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发表于 2012-1-10 17:22:48
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VOX POPULI: Saitama murder trial will make for compelling 100 days
"Okuizome," which literally means eating food for the first time, is a traditional Japanese custom for babies. The ceremony to carry the same food eaten by adults to a baby's mouth is performed in hopes that the child will never experience hunger. Since it is usually observed 100 days after birth, it is also called the "100th day celebration." Depending on the child's development and the parents' anxiety, the 100-day period may feel short or long.
Court trials that last 100 days may also be short or long depending on the case. "A hundred-day trial" stipulated by the Public Offices Election Law is a rule to expedite court proceedings to ensure a ruling on election violations is handed down while an elected official is still new to office. In contrast, trials carried out under the citizen judge system usually end in several weeks.
In the trial that started at the Saitama District Court on Jan. 10 concerning a series of suspicious deaths, the term for citizen judges was set at 100 days. The length is unprecedented. The six citizen judges and their substitutes will be required to go to the court some 50 times until a ruling is handed down in mid-April.
The 37-year-old female defendant, charged with the murder of three men in the Tokyo metropolitan area, has not admitted that she killed anyone. There are numerous indirect pieces of evidence, such as testimony that she bought coal briquettes to make it look like the men took their own lives. That is possibly why there are a total of 63 witnesses. On the murder charge, it is likely the citizen judges, whose regular attendance is required, will be pressed to decide whether the defendant deserves the death sentence or acquittal.
Many of the judge candidates must not have foreseen they would be subject to such heavy pressure. It is understandable that they would be reluctant to perform such a strenuous duty that cannot be compensated with daily allowances, regardless of whether they are employed or not. Of the 330 people selected as candidates for citizen judges, many excused themselves. As a result, only about 10 percent remained for the drawing of lots to appoint citizen judges.
In any case, the trial will be a focus of attention. Prosecutors are set to accuse the defendant of "acts of evil," while the defendant and the defense team are expected to present a completely different story. How will the judges digest the opposing stories with their "lay people's perception"? I intend to ponder this case as though I were one of them for the next 100 days.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 10 |
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