The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© Thomson Reuters 2020.Man, son accused of helping Ghosn flee Japan challenge U.S. extradition case
By Nate Raymond BOSTON©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
39 Comments
Login to comment
B. Jay
Jumping bail or helping someone to jump bail is not a crime in Japan.
Cricky
Again J prosecutors jump the gun. These men committed no crime what they did isn't against any law in Japan. And the immigration thing is a non extradition charge. Prosecutors really are a very unprofessional group of people.
BertieWooster
It would be nearer the truth to say that Ghosn escaped to Lebanon.
dan
Movie title is gonna be 'Ghosn the flight from injustice'
Alfie Noakes
Abe and his Corruption Gang are getting slaughtered by the opposition in the Diet every day. Any distraction from the endless examples of gross government/corporate malfeasance paraded in front of the people on a daily basis is to be welcomed, one assumes. Foreign boogeyman, all the better.
Bugle Boy of Company B
Ghosn Baby Ghosn
Mirai Hayashi
more like Ghosn in 60 Seconds
Goodlucktoyou
15 years in prison on charges of human trafficking would be fine with me.
talaraedokko
Large popcorn & coke please.
Chico3
So, jumping bail is not a crime in Japan? Do you have the source?
Peeping_Tom
"Jumping bail is not a crime in Japan..."
A)
1) As argued by the defence Lawyers;
2) Usually the first line of a defence is to deny the existence of a norm/infringement, or both;
3) Defence, (highly likely Americans), trained in a totally different Legal System, incompatible with Japanese rules (Civil);
4) American rules have no relevance in Japan.
The issue is not as clear cut as the Defence attempts to portray:
"Article 96 (1) The court may, upon the request of a public prosecutor or ex officio, make a ruling to rescind the bail or suspension of the execution of detention when:
(i) the accused has been summoned but does not appear without a justifiable reason;
(ii) the accused has fled or there is probable cause to suspect that the accused may flee;
(iii) the accused has concealed or destroyed evidence or there is probable cause to suspect that the accused may conceal or destroy evidence;
(iv) the accused has harmed or tried to harm the body or property of the victim, any other person who is deemed to have knowledge essential to the trial of the case or the relatives of such persons or has threatened them; or
(v) the accused has violated the conditions set by the court such as restrictions on the place of residence."
"http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=3364&vm=02&re=02"
Note:
"Article 96 (1) The court may, upon the request of a public prosecutor or ex officio, make a ruling to rescind the bail
Rescission:
To revert to the "status quo ante", i.e. back to the initial position as if the contract/agreement never existed in the first place. There has been a material change of circumstances with CG's "departure" and Court may decide on rescission.
B)
"Bail
After the likely additional indictment on January 11, 2019 and the expiration of the third detention period, Mr. Ghosn would possibly not be immediately released because a court can detain a defendant if there is probable cause to suspect that the defendant may flee or conceal evidence. (CPC art. 60.) When a suspect is indicted while being detained, the detention automatically continues. (Jokai Keiji Soshoho [Commentaries on Articles of CPC], at 567 (Koya Matsuo ed., 2016).)
When the grounds or necessity for detention no longer exists, the court must rescind the detention upon request or by virtue of office. (CPC art. 87.) The defendant, his/her lawyer or family member can request the court that the defendant be released on bail. (CPC art. 88.) Bail must be granted unless there is probable cause to suspect that the defendant may conceal or destroy evidence, or under other specified circumstances. (CPC art. 89.)"
"Different model?
As explained above, the criminal investigation systems in Japan and the U.S. are different. In response to criticisms by foreign reporters at a press conference on November 29, 2018, Shin Kukimoto, the deputy head of the Tokyo prosecutor’s office stated: “I do not criticize other countries’ systems just because they are different.” For an article explaining the difference of models of criminal justice systems of Japan and other countries see Daniel H. Foote, The Benevolent Paternalism of Japanese Criminal Justice, 80 Calif. L. Rev. 317 (1992)."
"https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2019/01/japanese-criminal-legal-system-as-seen-through-the-carlos-ghosn-case/"
This saga is far from over.
The "locus delicti" is Japan; it's their Law, not America's.
Let's wait for Japan's response, shall we?
Dean Schuchard
It is amazing they even tried to come up with this, if it is not a crime then why did you have to go through and hide what you were doing, just stupid to me
senkan
@Northernlife
"Innovation that Escapes"
bokuda
@Peeping_Tom
Very informative, keep it up.
IMO Japan needs a huge reform of its Legal System to make it "Legal".
Right now is an industrial sized torture machine.
Zack
Movie titles;
'Ghosn with the wind'
'Ghosn Impossible'
'Ghosn and never back'
Michael Machida
I applaud anyone who help Ghosn escape. 3 Cheers to you all. Great job! Laughable and entertaining to say the least because the Japanese Police and Government now, as always ~ look so silly.
