The Kanazawa Branch of the Nagoya High Court said Wednesday it will grant a retrial over the 1986 murder of a junior high school girl in Fukui Prefecture for which a man served out a seven-year prison term. Judge Shinichiro Ito granted the retrial on grounds that “reasonable doubt” exists over whether Shoji Maekawa killed Tomoko Takahashi, 15, as changes in the depositions of acquaintances whose testimony was central to the conviction called into question their credibility. Ito also said it is doubtful the girl’s stab wounds were created by only two knives, as declared in the previous ruling, suggesting another weapon was also used.
(Japan Times, Dec 01)
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111201a6.html
