47 Year Old American Killed In Nishi Azabu

[aquamarine]

After carefully re-reading things, I see I am 100% in the wrong for posting what I did. I mis-interpreted what was already posted here and thought it was a fact that the gaijin smacked around the DJ's girlfriend.

That being said and with my public retraction already stated, I still stick to my guns that if someone decides it's a good idea to strike my girlfriend, I will step in and expect to get bloody.

[Greji]

I still stick to my guns that if someone decides it's a good idea to strike my girlfriend, I will step in and expect to get bloody.

I don't have to worry about injury, the GF kinda likes that shit when she's wearing her leathers...

[Mulboyne]

You have to wonder why both the Nikkei and Sankei described Scott Tucker as "unemployed". Perhaps that is their default setting in cases where they don't know what someone actually does but it seem inappropriate. It is also richly ironic that the Ameba account reported the concerns of local residents about trouble when it looks like Mr. Tucker not only was a local resident but, according to his brother, owned his own property.

It is not that uncommon for residents to complain about noise from local bars and clubs. I've been in a few when someone has stormed in wearing pajamas to rant about the music and there's a whole section in Mark D. West's "Law in Everyday Japan" about disputes between karaoke bars and nearby residents.

Even his family talk about a drink problem - although by American definitions, most North Europeans have a drink problem - but it looks like he went into the club alone so any accounts of how he acted there can only come from the staff and clubgoers.

[eddie]

You have to wonder why both the Nikkei and Sankei described Scott Tucker as "unemployed". Perhaps that is their default setting in cases where they don't know what someone actually does but it seem inappropriate. It is also richly ironic that the Ameba account reported the concerns of local residents about trouble when it looks like Mr. Tucker not only was a local resident but, according to his brother, owned his own property.

It is not that uncommon for residents to complain about noise from local bars and clubs. I've been in a few when someone has stormed in wearing pajamas to rant about the music and there's a whole section in Mark D. West's "Law in Everyday Japan" about disputes between karaoke bars and nearby residents.

Even his family talk about a drink problem - although by American definitions, most North Europeans have a drink problem - but it looks like he went into the club alone so any accounts of how he acted there can only come from the staff and clubgoers.

maybe nikkei and sankei 'cross-checked' their facts!

it makes little sense to assume a non-japanese in japan is unemployed anyhow...i would assume most here are on work visas.

[amdg]

My guess is that it was a leak via one of those unoffical police/reporter relationships that exist by necessity. Cops would check out Tucker’s gaijin torokushou and other official records as one of the first orders of business, and the torokushou shows that he is on a spousal visa, and has no record of an employer. Possibly no regular income tax records filed either, if he’s that kind of ‘creative’ businessman (building nominally owned by brother-in-law or something). So reporter has a friend on the force, and gets this information that shows no income, no employer etc. and then makes the reasonable, or unreasonable, assumption that he was unemployed.

All of this is pure speculation though.

And I agree, it's incredibly sloppy reporting - I mean if you don't know his employment status, you shouldn't include it. It makes the article look even more biased than it is. Indicative of the reasons I stopped buying newspapers in Japan a long time ago.

[Mulboyne]

[Behan]

The DJ would probably come off a lot worse if the local news said he killed a wealthy foreigner rather than an unemployed one.
The first newspaper report(s) had locals saying how bad foreigners are which was kind of implying that Mr. Tucker could have been at least partially responsible for what happened to him.
It seems like there could be another slant on this story, one in which he had to repeatedly but politely ask the bar to quiet down. And while he was doing this he was jumped from behind and murdered. Perhaps wrong, but it would be nice to see some balance. In fact, I still haven't seen anything in the TV news at all.

It will be really interesting to see what kind of punishment the DJ gets. I would guess it's not a matter of guilt or innocence but guilty of what kind of crime.

His family did say he had a drinking problem but that does not necessarily mean he was belligerent. Some people get more mellow when drinking.


Not totally related, but the news also lists people who are probably retired as mushoku. It kind of has a bad stigma, at least back home, so I wish they would be a little more detailed.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

Not much extra here but it looks like the brother is back in the US:

Charleston Gazette: Family seeks maximum penalty for Japanese man charged in death

The man accused of killing Scott Tucker, a Charleston native killed in a Tokyo bar fight last month, is not likely to receive a severe punishment, a Japanese newspaper reported this week. An official with Tokyo police told Japan Today, an English-language newspaper, that Tucker appeared very drunk and acted violently toward customers, at times striking a boxer's pose. Atsushi Watanabe, a 29-year-old disc jockey at the Bullets club, is charged with killing Tucker. Last week police told Chip Tucker, Scott's brother, that Watanabe used a specialized technique intended to do harm. "My understanding, when I left Tokyo, this was going to be considered not an accident but an aggressive attack with intent," Chip Tucker said Thursday. "It is going to be pursued aggressively with a severe penalty." The club was known for parties, noise and fights, Chip Tucker has said. He also said his brother had been drinking and had recently developed a drinking problem.

