Court orders retrial of 1966 quadruple murder case

If prosecutors were really interested in the truth, as was claimed the other day in the piece about the women prosecutors, then they will not appeal. The reason they would appeal is because they are not interested in the truth; only convictions by whatever method. And in this case their methods might be exposed officially. It is plain to see that they already are exposed to most of us, I think.

Prosecutors also refused to release the video footage of the death of Wishma on the immigration cell.

And refused to release exculpatory documents in the Carlos Ghosn / Greg Kelly trial.

I hate to pay their salaries with my tax money.

I hope that they lose this 1 trial, so their 99% success rate goes down a tithe.

later confessed after what he subsequently claimed was a brutal police interrogation that included beatings.

Another victim of Japanese hostage justice system

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%BA%E8%B3%AA%E5%8F%B8%E6%B3%95

If prosecutors were really interested in the truth, as was claimed the other day in the piece about the women prosecutors, then they will not appeal

They only care their 99% rate.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2020/01/08/issues/carlos-ghosn-99-9-percent-dont-escape/

The simple fact that this man sat on death row for five decades while dozens of other death sentences were carried out tells the story (134 executions since 1993). The powers to be themselves have never fully believed he was guilty. How many justice ministers have there been since he was convicted? How many execution orders signed? And not a single one of them could get around to signing off on his execution? Why not if they were so sure? Because they were not sure - nobody wanted to execute an innocent man. "shame" is not a strong enough word.

For too many prosecutors the quality of mercy is "strained". For them it's just an occupational hazard. For the innocent it's injustice by any other name.

If one really believes in Justice for the victims AND the rights of the accused, this case should be dismissed forthwith and this man given a formal apology.

It's not a case of he was somehow not competent or didn't receive competent counsel.

HE DIDN'T DO IT!

There is no evidence besides a forced confession. Nothing, nada, nil.

I remember hearing about this case when I first came to Japan in 1990 thinking "How can they put someone on death row on such lousy evidence?"

This man's life has been ruined. The prosecution should face sanctions if only postumously.

And the victims will never receive true justice for what happened to them because the person that actually did it got away with it. They are either long dead or will never face trial.

So the victim got no justice. The innocent spent most of his life in solitary on death row. His life ruined. The prosecutors made a mockery of the criminal justice system.

A Triple Goober!

Give me and my department 2 days with this case for evidence (longer than expected, but just to triple check) and I bet this guy would would be ordering McDonalds hours after we prove that he was wrongfully ACCUSED! And the officers who interrogated him should be put under fire!

So you would really let all of them out immediately, only because there’s not 100% fitting evidence and confessions drawn back afterwards calling them forced? That will lead to bloodbaths globally not only in Japan, if they are all running on the streets again and even will feel encouraged to commit the next mass murder due to weak or should I say ‘woke’ justice. Of course only he himself knows 100% if he is innocent or not. And also there’s a basic rule to let people free if there’s a doubt about their guilt. That has been served, maybe considering that he is not a big danger anymore in his high age, which would not have been the case if he had got freedom back while still much younger , but still a threat to many as a pro boxer and that case as history. Sometimes there are errors in the justice system, like anywhere else when humans involved, but sorry, you cannot let all of them loose only because something isn’t completely fitting, although there is evidence and a signed confession.

A dreadful case of miscarriage of justice.

"Supporters say nearly 50 years of detention, mostly in solitary confinement with the ever-present threat of execution, took a heavy toll on Hakamada's mental health."

How does he get that back?

What kind of autocracy do you favour, Sven? I don't think you will have much freedom in it. Miscarriages of justice are just that: miscarriages of justice.

When one uses the term “woke justice” in regards to this case, one truly self-identifies as an imbecile.

It’s a face-palm ignorant thing to say.

Good luck in giving him is 57+ years back, and a typical "Gomennasai bow" won't work.

the judge have to go to jail!

When one uses the term “woke justice” in regards to this case, one truly self-identifies as an imbecile.

Nail on the head! "Woke" is a joke, a word rendered meaningless by right-wingers who, vocabulary-challenged, are unable to define or explain their hang-ups. "Justice" is about power, what is meted out to the weak by the strong, not by the "woke". Hakamada san has suffered enough. Unbeknownst to the "Court", their humanity is now on trial.

DNA tests found no link between Hakamada, the clothes and the blood but the high court rejected the testing methods.

