Yomiuri On Unethical Prosecutors

[Mulboyne]

A prosecutor has now been indicted for altering evidence in the case he led against Atsuko Muraki. The Yomiuri says this:

The alleged falsification of data by a senior prosecutor at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office may indicate that his entire special investigation team tends to commit such irregularities during investigations, some legal experts said Tuesday. "If a chief prosecutor intentionally falsifies the data, it may result in a less fair trial and could constitute the crime of destroying evidence," said Hitotsubashi University Prof. Keiichi Muraoka, an expert on legal ethics. "As more than 99 percent of criminal trials end in guilty verdicts in this country, public prosecutors tend to be overly afraid of acquittals," Muraoka said.

"Even if investigations turn up evidence that suggest that prosecutors are wrong, they tend to eliminate portions of that evidence that are unfavorable for them. This latest incident also stemmed from this organizational culture," he said. "In Western countries, prosecution authorities have codes of ethics to prevent wrongdoing like this. Japan also should establish such a code as soon as possible."

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[wuchan]

"It is a problem in which trust in prosecutors is at stake."

this case? a conviction rate in the high 90's doesn't raise red flags?:wall:

[Coligny]

this case? a conviction rate in the high 90's doesn't raise red flags?:wall:

Not if you want to go home early... They don't need to be evil with their current stock of laziness...

[Mike Oxlong]

[SIZE="4"]26% of prosecutors told to produce inaccurate interrogation records[/SIZE]

A survey of prosecutors across the country showed Thursday that 26 percent had been told to compile records of interrogations that did not accurately reflect the actual statements of suspects.

The results of the survey were reported to a meeting of a Justice Ministry panel studying reform of the prosecution system after an evidence tampering scandal involving Osaka prosecutors last year.

The survey also showed 28 percent of prosecutors had either participated in or heard of interrogations that they felt were problematic.

The anonymous online survey of 1,444 prosecutors, conducted by the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office in February, received responses from 1,306, or 90 percent of the total.

In the survey, more than 80 percent of prosecutors said they felt it had become more difficult to obtain statements from suspects, while more than 90 percent called for an improvement of investigative methods other than interrogations.

The survey also showed 14.7 percent of prosecutors felt they were not good at conducting interrogations and 58.7 percent had concerns regarding the competence of some prosecutors.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/26-of-prosecutors-told-to-produce-inaccurate-interrogation-records

[AML]

99% of cases end in a guilty verdict,

and no one thought to question that till now?

What a fucking joke.

[Pearse]

It's as if the prosecutors are the judges. The legal system in Japan is scary.

[Ganma]

[SIZE="5"]Prosecutors now seeing advantage in recording interrogations[/SIZE]

The top prosecutors office has ordered more audiovisual recording of interrogations of serious crime suspects, prosecution sources said Saturday, in an apparent turnaround from their initial reluctance to increase transparency of the process.

While prosecutors are known to have limited recordings to confirmation of depositions with suspects who have admitted to charges, they are believed to now recognize that audiovisual recordings are useful if suspects later deny confessions.

Since spring, the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office has sought in its internal meetings to expand the use of recording. Some district prosecutors have already recorded themselves taking depositions from suspects and writing them down in front of them, the sources said.

[wuchan]

More interrogation shenanigans

Amember of the Fukaya city assembly, Saitama Prefecture, who was elected in a March election, and his wife were arrested May 8 on suspicion of wining and dining supporters in mid-February. But on May 27, the Saitama District Public Prosecutors Office released them without deciding whether they should be prosecuted.....

...One supporter of the assembly member told Kyodo News that for several hours a police officer kept repeating things like "You did not pay the fee, did you?," "Only you are saying such a thing," or "If you put your seal on this, you will come to feel at ease." This person eventually gave up resisting the police pressure...

I have had a couple run ins with the police here and they ALWAYS engage in leaded questioning like this.

[Ganma]

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

In the 717 cases, investigators in 696, or 97.1 percent, expressed positive views over the partial recordings...

Anybody else seeing the irony in the figure expressing positive views of recorded interrogations being exactly the same as the conviction rate, right down to the percentile?