Tucker said it does not appear that Watanabe, who had no previous criminal record, intended to kill his brother. Still, he said his family will seek the maximum penalty for Watanabe. That won't be determined until Watanabe is formally charged after the investigation has ended, he said. Watanabe will probably give a confession and be convicted, said Michael Griffith, an international criminal defense attorney who has handled many cases in Japan. But he doesn't expect the man to be sentenced to much jail time, he said. Griffith doesn't put much faith in the Japanese legal system to handle the case properly. "To me Japan, and this includes Cuba, has one of the worst legal systems I've ever come across," he said. "The problem is there are no juries. Everything goes to a three-judge panel, none of which have ever practiced law. The judges are trained to be a judge in a school."

Griffith was the lawyer for two U.S. Marines convicted of raping a 12-year-old Japanese girl in Okinawa in 1995. The incident sparked protests to end the U.S. military presence in Japan. Japanese police routinely hold suspects for 23 days without seeing a judge, Griffith said. During that time they can interrogate them daily, for as much as 12 hours at a time. Griffith said he believes the Tucker family will get a conviction when the case goes to trial, but will not be happy with the sentence. "Over the last 10 years the conviction rate is 99.95 percent for cases going to trial. The confession rate is 95 percent," he said. "The lawyers over there aren't defense lawyers. I'd categorize them as sentencing experts."

It is also customary for the accused to give a gift of a few thousand dollars to the family of the victim before the case is over, often as a way of showing contrition and getting a more lenient sentence, Griffith said. "In a way it's grotesque, that a defendant would offer money to the family," he said. "It's really unfair, I think. "A guy is in this whole dilemma. He hasn't been found guilty but ... he still knows he is going to be found guilty. So he offers monies to the family for a lighter sentence." But once a case goes to sentencing, the convicted often get more lenient sentences than in the U.S., he said. People convicted for murder often get under 10 years, he said.

[eddie]

this d-j is gonna be the hottest thing on the club circuit once he gets out of jail in a few years.

mark my words.

tv too!

[Midwinter]

this d-j is gonna be the hottest thing on the club circuit once he gets out of jail in a few years.

mark my words.

tv too!

A gaijin killing, all macho Nevada-tan. And one that has hip hop sex appeal as well, they're going to love him.

[kusai Jijii]

And I agree, it's incredibly sloppy reporting - I mean if you don't know his employment status, you shouldn't include it.

It IS the Sankei Shinbun we are talking about here people - the kind of right wing nutto rag that Take-nihonjin-nisemono-Poopies most likely reads while scoffing down his miso soup every morning....

[Taro Toporific]

[Greji]

[Behan]

[amdg]

I wonder if it isn't being wrongly described as a 'fight'. Even if he was belligerent, it sounds more like the disc jockey jumped him from behind and killed him.

Maybe it should read 'assault'.

A lot of people must must have seen it. I'd like to know what really happened.

Me too.

All I hear is that he was belligerent and drunk and got into a boxers pose a few times. Sure that's asshole behaviour but no one said yet that he touched a single person, let alone hit anyone. I think if he had hit someone that aspect of the story would have been reported by now.

[pheyton]

Any updates in this case?

[Taro Toporific]

Any updates in this case?

"likely to receive probation and serve no jail time"

