US Couple Acquitted Of Child Abuse

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Japan Today: American parents acquitted of fatal child abuse after being in custody since 2000
The Tokyo District Court acquitted Thursday an American couple who have remained in custody since their arrest in Tokyo in 2000 on suspicion of beating their 4-year-old son to death in 1994, citing ‘‘reasonable doubt’’ and ‘‘unnatural’’ evidence provided by prosecutors. Chief defense lawyer Osamu Wakuda for Terry Beamon, a 52-year-old karate instructor, and his wife Jewel Curtis, 48, urged prosecutors to accept the ruling, saying, ‘‘Making an appeal and continuing to keep them in custody would be an outrageous denial of human rights’’...But prosecutors called the ruling ‘‘regrettable’’ and said they will take ‘‘appropriate’’ action after studying the ruling. The couple were arrested six years after their son’s death and have remained in custody for about seven years and nine months since their arrest and throughout the trial proceedings. The court found the parents not guilty because of ‘‘reasonable doubt’’ that they conspired and committed the violence that caused the death of their second son. Beamon and Curtis were indicted on suspicion of causing the death of their son at their apartment in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward in October 1994 by striking his back and buttocks with wooden sticks as a punishment. The parents, arrested in June 2000, admitted to the allegation at one point during the investigation but maintained their innocence during the trial. The prosecutors had been seeking a five-year prison term for Beamon and a four-year term for Curtis, arguing that only the defendants could have inflicted severe violence on their son. The trial started in September 2000 but the process was protracted because the defendants pointed to mistranslations by the interpreter several times and the verdict was delivered at the 95th hearing...more...

Other reports say that Beamon is from Saginaw while his wife was born in Korea. They have five other children who were taken into care and eventually sent back to the US. This from a 2001 Japan Times article:

"Beamon runs a martial arts school that, according to sources close to the U.S. Embassy, is believed to be engaged in religious practices, promoting isolation in a regimented, commune-style environment and favoring global rule by black Muslims. During Monday's hearing, Beamon said that the charges against him were a "conspiracy" to punish a man that has attracted Japanese members to his group."

There are more details in another 2001 report from the Japan Times here

[bolt_krank]

Sounds typical of the Japanese justice system.
I also feel sorry for the judge - apparently appeals are frowned upon...
Scary place to be arrested - for anything.

(Note: My knowledge of Japan's legal system is limited, and my opinions may be wrong...)

[southwater]

in new school, Eingrin, does ball qualify for inclusion? bob

[ttjereth]

in new school, Eingrin, does ball qualify for inclusion? bob

Try posting when sober.

[maraboutslim]

They were seeking sentences of 5 and 4 years but they've kept them behind bars already for 7?

[Mulboyne]

They were seeking sentences of 5 and 4 years but they've kept them behind bars already for 7?

That's what stood out for me too.

[Behan]

I suppose if there is risk of flight there would be grounds for holding accused people but for over seven years seems more like punishment. If they were guilty I wouldn't feel sorry for them but to keep innocent people in jail for seven years seems incredibly cruel.
It's as if the police can punish people they want to regardless of what the courts decide. The Japanese legal system can really be frightening.
Somebody on the JAPANTODAY asked the same question, but is credit given for time served?

[Dragonette]

...If they were guilty I wouldn't feel sorry for them but to keep innocent people in jail for seven years seems incredibly cruel.

True, but after reading the 2001 articles, it sounds to me like there's a strong likelihood that they really are guilty, but that the case against them was badly screwed up by both the Japanese authorities and the US embassy. Even if the 4-year-old were beaten to death during "martial arts practice" as stated here, wouldn't the parents be responsible, since it was their gym?

... The Japanese legal system can really be frightening.

I have to wonder what finally became of the other 4 kids.

[Behan]

Being separated from your kids for over seven years would be really tough, especially so if they were really little.

[Tommybar]

I guess I read it wrong...

As I read it, the parents were fighting to prove thier innocents, therefore causing the '95' hearing. It was the parents debating the translation with the Japanese police. I am sure the Japanese police/prosecutor did not want to see it go this long. What a waist of tax payers money.

[Tommybar]

Somebody on the JAPANTODAY asked the same question, but is credit given for time served?

Yes, you do get credit for time served.

And I a agree, this can be a scary country if you mess up.

[Gilligan]

Willful child abuse that results in the death of the child is considered only worthy of 4-5 years in prison. Really? That's it?

[kusai Jijii]

Try posting when sober.

Who the fuck ever posts when sober? I mean the G-man has clocked up 6000 odd posts, do you think he submitted all those while off the sause? Most of the fuckers on here post while at work, which, judging the people I know, is when us FG achieve our most productive drinking binges.
Bottoms up and back to work.

[Greji]

Who the fuck ever posts when sober? I mean the G-man has clocked up 6000 odd posts, do you think he submitted all those while off the sause? Most of the fuckers on here post while at work, which, judging the people I know, is when us FG achieve our most productive drinking binges.
Bottoms up and back to work.

How could anyone think of posting on this board sober? I didn't think GuyJean drank until about three or four years ago, I saw him sober one day, but it hasn't happened since, so it appears he's been able to break himself of that...

[amdg]