In the case where four members of a family were murdered in Shizuoka Prefecture 57 years ago, the retrial of Iwao Hakamada (4), who was sentenced to death, = retrial has been decided. This is the fifth case in which the death penalty has been confirmed, and all four of the previous cases have been acquitted. More than 87 years have passed since Hakamada pleaded his innocence and asked for a retrial. The reason why it takes so long is the problem of the "Retrial Law".

Judicial decisions shaken

Crime scene at the time 1966

Since the death sentence was confirmed, Hakamada has been at the mercy of judicial decisions.

The incident occurred in 1966 (Showa 41). In what is now Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City, the house of the managing director of a miso manufacturing company burned down, and four members of a family were found dead in the burnt ruins.

The person arrested on suspicion of robbery and murder was Mr. Hakamada, a former professional boxer and employee of the company.

He pleaded not guilty at the trial, but the Shizuoka District Court sentenced him to death.

While the evidence was limited, the decisive factor was the "five pieces of clothing" such as a shirt with blood stains found in a miso tank near the site.

It was recognized that Mr. Hakamada was wearing it at the time of the crime and later hid it.

The claim of innocence was rejected by the Tokyo High Court and the Supreme Court in the second trial, and the death penalty was confirmed in 2 (Showa 1980). The following year, Hakamada's lawyers filed for a retrial.

We fought all the way to the Supreme Court, but in 2008 (Heisei 20), the decision not to grant a retrial was finalized.

At this point, 27 years had already passed since the allegations.

The defense team will immediately file a second appeal.

Nine years ago, in March 2, the Shizuoka District Court granted a retrial based on DNA testing, arguing that the "five items of clothing" did not belong to Mr. Hakamada, and issued a decision to release Mr. Hakamada, who was detained in a detention center.

It was the first time that a death row inmate was allowed to be released.

Shizuoka District Court Approves Retrial 2014

However, the prosecution appealed this decision. In 2018 (Heisei 30), the Tokyo High Court reversed the decision of the district court and did not approve the retrial.

In response, the defense filed a special appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will remand the case to the Tokyo High Court in 2020 (Reiwa 2) on the grounds that "the trial has not been exhausted".

On the 13th of this month, 2 years after the second petition, the Tokyo High Court issued a decision to grant a retrial.

Tokyo High Court Approves Retrial on 13th of this month

Regarding the "five items of clothing" that were decisive for the death sentence, he pointed out that "reasonable doubts arose in the evidence on which the guilt was based," and even referred to the suspicion of fabrication by investigative agencies.

The Tokyo High Court's decision was confirmed after the prosecution abandoned the special appeal, and Hakamada's trial was finally redone.

Tokyo High Court Decision to Grant Retrial of Iwao Hakamada Mentions Alleged Evidence of "Fabrication"

The Retrial Act does not stipulate specific procedures.

This is not the only time that it takes time to appeal.

The so-called "Hinocho Case" in which the Osaka High Court issued a decision to grant a retrial last month is a robbery-murder case that occurred 39 years ago in 1984 (Showa 59) in Hino Town, Shiga Prefecture.

A man sentenced to life imprisonment died in prison at the age of 75.

The prosecution filed a special appeal to the Supreme Court against the Osaka High Court's decision, so the trial is expected to be even longer.

Why does it take so long to appeal? One of the reasons for this has been pointed out is the inadequacy of the legal system.

There are only 19 provisions on retrial (Retrial Law) in the Code of Criminal Procedure. These have never been revised since the Taisho era.

Moreover, since there is no specific definition on how to proceed with the procedure, it is said that it is left to the discretion of the judge.

One of the issues that has been raised is the lack of specific provisions regarding the disclosure of evidence.

Unlike ordinary criminal trials, there are no clear rules, so at present, if the court deems it necessary, the prosecution will order the disclosure of evidence.

In Mr. Hakamada's case, photographs of "five pieces of clothing" were newly disclosed by the prosecution at the second retrial hearing.

While the investigative agencies do not know what kind of evidence they have, they say that continuing to fight by "groping" has led to a prolonged trial.