Japanese justice?
Verdict due in killing of city native
September 7, 2008 --The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Charleston native and West Virginia University graduate Richard "Scott" Tucker loved Japan.
He loved it so much that as a young man he moved there to teach English. Then he got involved with software companies, starting the first multimedia production center in Japan. Eventually he married Yumiko Yamazaki, a prominent jewelry designer there.
But on March 1, the happy life he made for himself ended when he was killed in a Japanese nightclub next to his house.
The trial for the accused killer, Atsushi Watanabe, 29, was held Aug. 28. Watanabe's defense lawyers argued he killed Tucker in self-defense.
Under the Japanese legal system, Watanabe is likely to be found guilty - more than 99 percent of cases that go to trial end in a guilty verdict.
But Tucker's family is unhappy that prosecutors have only asked for a three-year sentence. And, they believe he's likely to receive probation and serve no jail time.
His sentence and verdict will be given Monday.
Yamazaki believes there is an undercurrent of racism in the trial because Scott is an American.
"The whole thing was decided long before the hearing," Yamazaki said. "A lot of Americans come and go in Japanese society. Outwardly there is no racial discrimination. However, if you come to the scene of an argument or fight, Japanese versus American, it's a different story."
Tucker, 47, had been drinking at another local bar when he went into Bullets, a club located beside his home in downtown Tokyo.
The club was known for its parties, noise and fights, and Tucker went there because he wanted the place to quiet down, according to witness statements.
At the time, officials with Tokyo police told Japan Today, an English-language newspaper, that Tucker appeared very drunk and acted violently toward customers, at times striking a boxer's pose.
"With the help of alcohol he went down there to tell them," said David Yoshida, who attended the trial with Yamazaki.
Yoshida, a Baptist missionary, served as an interpreter for Scott Tucker's brother, Ken Tucker, when he went to Japan after his brother died.
According to Yoshida and Yamazaki, witnesses told the court that Scott pushed a couple of people who fell on the floor and were not hurt.
Watanabe then kicked him in the groin and got Tucker in a chokehold, crushing his Adam's apple.
In court, Watanabe said he felt his life was in danger. Watanabe is 5 feet, 9 inches and weighs 154 pounds. Scott was 5 feet, 9 inches and weighed 242 pounds.
The courtroom was flooded with supporters for Watanabe, Yoshida said.
"[The trial] was poorly done," he said. "And the defense lawyers did a tremendous job. The prosecutors hadn't done any homework."
The prosecutors originally assigned to the case were not the ones in the courtroom, he said. The trial lasted only one day, he said.
"The prosecutors just read material that the other prosecutors had prepared," Yoshida said.
Watanabe was charged with an unintentional killing, Yoshida said. Prosecutors asked for three years of prison time.
"As we observed [the trial] what really disturbed me was that Scott was killed, his Adam's apple was crushed. He was choked to death from behind," Yoshida said. "The doctor who did the autopsy came in and testified that [the strangling] had to be two or three minutes or more. ... And to crush his Adam's apple, how in the world do average people know how to do something like that?"
Yamazaki contacted the American Embassy in Japan, but because the two countries have an agreement not to get involved in the prosecution of cases involving nationals of their respective countries, they were told there was nothing they could do.
The verdict will be read 2:30 p.m. Monday in Japan, Yoshida said.
"We were so surprised, so disturbed with the fact that they asked for such a short imprisonment, that's when she decided to go further," he said.
Yamazaki is preparing to file an appeal in the Japanese court system, though prosecutors have already said the case likely will not be heard. The Japanese courts rarely hear appeals, she said.
"One thing that is always said in Japan is that once a foreigner, always a foreigner," said Melody Yoshida, David Yoshida's wife and an American.
David Yoshida said that he doesn't feel there was overt racial discrimination.
"The poor treatment of prosecutors made me think that maybe they didn't do their job enough," he said. "Maybe they didn't pay attention to his case enough to bring this guy to justice in the courts."
"Scott came to Japan because he loved Japan and the Japanese," Yamazaki said. "We always talked about trying to have a bigger family. ... It was a very enjoyable and fulfilling married life that we had. I miss him tremendously."

[Behan]

"As we observed [the trial] what really disturbed me was that Scott was killed, his Adam's apple was crushed. He was choked to death from behind," Yoshida said. "The doctor who did the autopsy came in and testified that [the strangling] had to be two or three minutes or more. ... And to crush his Adam's apple, how in the world do average people know how to do something like that?"

It was just an accident...?

[Mulboyne]

Three years in prison suspended for five years is the sentence which was handed down to Robert Nolan (link is to an earlier post in this thread). It seems the courts are treating these cases as roughly equivalent. Nolan appealed his sentence but it was rejected in July by the high court.

[Catoneinutica]

"Roughly equivalent"? Well, they both occurred in Japan, and both involved Americans and Japanese, but putting someone in a chokehold would seem at first blush to be a bit more, uh, proactive, and likely to induce a state of non-life, than pushing someone.

Three years in prison suspended for five years is the sentence which was handed down to Robert Nolan (link is to an earlier post in this thread). It seems the courts are treating these cases as roughly equivalent. Nolan appealed his sentence but it was rejected in July by the high court.

