Foreigner Found Not Guilty In Drug Smuggling Trial

[Mulboyne]

[kino]

[Longname]

The prosecutor's will 'appeal' the verdict and the whole case will begin again in the high court (2-3) years. It's very likely they will get a reversal in the high court.

It cost them nothing to appeal but millions of yen to the defendant and years more of worry and trouble.

If they lose in the high court they always go to the supreme court. In Japan no such thing as double jeopardy. To 'win' a defendant has to win 3 times in a row over at least 8-10 years.

[Kanchou]

This is why they ask if you packed your own bags.

[Pearse]

Will he be detained while the prosecution is appealing his acquittal?

[Greji]

Will he be detained while the prosecution is appealing his acquittal?

That's the usual procedure with a fg. We are all considered flight risks. They believe that if they lock us up, that is the only way they can be sure justice J-style can be served.

[Pearse]

It just seems so screwed up that you could be found innocent of a crime yet the police could lock you up for years while appealing your acquittal. A person acquitted of a crime has had their innocence proven.

[Mulboyne]

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

And lawyers complain that they now make an average of "only" 14 mil. p.a.
The legal system here is utterly corrupt. Cases like these stand out for us because they involve gaijin, but the situation is equally abject for ordinary Japanese.

High profile cases, however, don't quite work out that way. Late former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was arrested for graft in 1976, convicted in 1983, appealed, the sentence upheld, so he appealed again and died in 1993 while waiting for the Supreme Court to hand down its ruling. All in all, he spent about one week in detention immediately after his initial arrest. And this was from a guy who had priors and done time for accepting bribes in the past as well.

[Kanchou]

The fact that the prosecution has a say in the virdict or punishment and that you can be nabbed for overstaying a visa while in jail is fucking ridiculous.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The fact that the prosecution has a say in the virdict or punishment and that you can be nabbed for overstaying a visa while in jail is fucking ridiculous.

I tend to agree with you, but they are acting totally within the law.

What makes me madder is that authorities aren't always that vigiliant when it comes to maintaining the law.

[Mulboyne]

There's nothing wrong in prosecutors asking for a specific sentence, that's a common feature of many legal systems. Prosecutors also aren't involved in the verdict - unless you include example of fabricating or withholding evidence - aside from presenting their case in court. If they were, the conviction rate would be a nice round 100%.

The collusion between immigration and prosecutors is unfair, as is the general reluctance to grant foreign defendants bail during a criminal prosecution.

It is interesting that a District Court also found detention following a not guilty verdict to be unfair. The legal system clearly has different views on the issue. That doesn't matter now since the Supreme Court has ruled it legal.

One of the problems in drug smuggling cases is that there is usually very little sympathy for a defendant. One of the first comments in this thread is from kino wondering whether Sawyer might actually be guilty. Even if someone has been turned into an unwitting mule, we tend to think they are at least guilty of being stupid.

The only way the Supreme Court decision is likely to be revisited is if there is a high profile case of a foreigner on a more major charge who wins his case, is detained for an appeal and goes on to win that also. We came close with the Nepalese guy mentioned in one of the previous links but, of course, he lost on appeal and is now serving his sentence for a murder charge. For the legal system that probably represents a good example of why detention is necessary.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The only way the Supreme Court decision is likely to be revisited is if there is a high profile case of a foreigner on a more major charge who wins his case, is detained for an appeal and goes on to win that also. We came close with the Nepalese guy mentioned in one of the previous links but, of course, he lost on appeal and is now serving his sentence for a murder charge. For the legal system that probably represents a good example of why detention is necessary.

I remember when the Govinda verdict was handed down in the Tokyo District Court and people were hailing it for representing legal independence and a move ahead for foreigners' rights.

It's turned out to be neither (surprise!). As Mulboyne noted, it gave law enforcers the excuse to continue regarding all foreigners as flight risks. And, perhaps even more alarmingly, it's hard to see how the court came up with the not guilty verdict in the first place considering the significant degree of actual and circumstantial evidence of Govinda's guilt. Consequently, district courts have in the decade since the verdict was handed down taken far more care in handing down decisions, especially in those with a siginificant element of doubt.

[Kanchou]

There's nothing wrong in prosecutors asking for a specific sentence, that's a common feature of many legal systems. Prosecutors also aren't involved in the verdict - unless you include example of fabricating or withholding evidence - aside from presenting their case in court. If they were, the conviction rate would be a nice round 100%.

That's not what I meant.

There's nothing wrong with asking for a specific sentence...that is a basic feature of any legal system.

The fact that they are allowed to appeal because they feel the punishment handed down is too lenient is bullshit.

Secondly, when I say have a word about the verdict, I mean that it's ridiculous that they are allowed to appeal an acquittal, period.

Japan technically gives people protection from double jeopardy, but in practice this only applies if they prosecution doesn't make a move for 14 days after the verdict is handed down. IIRC there have been stories of prosecution waiting over 13 days simply because they can, and it's in their benefit.

[Mulboyne]

[Kanchou]

It might seem closed-minded but wouldn't a plea bargaining system save a lot of time and money versus trials and forcing confessions?

[Mulboyne]

It might seem closed-minded but wouldn't a plea bargaining system save a lot of time and money versus trials and forcing confessions?

