39 years ago, a woman who ran a liquor store in Hino Town, Shiga Prefecture was murdered and the safe was stolen. Following the Otsu District Court five years ago, we decided to allow a retrial = redo the trial.
The bereaved family complained, ``I was able to go up one more flight of stairs toward retrial innocence.I want to clear his father's regret.''
Robbery-murder case 39 years ago Appeals not guilty but dies in prison
The Osaka High Court also allowed the trial to be redone for Mr. Hiroshi Sakahara, a former factory worker in Hino Town who died while in prison.
Mr. Sakahara was accused of a robbery-murder case that occurred in Hino Town in December 1984.
A 69-year-old woman who ran a liquor store went missing and was found dead in a bush in the town the following month.
She had strangulation marks around her neck and her store safe had also been stolen.
(On-site inspection inside liquor store by lawyers, May 19, 1989)
Four years later, Mr. Sakahara (52 years old at the time), who was a regular customer of the store, was arrested.
In response to the police investigation, Sakahara initially admitted to the charges, saying, "I wanted money to drink alcohol, so I strangled him and killed him." and pleaded innocent.
However, the court decided that ``the confession is credible,'' and in 2000, the Supreme Court sentenced him to life imprisonment.
After serving his sentence, he continued to seek a new trial, but when he died of illness at the age of 75, his proceedings were terminated.
The day before his arrest, he confessed to his family that he had made a false confession
The day before he was arrested, Sakahara had confessed to his family, including his wife Tsuyako (85) and eldest son Hirotsugu (61), that he had made a false confession.
The family believed in Mr. Sakahara's innocence and continued to sue him for more than 30 years.
Hirotsugu Sakahara
: "My father didn't say he did it, even though he was crying and being beaten and kicked. However, the police said, 'I went to my newly-married daughter's daughter-in-law, and the house was rattled. My father couldn't stand it either." "'My father
said he did it, but he didn't do anything. Even if no one believes it, I want my family to believe it.' Then my father cried and said, "I thought that the bottom of the abyss was for this moment. I had to say, 'I did it,' even though I didn't do anything." I think it was a really tough moment."
Tsuyako Sakabara
: "This is the first time I've seen my husband cry. I think it's terrible even though there is no evidence."
Even though the person died, the bereaved family requested a retrial
However, in 2011, when Mr. Sakahara passed away, the court terminated the procedure for requesting a retrial, so Mr. Hirotsugu and his family requested a retrial on his behalf.
The biggest point of contention in the deliberations on whether to grant a retrial was the credibility of Mr. Sakahara's confession, whether it was consistent with objective facts.
In this case, there was no direct evidence to prove that Mr. Sakahara committed the crime, and the conviction was made based on the accumulation of indirect evidence such as Mr. Sakahara's confession during the investigation stage and the witness information on the day of the incident and the state of the body. It was fixed.
Otsu District Court approves retrial “Suspicion of forced confession”
Then, five years ago, the Otsu District Court decided to allow a retrial based on the doctor's expert opinion submitted by the defense team as new evidence.
The Otsu District Court's ruling said,
"The method of murder based on confession is inconsistent with the important objective fact of the condition of the corpse, and credibility is greatly undermined. Police officers assaulted her and forced her to confess. There is a suspicion."
Furthermore, regarding the ``assignment'' investigation in which Mr. Sakahara was asked to show the location where the safe was found, which only the criminal knew, many of the photographs that were said to have been taken on the way to the crime scene were actually taken on the way home. Analysis of the negative revealed that it had been filmed, and the decision criticized the sloppiness of the investigation.
"There is a great risk of misrepresenting the facts, and it is inappropriate."
Prosecutor immediately appeals
However, the prosecution immediately filed an appeal, and the trial moved to the Osaka High Court.
In order to allow a retrial of an already established conviction, "new evidence" is required to clear the acquittal.
The prosecution argued that the doctor's expert opinion submitted by the defense team was not recognized as "new evidence" because it was done using methods that existed at the time the judgment was finalized.
He criticized the district court's ruling as merely a reassessment of the old evidence that had existed from the beginning, as there were no discrepancies in the core of the confession.
On the other hand, the defense team requested that the high court also allow a retrial.
Osaka High Court approves retrial again
After more than four years of deliberation, the Osaka High Court issued a decision on the 27th, following the Otsu District Court, to allow Mr. Sakahara's retrial.
Regarding the explanation given by Sakahara at the scene of the abandonment of the body, the Osaka High Court said, ``It is doubtful whether the explanation was given voluntarily, including the possibility that the police may have guided him based on new evidence such as negatives of photographs from the investigation at the time. There is a possibility that it will not be a remark unique to the criminal, and the credibility of the core part of the confession is being shaken."
He also pointed out that "new testimony from those involved has been submitted, and doubts have arisen about the final judgment that the person's alibi claim was a lie."
It concluded that the acquittal should be acquitted when clear new evidence is found.
On the other hand, he pointed out that there were some inconsistencies between the confession and the state of the body, but he judged that ``the credibility of the confession as a whole cannot be said to have been shaken''.
He also denied any suspicions that his confession was coerced.
Expert ``Legislation that does not prolong the retrial''
Tomoyuki Mizuno, a former criminal judge and professor at Hosei University Law School, points out that the Osaka High Court's decision to allow a retrial is a reasonable decision.
Professor Tomoyuki Mizuno, Hosei University Law School,
"It is a reasonable decision that points out the weakness of the evidence, such as the final judgment, and applies the principle of 'suspiciousness is in the defendant's interest.' It was the first time that the evidence had been disclosed by the prosecution and submitted, but it should have been clarified in the criminal trial at the time. The law should provide more specific provisions so that the deliberations on whether or not to accept the
“Start a retrial as soon as possible and give a not guilty verdict”
Hirotsugu, the bereaved family, and the defense team held a new interview after receiving the decision of the Osaka High Court.
Hirotsugu:
“I was able to climb one more flight of stairs toward a retrial acquittal. When my father passed away, I was so frustrated and sad that I didn’t feel like doing anything. I stood up with the thought, ``I still haven't solved anything. A retrial should start as soon as possible, and the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office should not make a special appeal to the Supreme Court and waste our time. The family is determined to keep fighting until he is acquitted."
Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office ``It is regrettable that the claim was not accepted''
Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office's deputy chief prosecutor, Fumihiko Oyumiba, who rejected the immediate appeal, commented, ``It is regrettable that the prosecutor's claim was not accepted.
Prosecutors will then decide whether to make a special appeal to the Supreme Court.
Following the Otsu District Court, the Osaka High Court upheld the decision to allow a retrial. are more likely to be handed down.