is 29-0 in his career with 22 knockouts.
Hakamada was indicted for murder, robbery and arson and his death sentence was finalized in 1980. But new evidence led to his release for retrial in 2014 and his acquittal was finalized on Oct. 9.
The JBA set up a support committee for Hakamada in 2007 and established a "Hakamada seat" for boxing events at Korakuen Hall, known as the sport's spiritual home in Japan, for him to watch fights anytime.
Hakamada attended an event at the venue in 2014 after his release, when he received an "honorary championship belt" from the WBC, and watched a bout the following year."
The entire story can be read at:
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241122/p2g/00m/0sp/046000c
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;
