Chart X Exonerations
Only four confirmed death penalties have been reversed in Japan in the postwar period. (In contrast, 124 cases have been reversed in the USA since 1977.) And of these four cases, all occurred over a short five year period from 1983 to 1989--three withing a short span of 12 months. What does this indicate about the freedom of judges in a strongly hierarchical and bureaucratically controlled Ministry of Justice?
|
Case Name (Place of Occurence) |
Name of Defendant Family First |
Dates |
Charges |
|
Menda 免田 (Kumamoto) |
Menda Sakae |
Crime: 48/12/29 DC conviction: 50/03/23 HC conviction: 51/03/19 SC conviction: 51/12/25 56/08/10 Third Appeal for Retrial Accepted (Kumamoto D.C.) 59/04/15 Request is cancelled (Fukuoka H.C.) 79/09/27 Sixth Appeal for Retrial Accepted (Fukuoka H.C.) 80/12/11 Prosecution's protest of retrial is rejected. (S.C.) 83/07/15 Not Guilty (Kumamoto D.C. Yachiyo Branch) Exonerated: 83/07/15 (Kumamoto D.C. Yachiyo Branch) Incarcerated: 34 years |
Murder, Robbery. |
|
Saitagawa 財田川 (Kagawa) |
Taniguchi Shigeyoshi |
Crime :1950/02/28 DC conviction: 52/02/20 HC conviction: 56/06/08 SC conviction: 57/01/22 79/06 retrial granted Exonerated: 84/03/12 Incarcerated: 34 years =============== Addendum 2005/07 Taniguchi passes away. |
Murder Robbery |
|
Matsuyama 松山 Miyagi Pref Matsuyama-cho |
Saitoh |
Crime: 55/10/18 DC conviction: 57/10/29 HC conviction: 59/05/26 SC conviction: 60/11/01 Retrial 79/12 Exonerated: 84/07 Incarcerated: 28.5 years ================ Addendum 2006/07/05 Saito passes away. |
|
|
Shimada 島田 Shizuoka Shimada-cho |
Akabori |
Crime: 54/03 DC conviction: HC conviction: SC conviction: Retrial: 86/05 Exonerated:89/01 Incarcerated: 34 years |
Murder of a child. Shimada is autistic. |