crime

Pierre Taki given suspended term for cocaine use

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Oh, you're famous? Here's a pass.

12 ( +16 / -4 )

"(Taki) used cocaine alone while watching movies and listening to music to relieve stress from work, being under pressure in his private life as he expanded his activities from being a musician to acting," Judge Hironobu Ono said in handing down the ruling.

No jail time for celebrities.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

Ridiculous.  Poor Pierre.  He was under pressure.  Sure there is plenty of suffering and crime betwixt a coca leaf in the Andes and the powder up Pierre's nose, so he is not entirely blameless.

But legalise drugs and that problem goes away.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

I just sorted through my CDs and videos to destroy any Frozen or Denky Groove items....

Luckily I didn't have any!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Strangerland; 438 cocaine related cases in 2018. Can't recall ever hearing about that many.

In addition the numbers are on a steady increase. 2014-144 / 2015-230 / 2016-364 / 2017-392

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1003419/japan-number-cases-cocaine-drug-crime/

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"(Taki) used cocaine alone while watching movies and listening to music to relieve stress from work, 

What an obvious threat to society. We can't have people watching movies alone and consuming what they want at home....

So far as stress, fair enough. Everybody has it. Being an actor or musician, while it sounds great, doesn't mean being free from stress. There's some guy with a family in a mud hut in a war zone somewhere with mortar fire in the background who would amazed to hear I have stress, too. It's all relative.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Strangerland: "Considering the majority of first-time drug charges result in a suspended sentence in Japan"

How do you know this? You only ever hear about it when it is athletes, celebrities, high-profile politicians, and the like, which actually PROVES it is because of celebrity.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

You only ever hear about it when it is athletes, celebrities, high-profile politicians, and the like, which actually PROVES it is because of celebrity.

If you only ever hear about one side of the argument, that actually proves nothing at all. They don't report on non-celebrity drug cases simply because nobody cares if a regular office worker snorted some cocaine.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

(Taki) used cocaine alone while watching movies and listening to music to relieve stress from work

It's the classic one in Japan, but gotta love this excuse.

It was the stress, m'lud, from working.

I trust his acting skills extended to saying it with a straight face.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

What happens if I do just a small amount of cocaine because my life is full of stress and I need to relax? If I get fired from my job do I get a free pass as well?

"As well"? No one has received a free pass. A suspended sentence is a guilty verdict. As it says on the page I linked to above:

執行猶予付き判決を受けると、普通の社会生活に戻ることができるので、無罪になったと思い違いをする人もあるようですが、決して無罪になったわけではなく、懲役刑の執行が期限付きで保留されているわけです。

Some people mistakenly think that because one can go back to their company lifestyle, they are innocent. However they have not received a sentence of not guilty, rather the execution of their imprisonment has been suspended.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

What happens if I do just a small amount of cocaine because my life is full of stress and I need to relax? If I get fired from my job do I get a free pass as well? No one does cocaine to relax. Cocaine is an upper. not a downer. I think this judge needs to be educated on drugs.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If you only ever hear about one side of the argument, that actually proves nothing at all. They don't report on non-celebrity drug cases simply because nobody cares if a regular office worker snorted some cocaine.

People think that the number of articles and/or the amount about which the read on an issue is proportional to the actual reality of that issue. It's not. One poster in this thread claimed that because you don't read about it with the common person, it "proves" only celebrities get a suspended sentence for these crimes.

The reality is that a suspended sentence is the most common result of a first-time drug offense in Japan.

This poster thought that the amount read in the news is in direct proportion to reality, and therefore because you never read about common people getting suspended sentences and you almost always read about celebrities getting suspended sentences, this meant in reality common people never get suspended sentences and celebrities always get them.

The reality is that most offenders get suspended sentences for first-time drug offenses, which is completely opposite to what this poster thought had been proven by the amount they read of the issue in the news.

This is why I regularly point out on stories on this site that one should never take the amount on which they see stories in the news is a proper reflection of what is actually happening in reality, and why we need actual data to determine real trends, rather than trends in reporting.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Um Your Honor, I needed stress release so I put something up my nose that makes you paranoid and as jumpy as a person that just had 100 cups of coffee.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@do the hustle.

No one should go to jail for possession of such a small amount of narcotics, famous or not famous.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

one of most idiotic statements I've heard in a long time - really astute NOT The judge said Taki was not addicted to cocaine but continued using it in repeated violation of the law.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Strangerland; 438 cocaine related cases in 2018. Can't recall ever hearing about that many.

In addition the numbers are on a steady increase. 2014-144 / 2015-230 / 2016-364 / 2017-392

I'm not sure why you addressed this to me.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

How do you know this? You only ever hear about it when it is athletes, celebrities, high-profile politicians, and the like, which actually PROVES it is because of celebrity.

Sigh. You only ever read about it with celebrities, because they pretty much never report drug cases except when it is a celebrity. So that proves literally nothing.

How do I know this? Because I read, and I fact check myself. Here is a whole read dedicated to it (from drug-lawyer.com). The whole page is about suspended sentences: https://yakubutsu-bengo.com/shikkouyuyo/

In particular, it lists of the circumstances in which it can be/is granted for first offenses:

過去に1度も禁固以上の刑の確定判決を受けていないこと

過去に禁固以上の執行猶予付きの確定判決を受けたことがあるが、今回の判決言渡し時点で猶予期間が経過していること

過去に禁固以上の執行猶予付きの確定判決を受けたことがあり、かつ、今回の判決言渡し時点で猶予期間が経過していないが、今回判決が言い渡される犯罪が執行猶予判決確定前の犯行であること

過去に禁固以上の実刑の確定判決を受けたことがあるが、最後の刑の執行終了日又は執行免除日から今回の判決言渡し時点で5年を超えていること

3年以下の懲役・禁錮又は50万円以下の罰金の言渡しをするとき

情状により執行猶予に付することが相当であること

People on this site consistently claim bias for celebrities, but not a single time has anyone ever provided anything to support their assertion. This is not the first time I've supported my refutation that a suspended sentence is standard for first time offenses.

I saw the actual numbers explaining the rate of incarceration vs. suspended sentence, but I can't seem to find it now.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Oh, you're famous? Here's a pass.

Considering the majority of first-time drug charges result in a suspended sentence in Japan, by what are you determining the received this result due to his being famous?

-3 ( +7 / -10 )

No jail time for celebrities.

How is this different from non-celebrities?

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

Drugs are bad.

-11 ( +0 / -11 )

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