Another major factor that has been pointed out as a major factor in the protraction is that "appeals" are allowed to appeal against the court's decision to start a retrial.

Even if the court allows the retrial to begin, if the appeal is repeated, the trial will be prolonged, so the JFBA = Japan Federation of Bar Associations is arguing that appeals by prosecutors should be prohibited, such as if they claim guilt, they can be done in a retrial trial.

Young people's thoughts on "false charges" and "retrials"

Some young people are interested in the issue of "false charges" and retrial laws.

Aima Ishikawa, a 19-year-old university student in Kyoto Prefecture, became interested in the work of a lawyer when she was in elementary school through a TV drama, and began researching false accusation cases on her own when she was in high school.

At the invitation of the local bar association, I visited the actual crime scene with other university students and met with people who were acquitted in the retrial.

(Ms. Aima Ishikawa)
"Even though I was researching various things, somewhere in my mind I had the feeling that "false sins are stories from the world of dramas," but when I heard the stories of people who had actually been victims of false crimes, I realized that it was a serious problem."

Last September, I visited Shizuoka Prefecture and met directly with Hakamada, his sister Hideko, and the people who support him.

(Mr. Ishikawa)
"I think Mr. Hakamada spent every morning in the detention center thinking that he might be killed, and I felt that if he faced such fear for a long time, he would want to run away from this world, and I thought that society needed to think about the fact that Mr. Hakamada was pushed to that point."

Ishikawa and his colleagues presented the results of their research at a bar association symposium in December last year.

I have been discussing with my colleagues what is necessary to prevent false charges and the issues of the Retrial Law.

In the discussion on the 9th of this month, opinions such as "I feel that the state power is depriving the prosecutor's appeal of the prosecution of the right to fight at the stage of whether or not to retrial" and "I think that the way of proceeding differs depending on the judge is like a 'retrial gacha.'

Mr. Ishikawa wants many people to take an interest in it as "my own matter."

(Mr. Ishikawa) "I myself thought that there was no point in doing something as a lawyer, but I realized that this problem is not just a problem for lawyers.

Other countries are moving forward with legal revisions

With regard to retrials, there is a growing movement to review laws and systems in other countries.

According to the JFBA Retrial Law Revision Headquarters, in Germany the 1964 revision of the law prohibited prosecutors from appealing against the decision to start a retrial, and in 1995 the United Kingdom established a public body to investigate retrial cases independently of the government.

In addition, since 2015, Taiwan has frequently reviewed its law on retrials, and evidence and records collected during the investigation stage can now be viewed in the same way as in ordinary trials, and the procedure for inmates to request DNA typing has been clarified.

Many countries have reviewed their laws and systems in the wake of the revelation of false charges, and Yumi Kamoshida, who serves as the acting head of the Retrial Law Revision Realization Headquarters, urges Japan to urgently revise the law.

(Yumi Kamoshida)
"As in Mr. Hakamada's case, it took a considerable amount of time at the request stage before the retrial was made. It is also true that there is such a thing. I think that if we focus on how to deal with mistakes and remedy them, we will gain the trust of the public in the judiciary."

On the other hand, what does the government think?

At a press conference on March 3, Minister of Justice Saito was asked about the challenges of retrial and the revision of the law, and stated, "At this point, we are not aware that there are deficiencies in the provisions of the current law that require immediate treatment." It is related to where to find a point of harmony with the need for correction in the case of the case, so I think it should be carefully examined from various angles."

Retrial more than 40 years after the request

On May 20, Ishikawa learned that the prosecutor's office had abandoned a special appeal against Hakamada's decision to start a retrial. It means that I felt that it was necessary to revise the law again.

(Ms. Ishikawa)
"When I heard the news, I was moved to tears by the joy that Iwao and her sister Hideko were rewarded for not giving up for 57 years, and the regret that it took so long to receive the right to fight in the retrial. I hope that society will change to one where many victims of false accusations are saved fairly," says Hakamada,

who has been in the process of 1 years since his first request for retrial. A redo trial is about to be held.