American Toyota exec released without charges

So is she gonna get her EXEC position back??

So is she gonna get her EXEC position back??

Toyota accepted her resignation. Read between the lines.

I'd say the Japanese legal system just did Hamp and Toyota a solid and let her get away with one. She better count her blessings and get her act together if she ever wants a fraction of her career back again.

Senior job at Takeda Pharmaceuticals beckons

Sayonara Julie (!)

As expected. If you have some dignity and some skills that could be used outside Japan just run for your live. There is a subtle difference between the way Japan and the Middle Eastern oil producers such as Kuwait or Qatar treat their migrant workers. Very subtle. Hope she would sue Toyota back in the USA for the damages she has suffered.

Oh she resigned while she was still in custody? And this is the first time I ever seen the Head of Public Relations who actually became a Public Relations nightmare.

According to the detective that does translating for cases like this, he said she may appear to get off, but is paying a big fine as she is guilty, and was whisked away to get her belongings, clear bank accounts and is on a plane never allowed to return. Insider information counts.

"Legal experts say that a show of remorse and first-time offenders tend to win some leniency."

Especially after they toss the person in the clink for 3 weeks, with no access to lawyers, their loved ones or employers....and NO CHARGES. Gotta love such "leniency." (Who writes these articles?!)

"Company officials said they did not know her whereabouts or her plans."

Just the kind of employer you want. NOT! Gee, that's funny, no mention of the lawyer who defended her and could have supplied said information. Not that Toyota cared, it seems.

So she gets to walk away, but will probably be on the first plane back to the U.S. probably as a result of a combination of pressure from the U.S. Embassy and Toyota.

Justice? Apparently it doesn't live in Japan.

And all the rest of us foreigners?

Her arrest, a big embarrassment for Toyota, highlights missteps in its effort to diversify and become more international in its corporate culture.

... yeah, the implication here is that all foreigners are druggies. Thanks Julie, you've made it much more difficult for any other foreigner to get promoted to a senior position in a Japanese country and thoroughly reinforced an existing glass ceiling.

She gets off free, all the rest of us suffer for her criminality. Real fair.

Ms. Hamp will get a job at another corporation because she is not being charged with any crime, in fact she will probably get sympathy especially in the U.S. because she was kept in jail for 3 weeks without being charged. I wonder who the genius was who ordered the raid on Toyota Headquarters and Tokyo and Nagoya offices? Once the NPA has gotten the egg off their faces, they can go back to chasing panty thieves and up-skirt photographers some of whom are in the NPA.

All she had to do was ask someone in the US Embassy to bring them in for her ... or go see the company doctor as soon as she arrived.

For a PR executive, this was not good PR management and will damage the impression of hiring foreigners.

Hope she would sue Toyota back in the USA for the damages she has suffered.

For what? They had every right to fire her, they let her get off with resigning. She very likely has a nice severance package as a result. And Toyota didn't do anything wrong, she did. They even stuck by her when the case initially broke, whereas many companies would have just dumped her.

Justice? Apparently it doesn't live in Japan.

She gets off free, all the rest of us suffer for her criminality. Real fair.

She lost her job, sat in jail for three weeks, has been dragged through the news, and has to go back to her country after packing up to move to Japan. Hardly getting of free. And hardly a lack of justice. And none of us are suffering for her criminality.

With Toyota's history, the media circus surrounding the $1.2 billion settlement of a criminal investigation by America’s Justice Department, plus the 6 million plus recalls over Takata airbag.

Julie Hamp, after three weeks in police custody, the first foreign executive to be permanently stationed in Japan, the prosecutors/NPA appalling 'off the record' press briefings, 'Jacta alea est' the die is cast, invariably the US media will find the Japanese Justice system, that is not a court of law but the 'prosecutors/NPA' pronounced Ms Hamp as 'homo praesumitur nocens, donec probetur innocens'... 'one is presumed to be guilty, until proven innocent'...

For Toyota this is a PR/marketing disaster, prime time TV awaits. If Hamp is guilty of anything then judicial process is that Hamp be charged accordingly.

Senior job at Takeda Pharmaceuticals beckons

No. She'll be with her US lawyers, thrashing out the film rights.

For sure she F-up and clearly knew that what she was doing was illegal in Japan. If her prescription was legal in the U.S., then she and Toyota needed to find a way to make it work in Japan.

I will say this, though: having had total knee replacement a couple years back after 25 years with no ACL, no one is prescribed Oxycodone for "knee pain," pre- or post-surgery. Best I had post-op was a 50 tab script for Hydrocodone (a smidge of codeine, caffeine and acetaminophen) . Those of you who know both your opiates and chronic knee pain know that no one is prescribed Oxycodone for achy knees and that you need to take 3-4 hydrocodone to get the same effect as a single Oxycodone. Best you can hope for is living close to the Canadian border to resupply your 222s.

Well, no matter where you stand on Hamp, this whole event is a reminder, in case anyone forgot, that Western standards of due process are not extant in the criminal justice system in Japan.

Remain cautious and stay safe, everyone.