So why didn't they retest using accepted testing methods? Seems to me they knew the guy was innocent and maybe didn't want concrete proof. Did they even look for other suspects? This happened a few years after the high profile Hurricane Carter case in New Jersey. He too was a boxer and got framed by some corrupt people in the PD. Sounds like this guy got framed too. How does evidence such as blood-stained clothing magically turn up a year later? Japan lives on that 99% conviction rate BS as if all those convicted are guilty and a lot of people here don't really realize nor want to realize how crooked the cops and DA can be especially when they are just trying to further their careers or make a quota. Happens more than many would care to believe.

So if it wasn’t him, there has been a mass murderer wandering around the streets for 58 years. Great job cops.

Whenever there's a report about a heinous crime, this forum is swarming with 'string them up' comments. Where are those commenters now? This kind of case is exactly the reason that most economically and socialy advanced countries (except the US and Japan) have ended corporal punishment. The risk of error is high and in a system like Japan, where it's all about ensuring conviction rates are high with minimum process transparency, the risk is even higher.

Today, my thoughts are with all innocent people in prison or on death row.

I wonder where all the people who would have been shouting "HANG HIM". Let's not waste TAX PAYER's money on keeping him in prison.

Come on!

Where are you?

I guess you only want to hang people when A) it isn't you B) isn't a member of your family, and C) your not pulling the switch.

So all these STRING HIM UP fans, should be screaming THERES A MURDERER out there. 50 years in prison, with ongoing psychological torture, and in solitary confinement.

Please speak up.

I guess you will be shouting to string them up at the next crime. I will also point out the 3 UK men falsely accused of rape, by a 22 year old woman. All three were eventually found innocent and the fake victim was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

I mean, even if he did it, do you really think he is a menace to society at this point? he can't even walk.

Court orders retrial of 1966 quadruple murder case

unfortunately for this 87 year old the final result of any retrial will happen long after his passing as the prosecutors will appeal any favorable verdict to him up the judiciary chain, which will be slow walked and dragged out at every level.

Prosecutors also refused to release the video footage of the death of Wishma on the immigration cell.

And refused to release exculpatory documents in the Carlos Ghosn / Greg Kelly trial.

I hate to pay their salaries with my tax money.

They are criminals. They should not have that kind of power. These are all cases of concealment of evidence, which in a REAL democracy would be a CRIME. Not to mention the IDIOT cops that beat the confession out of him. What a joke of a justice system. Absolute joke.

I hope that they lose this 1 trial, so their 99% success rate goes down a tithe.

Hear Hear!

Supporters say nearly 50 years of detention, mostly in solitary confinement with the ever-present threat of execution, took a heavy toll on Hakamada's mental health."

How does he get that back?

Oh, a bow, and a "gomen ne" ought to do it.

This and Ghosn and Japan's ludicrous 99.4% conviction rate make Japan's justice system a joke.

Yup.

The US and Japan have the worst justice systems in the industrialised world, and they are the only ones with the death penalty. Go figure.

Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

Whether Iwao Hakamada is responsible for the heinous crimes he was judged to be guilty of.

The psychological trauma of never knowing from one day to the next if that trap door beckons ... "I was waiting for this day for 57 years"....is inhuman.

Supporters say nearly 50 years of detention, mostly in solitary confinement with the ever-present threat of execution, took a heavy toll on Hakamada's mental health.

Maybe this is a fate worse than death, waiting every day, for over fifty years for the hangman noose.

The thing that astounds me regarding rule of law in Japan, is that judges just seem to listen and rubber stamp the prosecutor tather than follow any logical thought, or show any common sense.

There are times I view the horrors human beings commit/inflict on each other a scream hang them high.

Today Iwao Hakamada lived to make me ashamed.

But Iwao Hakamada can't step back in time to reset his past/future.

The broken man, can never be unbroken.

HarrisonToday  05:03 pm JST

The thing that astounds me regarding rule of law in Japan, is that judges just seem to listen and rubber stamp the prosecutor tather than follow any logical thought, or show any common sense.

I would be careful will common sense because the people calling for his execution would argue it is common sense. Or he is guilty! And that was common sense.

We should be arguing for “professional sense”. The prosecutor the judges the police all lacked professional sense, because they spent years in training for a profession. Sometimes common sense isn’t the best judge!

@Abe234

I believe the word you're looking for is prevarication.

So much for a "legal " system! When he's found not guilty, he should be awarded a year's salary and more for every year he was in jail.