OssanAmerica
The defendants have tons of money received from Ghosn to afford a very well known top law firm. Naturally they are going to fight extradition in any which way possible. Whether bail jumping is a crime in Japan or not is not relevant, that it is a crime in the U.S. as well as whatever state they resided in, is what forms the basis of comity, which in turn is the basis of extradition. Ultimately I believe they will lose, as the US values the ability to extradite those charged in the US from Japan as well.
dan
Ghosn in 60 seconds ?
Ascissor
About time they let byghosns be byghosns.
taj
Defense lawyers say that neither the convict father, nor the son "pose a flight risk requiring them to be held without bail."
They are literal specialists in fleeing. Paid professionals.
starpunk
Of course they are flight risks. If there was a bail, they'd just flee to another country. Russia, Argentina, Iceland?
gogogo
Trying to arrest people where there isn't even a law.
macv
Why USA kowtows to Japan's whim on such matters is a mystery to me
OssanAmerica
The concept of an Extradition Treaty is not all that hard to comprehend really. And complying with one is not "kowtowing" to anything.
wtfjapan
Trying to arrest people where there isn't even a law.
Japan goes one better by detaining people with no actual proof of their guilt, the try and force a confession. even if the person does get out of detention they can detain them again on a completely different charge, there isn't any limit on how many time they can do this. Effectively Japan can detain a person indefinitely until they force a confession. Explain to me how this is democratic or respecting basic human rights
Spidey
"Miss Me When I'm Ghosn"
"Days Ghosn By"
"Around the World in 100 Days"
S
Aly Rustom
Excellent post! Exactly!
Michael Machida
People just do not see the beauty in what Ghosn did. He is not in Japan. Just left! Im still laughing.
Seth M
He can spend the earning from Gosn in the litigation with US court.
Since his son is with him, he doesn't have to worry about inheritance either. What a smart guy!
M3M3M3
Japan and the US have a treaty which explicitly spells out which crimes are extraditable. The US distinction between felonies and misdemeanors is entirely irrelevant. The treaty states that all crimes involving the making of false statements are extraditable. There is no indication that immigration offences should be excluded or that there is some minimum threshold for how serious an offence must be before it becomes extraditable.
As for bail jumping; Yes, if you are granted completely unconditional bail then I can accept that no additional crime is commited by simply run away and never showing up at your hearing. However, Ghosn was not granted unconditional bail. Has was confined to his home with strict conditions through a judge's order. There are numerous crimes in the Penal Code from articles 97-105 which appear to deal with escape and assistance from confinement in these circumstances. I would be very surprised if they do not apply to this situation. These additional charges are likely awaiting the Taylors once the Japanese authorities get hold of them.
AramaTaihenNoYouDidnt
MOJ...give it a rest, will ya!? For crying out loud.
that person
Here today, Gosn tomorrow
starpunk
Remember chess champ Bobby Fischer. He violated the UN embargo on the former Yugoslavia and fled to the Philippines, then Japan - broadcasting on radio some hateful anti-Semitic conspiracy theory crap. He thought by marrying a Japanese woman he'd escape justice and Japan was going to turn him over to the US. He was granted asylum by Iceland (no extradition treaty w/ US) and he became an Icelandic citizen. And the US was not 'kowtowing' to Japan, and Japan was complying with their end. Fischer weaseled out thanks to Iceland. That's why I listed that place as a possible refuge in my previous posting.
John886
There are so many holes in this case its ridiculous how they even had "Probable Cause" to arrest them...
1.) He was allowed to roam freely around Japan, he was not under house arrest so confinement doesn't apply. Also Japan has had 4 months to throw every charge they could at these guys...you really think if they had other charges they wouldn't have added them to the arrest warrant?
2.) Why wasn't Carlos charged with any of the articles from 97-105?
3) Also another major problem for the Japanese is Chapter XI Complicity -
Ghosn was charged with an immigration violation which carriers a penalty of 1 year max so by law the punishment for the Taylor's must be less.
4.)If Japan wants to add additional charges, they need to reissue a new arrest warrant which would be the 3rd. This is a weak case, the fact that the US Government had to add article 103 (which the Japanese themselves know doesn't apply) shows how desperate they are.
This will be dropped soon and the US is just complying to make Japan happy.
Chico3
Ghosn but not forgotten
From being ghosn to being a ghosner
Ghosn for good
TARA TAN KITAOKA
WASTING tax payers money on a just to save face ???. Admit, japan made a mistake. PLs stop wasting time.
macv
OssanAmericaJune 10 01:04 pm JST The concept of an Extradition Treaty is not all that hard to comprehend really. And complying with one is not "kowtowing" to anything.
It is indeed kowtowing considering plenty of Japanese have broken laws overseas including - disobeying court orders forbidding them to leave jurisdiction, destroying old and getting new passports to avoid getting caught, etc. Far as I know not one Japanese person has been extradited to any foreign country for these types of crimes. If US authorities comply with this absurd request it will open a monstrous can of worms.