Supreme Court Approves Retrial for Dead Defendant

The second Petty Bench of the Supreme Court on February 24th dismissed a special appeal made by public prosecutors on the case of Hinocho, in which the defendant, who had been sentenced life in prison, died in his penal servitude. It is likely that a retrial will be made from the first court. It makes the first example in post-war Japan for a crime with death penalty or life in prison to be subjected to a retrial. 

In the case of Hinocho in December1984, an old woman who ran a liquor shop was missed in Hino town, Shiga. Her body was found in the town in January 1985 and her safe was found on the hill in April 1985. Police arrested Hiromu Sakahara, who had been a regular customer of her shop, based on his confession. Although Sakahara argued that he was forced to confess his crime, the court finally found him guilty with penalty of life in prison in September, 2000.

 

Sakahara requested a retrial to Otsu District Court in November 2001, but the court dismissed it in March 2006. He died with disease at a prison in March 2011. However, Sakahara’s families succeeded the request for retrial and filed it for their dead defendant in March 2012. Otsu District Court decided to start retrial for late Skahara in July 2018.

 

Public prosecutors consecutively appealed to higher courts. They appealed to Osaka High Court in July 2018, when Otsu District Court decided to have a retrial. They also appealed to the Supreme Court in March 2023, objecting Osaka High Court’s decision to dismiss their appeal. But the Supreme Court turned down the public prosecutors’ appeal this time.

 

One point the court focused on was credibility of Sakahra’s confession. Prosecutors argued that Sakahara had known where the safe was. It was an important information that could not be known by anybody except the killer of the woman. However, Osaka High Court found a possibility that the policemen might have invited to the place where the safe had been discovered, providing with some information to Sakahara, and the Supreme Court supported high court’s view.

 

One of the friends of Sakahara changed his testimony from denying Sakahara’s alibi to approve it, the fact which paved the way to retrial. The Supreme Court expected Otsu Public Prosecutors Office to review their evidences in Hinocho case for retrial. However, the dismissal of prosecutors’ appeal meant that the court was highly skeptical about criminality of Sakahara and there is a certain possibility that the court would find Sakahara to be innocent.

 

It took seven years from the decision of Otsu District Court to start a retrial to Supreme Court’s conclusion that the retrial should be started, dismissing special appeal of the public prosecutors. There is a discussion that public prosecutors’ dispute should be restricted, concerning benefit of defendant.

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