In preparation for the retrial = redo trial of Iwao Hakamada, who was sentenced to death in the case of the murder of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture 57 years ago, the court, defense lawyers, and prosecutors held their first consultations, and the prosecution has announced that it will present a policy by July whether to prove guilt.
In the case of Iwao Hakamada (57), who was sentenced to death for the murder of four members of his family in Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City 1966 years ago in 4, the Tokyo High Court issued a decision on March 87 to grant a retrial after referring to the suspicion of fabrication of evidence by investigative agencies, and a retrial will be held at the Shizuoka District Court.
In preparation for this trial, the court, defense lawyers, and prosecutors held their first three-way consultation at the Shizuoka District Court on the afternoon of the 3th, with the participation of Ms. Hakamada's sister Hideko, and discussed how to proceed with the trial.
According to the defense team, the prosecution has indicated that it will have three months to make a policy decision on whether to prove the guilt claim, which is the focus, by July 10.
In addition, the court has asked us to narrow down the evidence to be submitted by both sides from the vast amount of evidence handled in past hearings, so this process is expected to take time.
On the other hand, the defense team asked the court to exempt Mr. Hakamada from appearing in court in light of the fact that he was still unable to fully talk due to his prolonged detention, and asked the prosecution to abandon the proof of guilt and actively plead not guilty.
The next round of consultations is scheduled for 5 May.
Hakamada's sister Hideko: "I don't understand the prosecutor's thoughts at all."
After the discussion, the defense team and Hakamada's sister Hideko held a press conference.
In it, Hideko said, "I was struck by the fact that the prosecutor was only looking down and not up. I had no idea what the prosecutor was thinking and trying to say. I wondered what the three-party talks were like, and I was fooled into listening."
Hideyo Ogawa, the secretary general of the defense team, said, "I am convinced that the prosecutor will eventually give up proving guilt, so in that sense, it is infuriating to wonder what the three-month period is."
On the other hand, regarding the defense team's request to exempt Mr. Hakamada from appearing in court, Ogawa explained, "The court said that it could not make a decision at this stage, including whether the opinion of the medical institution was necessary, and that it would make a decision at the end of the tripartite talks."