Was she prescribed this medicine by a doctor in America?

In that amount probably not. It's a federal crime in the US so I expect she will be arrested on her return.

No, she admitted that she was not prescribed medicine, her dad sent them to her. Her dad and she should be facing US Federal charges, since it is illegal to send oxycodone through the US mail.

Any case, she has resigned, she has no job, her status of residency (aka visa is tied to her job) and it is unlikely that some other company is going to hire her in Japan. Soon she'll be gone and this news will be soon forgotten.

Senior job at Takeda Pharmaceuticals beckons

I smiled when I read that. As pharma companies seem to have difficulties prioritizing between testing and sales, she could be a great asset.

a smidge of codeine ????? Really Jeff Huffman?

If you've got a smidge of codeine in Japan you've committed a crime equal to Julie Hamp's. It, too, is a banned substance though common enough in cough syrups and analgesics in North America. Check with the nearest Japanese consulate for the list of banned before travelling. Being held up to twenty-three days in jail without charges because you brought common cough syrup into Japan will certainly crimp your vacation a smidge... .

So important to check which countries ban what substances--from chewing gum to opiates. You never know.

In the end, Toyota accepted her resignation on July 1, because of “the concerns and inconvenience that recent events have caused our stakeholders." It's all about image and money. Toyota doesn't give a dam to Hamp. Typical Japanese company.

Seems to me that the male dominated society got their way. One less foreign female exec in Japan.

@sfjp330

Why should Toyota give a damn?

Do you not get it? She's a PR executive who knowingly committed one of the biggest PR faux pas of recent years, drug smuggling.

More to the point, they should sack whichever executives mistakenly promoted her.

Never mind though. Immigration forgave Paul McCartney eventually. After about 50 years.

Can you not save yourself from turning every story into "Japan hate"?

Luce-A JUL. 09, 2015 - 04:58AM JST Why should Toyota give a damn? Do you not get it? She's a PR executive who knowingly committed one of the biggest PR faux pas of recent years, drug smuggling.

There is a difference. She was only "accused of drug smuggling." If you could read, Japan Police did not press charges after the 23 days of investigation. Point is she was not arrested.

philly1JUL. 09, 2015 - 03:00AM JST a smidge of codeine ????? Really Jeff Huffman?

Yes. Really. Hydrocodone (and 222s) have a very small amount of codeine in them.

If you've got a smidge of codeine in Japan you've committed a crime equal to Julie Hamp's.

I wasn't commenting on the legality of Hydrocodone in Japan. I was commenting on the fact that doctors don't prescribe Oxycodone for knee pain so Hamp's reason for having it was suspect from the beginning, legal in Japan or otherwise. Chronic knee pain is mostly caused by inflammation and/or osteoarthritis, best addressed with anti-inflammatories and ice. Not opiates.

Seems to me that the male dominated society got their way. One less foreign female exec in Japan.

So Toyota make an effort to get her employed and then made her import drugs so they could fire her. Common sense please

A whole lot of noise for nothing. This woman, as well as a lot of unknowns, got pounded for what should be a minor offence. Her life is quite destroyed, her reputation tattered, her job gone... and the offence dismissed. Whatever people feel about drugs, we're talking sending a couple painkiller tabs & lack of knowledge of Japanese law.

Hardly worth such a lynching.

She wasn't just accused the prosecuters had enough evidence to convict her as well. On top she confessed so the prosecuters just dismissed the formalities of going through court. She would have gotten a 3 years suspended sentence anyways being her first in which case she would have been immidiately deported. No use in using the tax payers money going through trial.

On the otherhand she would probaly be facing federal charges of mail fraud since mislabeling prescription drug on purpose and trying to conceal it would be a major offense. Three to five years in minimum security?

A good decision not to charge her. I'm glad that we're slowly seeing governments moving towards the decriminalization of drugs, but I doubt we're going to see such a revolution in East Asia for quite some time. People should be free to learn the consequences of drug abuse firsthand, rather than arbitrary punishment and career destruction due to outdated laws and philosophy.

****This was only because it involved banned prescription drugs. If she had smuggled cannabis or some other drug she would have to do prison time and could even involve some hard labor.

Indeed, which would have been even more foolish.

So nice of the ambassador to dirty her hands for a high-profile case like this, one in which the arrested is clearly guilty. But the embassy puts up its hands and claims there is nothing it can do when less well-heeled and less well-represented U.S. citizens are jailed, typically on less serious or even fictitious charges. Where was the embassy in 2009 when the septuagenarian tourist was busted for a pocket knife when asking for directions at a Koban?

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/08/26/national/tourists-10-day-detention-rapped/#.VZ6ial9VhBc

Japan acts tough. It's imbeciles that make real pain sufferers look bad. I'm unamused by the two faced attitude though, as Japanese executives - I worked with - expected me to find drugs for them. Whereas, I've left housing in Tokyo where other foreign guests were smoking chronic.

Bet Julie's dad gets hired by Rush Limbaugh though. She gave her fellow ladies and foreigners a big black eye.