Wrongfully convicted Japanese man acquitted in retrial (Roundup)

Mar 26, 2010, 11:02 GMT

Tokyo - A 63-year-old Japanese man wrongfully convicted of the 1990 kidnapping and murder of a 4-year-old girl was acquitted Friday in a retrial, a decision that may signify a turning point for Japan's much-criticized criminal justice system, analysts said.

Toshikazu Sugaya, a former kindergarten bus driver in Ashikaga, about 80 kilometres north of Tokyo, was freed in June 2009 after 17 years behind bars.

In 1993, Sugaya was sentenced to life in prison for killing the child on the basis of the then-new technology of DNA testing and his confession.

Sugaya, however, was released after new tests showed his DNA did not match that of the bodily fluid found on the victim's clothing. For years, his lawyers had demanded new tests as they said forensic testing in the early 1990s was unreliable.

Sugaya's confession had been made under duress while investigators were kicking him and pulling his hair, he said in an interview. 'They had apparently made up their minds from the start that I was guilty.'

Analysts said the errors made in Sugaya's case exemplified the weaknesses of Japan's criminal justice system, which relies heavily on confessions and not enough on evidence.

After Sugaya's release in June, Amnesty International Japan urged the government to embark on fundamental reform of the criminal justice system, including the abolition of the daiyo-kangoku, a system of pretrial detention.

The police are still allowed up to 23 days to interrogate a suspect, while lawyers are not permitted to sit with a suspect during interrogations. In addition, Japan's conviction rate is extraordinarily high - more than 99 per cent.

Critics argue there needs to be a shift in the mindset among prosecutors from an excessive reliance on extracting confessions to building cases based around solid evidence. Prosecutors must stop the psychological torture of protracted interrogations, they added.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has demanded that interrogations be videotaped to avoid abuse and increase transparency.

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba said the ministry was willing to review the handling of evidence and interrogation in criminal cases to prevent false accusations.

'It is necessary to systematically and legally review the examination of evidence while considering (the appropriateness of introducing) videotaping of the interrogation process,' Chiba told a news conference.

In court, three judges in Sugaya's retrial stood up and offered an apology.

'I feel sorry as a judge that we did not listen to Mr Sugaya's truthful voice, and as a result, took away his freedom for 17-and-a-half years,' presiding judge Masanobu Sato said.

Then the three bowed toward the defendant.

After the court adjourned, Sugaya said, 'I feel completely different today from yesterday. I feel refreshed by the verdict of complete innocence.'