Hakamata’s Acquittal Examined: Make Use of Lessons to Reform Retrial System

Editorial

14:59 JST, January 7, 2025

It is clear that there are deficiencies in the current legal system, under which it can take decades to finalize a not guilty ruling in a retrial. The government must urgently discuss how to prevent trials from becoming so protracted.

Following the acquittal decision in a retrial of Iwao Hakamata, who had been sentenced to death for the 1966 murder-robbery of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture, the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office and the Shizuoka prefectural police released reports at the end of last year that examined and summarized the problems with the investigation and trial.

The prosecutors’ report found that the prosecutors at the time “solicited a confession from Hakamata by making statements that seemingly branded him as the culprit.” The prefectural police also found that the daily interrogations, which lasted for 12 hours and during which he was not allowed to go to the toilet, were “inappropriate.”

Interrogations where suspects are coerced into making confessions are not a thing of the past. Recently, there have been a number of cases where interrogators have been found to have used abusive language that undermines a suspect’s character. The authorities must take seriously the fact that the long-standing issue with investigations has not been resolved.

Audiovisual recordings of interrogations are currently made in limited cases, and the scope of this system should be expanded so that defense lawyers can also check interrogations of more cases. It is also essential to actively introduce audiovisual recordings of voluntary questioning of witnesses and other relevant parties.

To prevent prolonged retrials, it is necessary to oblige the prosecution to disclose evidence in their possession to the defense. In the retrial of Hakamata, it took about 30 years for important evidence that might have led to his acquittal to be disclosed.

The attitude of prosecutors, who are reluctant to disclose evidence, has been a problem on many occasions.

In the case of the 1986 murder of a junior high school girl in Fukui, the decision to start a retrial for a former defendant who was imprisoned for murder was made last year. In this case, it took about 20 years for the prosecution to disclose important evidence.

In both cases, if the evidence had been disclosed earlier, the retrial process would have been shorter.

Prosecutors are “representatives of the public interest.” What is important is uncovering the truth of cases, not just convicting suspects. Prosecutors should bear this in mind again.

The court also bears a heavy responsibility. The presiding judge who handed down the acquittal in Hakamata’s retrial said, “I apologize on behalf of the court that it took so long.”

There are no clear rules on retrial proceedings, and it is basically left to the judges’ discretion. In some cases, in which it is difficult to make judgments, the judges do not actively direct the proceedings, and the retrial does not progress.

It took 58 years from Hakamata’s arrest to the finalization of his acquittal. It is important to make use of the lessons learned from this case in the criminal justice system going forward.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 7, 2025)