BACKGROUND: From a previous post of this Blog: "It is likely that Hakamada will be acquitted, as the criminal procedure law says that a retrial will be opened if there is "clear evidence to find the accused not guilty." He initially confessed to the killings during intense interrogation but pleaded not guilty at his trial, where he was indicted for murder, robbery and arson. His death sentence was finalized in 1980 based on a ruling that blood on five clothing items found in a miso tank 14 months after the murder matched the blood types of the victims and Hakamada. The retrial comes after the Tokyo High Court, which was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2020 to re-examine its 2018 decision not to reopen the case, reversed course and ordered the retrial in March, citing the unreliability of the main evidence used. The high court said there was a strong possibility that the five pieces of blood-stained clothing that Hakamada allegedly wore during the incident had been planted by investigators in the tank of miso soybean paste in which they were found. Prosecutors argue there was no basis for fabricating the evidence and plan to question a forensic scientist."
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/7148405271082128623
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Regarding the death penalty system, an expert panel including former top public prosecutors and police officials as well as Diet members drew up a report in November urging the national government to discuss the abolition, reform and improvement of the system. The expert panel was set up at the urging of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, which opposes capital punishment. According to the Justice Ministry, there are 106 death row inmates, with about 50 requesting retrials. In 2024, while two death sentences were finalized, two inmates died in prison, and Hakamada was released from death row after 44 years."
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STORY: "Japan sees no executions in 2024 for 2nd year in row, possibly linked to Hakamada acquittal," by Reporter Kentaro Mikami, Tokyo City News Department, published by The Mainichi (Japan) on December 30, 2024."
GIST: "Japan is set to register no executions in 2024 for the second consecutive year, possibly affected by the high-profile acquittal of freed death row inmate Iwao Hakamada.
It became certain on Dec. 27 that no inmate will be hanged in 2024 because the Act on Penal Detention Facilities and Treatment of Inmates and Detainees stipulates that executions are not carried out on Saturdays, Sundays or from Dec. 29 to Jan. 3.
With no executions occurring in 2023, the period without a capital sentence being carried out has reached two years and five months.
This unusually long duration in recent years is gathering attention over whether it will become a turning point for the country's death penalty system.
The Code of Criminal Procedure mandates that the minister of justice must order an execution within six months of a death sentence that was finalized, but in practice, it is left to the minister's discretion.
Executions were suspended for about three years and four months from November 1989, following four cases where death row inmates were acquitted in retrials.
After resuming in 1993, executions were carried out almost every year, with only 2011, 2020 and 2023 having none.
The most recent execution was on July 26, 2022, after then Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa ordered the execution of then 39-year-old Tomohiro Kato, who had been involved in a massacre in Tokyo's Akihabara district.
However, Yasuhiro Hanashi, who succeeded Furukawa as justice minister, was dismissed in November 2022 due to inappropriate remarks about the death penalty.
His gaffe, along with its aftermath, led to his successors, Ken Saito, Ryuji Koizumi and Hideki Makihara, not ordering any executions. Current Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki only took office in November 2024.
One possible reason for the continued lack of executions is the case of now 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who was once sentenced to death for the June 1966 murder of four family members in the then Shizuoka Prefecture city of Shimizu (now part of the city of Shizuoka), but was later acquitted in a retrial.
His acquittal had been expected since a decision over his retrial was finalized in March 2023.
Hakamada's acquittal marked the fifth post-World War II case of a death row inmate being found not guilty in a retrial.
While public support for the death penalty is cited as a reason for its retention, the irreversible nature of the punishment means mistakes cannot be tolerated.
The shock of discovering the wrongful conviction in a case with a finalized death sentence may have led the Justice Ministry to conclude that the conditions for carrying out executions are not in place.
Regarding the death penalty system, an expert panel including former top public prosecutors and police officials as well as Diet members drew up a report in November urging the national government to discuss the abolition, reform and improvement of the system.
The expert panel was set up at the urging of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, which opposes capital punishment.
According to the Justice Ministry, there are 106 death row inmates, with about 50 requesting retrials. In 2024, while two death sentences were finalized, two inmates died in prison, and Hakamada was released from death row after 44 years."
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241230/p2a/00m/0na/00700
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;