That's often held to be one of the barriers to cracking down on the yakuza, offering members lesser charges or lighter sentences in exchange for information.

It's a difficult call. Some regard plea bargaining as just another failure of the legal system so it becomes a question of what kind of failures are more tolerable.

[Kanchou]

It's only a failure if the prosecutors make ridiculous plea bargains, imo. Anything is better than forcing confessions on the innocent or letting the guilty go because they can't get a convection in a trial on the full charges.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

If nothing else, plea bargaining would certainly help the "plight" of the cuntry's lawyers currently making an average of "only" 14 million per year as they could certainly churn out more and more suckers without having to go through the court system through a case's entirity, which is just a fucking nightmare as it exists.

Whether justice would be served is another matter entirely. But it also begs the question of whether justice is served now. Not too many Japanese seem to be complaining about it. But that, in turn, begs the questions of why they don't raise complaints. And...ah, forget it, dude, TIJ. Just bend it over and take it up the cakehole like a good little gaijin.

[matsuki]

This is all pretty scary stuff considering anyone can accuse you of anything...you could be in jail for years and get deported even if you never committed any crime.

[Mike Oxlong]

British 'drug mule' faces 10 years' jail after acquittal overturned

A British man faces 10 years’ jail in Japan after his acquittal for smuggling drugs from Africa was overturned, in a case that casts a spotlight on the country’s recently reformed legal system.

Japan’s Supreme Court rejected claims by 56-year-old Robert Geoffrey Sawyer that he did not know he had 2.5 kilos of illegal stimulants in his luggage when he arrived at Narita Airport from Benin in 2010.

Sawyer’s initial trial was conducted under the lay judge system, a relatively new model in Japan where a panel made up of members of the public play the role of inquisitorial judges under the guidance of three professionals.

These lay judges originally found Sawyer not guilty, saying they could not be sure he knew the package he was carrying contained drugs, but prosecutors appealed to the high court, where the acquittal was overturned.

The supreme court issued its ruling on Monday, upholding the high court’s decision, with judges saying Sawyer was a knowing drug mule and had almost certainly received directions from his handlers.

“A smuggling organization usually gives a carrier instructions for how to return the luggage, regardless of whether or not it tells the person” that its contents were contraband, said the ruling posted on the supreme court’s website.

“The defendant had no company for the trip and no reservations for accommodation as of his arrival in Japan. He also says he had no plans to meet anyone and no itinerary while in Japan,” it said.

“It would not be easy for a smuggling organization to collect stimulant drugs from a person displaying such behavior,” the court said, adding it agreed with the high court that Sawyer had been given instructions.

Sawyer, identified by Jiji Press news agency reports as a geologist, was given a 10-year sentence and fined five million yen.

The court papers did not say which stimulant was involved in the case.

Until the 2009 introduction of the lay judge system for certain serious offenses, crimes in Japan were tried solely by a panel of professionals. There is no provision for trial by jury.

Previous lay judge panels, which are empowered to decide verdict and sentence, have handed down death penalties, including in 2010 to a defendant who was a minor under local law.

The Japanese legal system is criticized for a heavy reliance on confessions, which contribute to a conviction rate of around 99%, a level campaigners say is artificially high in a system weighted in favor of prosecutors.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations, a group representing lawyers, is campaigning to have police interrogations recorded, something that presently does not happen.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crim ... overturned

*posted at 4:20 p.m.?!

[Samurai_Jerk]

I have no idea whether this guy is guilty or not but I used to travel like that and I doubt it's all that unusual. I guess in the land of group tours and anzen/anshin the idea of flying to a foreign country without a hotel booked or a fixed itinerary is unimaginable.

[Coligny]

Guy is british, but smuggle drugs from africa with luggage from Berlin...
They say mules have instruction where to go to deliver their package, the guy had no precise destination... So it's a mule !?

Were Michael Bay or Uwe Boll involved in cooking up this clusterfuck ?

[yanpa]

Guy is british, but smuggle drugs from africa with luggage from Berlin...

Give your screen a wipe-down. It says "Benin".

[Coligny]

I'm gonna just do that...

soon...

[gaijinpunch]

Does the incarceration period of 2 years count at all for time served?

[legion]

I have no idea whether this guy is guilty or not but I used to travel like that and I doubt it's all that unusual. I guess in the land of group tours and anzen/anshin the idea of flying to a foreign country without a hotel booked or a fixed itinerary is unimaginable.

Their point is that if he was unaware of the contents of his luggage the people who asked him to deliver the items would have no way to easily retrieve their property. With such vague plans he must have known what he was carrying and who to hand it over to.

[Coligny]

You miss the point... SJ just came clean on his former job as gay escort drug mule...

Btw, the more I try to lick clean the screen the less I can see... Nutella and IPad don't mix so well...

[Samurai_Jerk]

You miss the point... SJ just came clean on his former job as gay escort drug mule...

Btw, the more I try to lick clean the screen the less I can see... Nutella and IPad don't mix so well...

You take that back! I will not stand for such libel. Have never been, nor would I ever be a drug mule.

[matsuki]

...but he found a broken condom still inside. It's gonna be like 40,000 to get it removed.