[Mulboyne]

"Roughly equivalent"? Well, they both occurred in Japan, and both involved Americans and Japanese, but putting someone in a chokehold would seem at first blush to be a bit more, uh, proactive, and likely to induce a state of non-life, than pushing someone.

I agree completely. Reading the article that Taro posted, it is disappointing that his widow feels let down by the prosecution. The feelings of victims and their families are usually important considerations. One problem in Scott Tucker's case is that there don't appear to have been any witnesses willing to testify that Watanabe was the aggressor or that he overreacted. I'm still in the dark as to whether Tucker hit Watanabe first or whether Watanabe just grabbed him in a chokehold from behind to subdue him. If it was the latter, then the claim of self-defence seems a bit odd unless he meant something like "I didn't want to stop crushing his throat in case he hit me" That would be something like self-defence against someone else's potential self-defence which is an interesting concept. Pre-emptive self-defence, if you will.

Without such testimony, perhaps prosecutors felt they couldn't press a charge greater than the one for which Nolan was convicted. Perhaps they placed a greater value on bringing a successful prosecution than pressing a more serious charge. After all, the statistics will show in both cases that a perpetrator was tried and convicted which is what most prosecutors want on their records.

I don't want to suggest that anyone had Nolan's case in mind during Watanabe's trial but it does provide some basis for comparison. They come from two different directions, however: Nolan is aggrieved that he has been blamed at all for the death of the man in Yokohama and pleaded not guilty to the charge. Watanabe pleaded guilty but offered mitigating circumstances to try to lessen the severity of his sentence (which hasn't been confirmed yet).

[Catoneinutica]

I agree completely. Reading the article that Taro posted, it is disappointing that his widow feels let down by the prosecution. The feelings of victims and their families are usually important considerations. One problem in Scott Tucker's case is that there don't appear to have been any witnesses willing to testify that Watanabe was the aggressor or that he overreacted. I'm still in the dark as to whether Tucker hit Watanabe first or whether Watanabe just grabbed him in a chokehold from behind to subdue him. If it was the latter, then the claim of self-defence seems a bit odd unless he meant something like "I didn't want to stop crushing his throat in case he hit me" That would be something like self-defence against someone else's potential self-defence which is an interesting concept. Pre-emptive self-defence, if you will.

Without such testimony, perhaps prosecutors felt they couldn't press a charge greater than the one for which Nolan was convicted. Perhaps they placed a greater value on bringing a successful prosecution than pressing a more serious charge. After all, the statistics will show in both cases that a perpetrator was tried and convicted which is what most prosecutors want on their records.

I don't want to suggest that anyone had Nolan's case in mind during Watanabe's trial but it does provide some basis for comparison. They come from two different directions, however: Nolan is aggrieved that he has been blamed at all for the death of the man in Yokohama and pleaded not guilty to the charge. Watanabe pleaded guilty but offered mitigating circumstances to try to lessen the severity of his sentence (which hasn't been confirmed yet).

I certainly hope you didn't feel I was criticizing you for making the equivalence, Mulboyne; you clearly stated that it was the courts who may have done it, and indeed it seems likely they did.

[Mulboyne]

[Behan]

He was provoked into smashing a botle over the man's head the judge believes. Hmm.....

[Mock Cockpit]

If the facts are as stated then 6 years seems about right.

[Greji]

He was provoked into smashing a botle over the man's head the judge believes. Hmm.....

Depends! What was the wine and what year? It may have been the wrong bouquet...

[Mulboyne]

Here's the Charleston Gazette report on the Scott Tucker case following sentencing. The family appear to be exploring other options.

No appeal in Japan murder of state man

Prosecutors in Japan have decided not appeal the sentence in the murder conviction of a man placed on five years' probation for murdering Charleston native and West Virginia University graduate Scott Tucker. "Prosecutors decided not to even present the appeal," said Kenneth Tucker II, Scott Tucker's brother. "They said the witness's testimony was strong enough not to appeal." Tucker's wife and family had hoped prosecutors would appeal the sentencing in an attempt to get the man jail time. But prosecutors said Thursday they would not pursue an appeal before the two-week window to file ends on Monday.

On Sept. 8, Atsushi Watanabe, 29, was sentenced to three years in prison or five years' probation for killing Scott Tucker. Under Japanese law, probation in murder cases can begin immediately so Watanabe will serve five years probation rather than three years in prison, David Yoshida, who attended the trial with Tucker's wife, Yumiko Yamazaki, said previously. Yamazaki is weighing her options in pursuing a civil case against Watanabe, Kenneth Tucker said. "Unfortunately we just have to live with it and go on," he said. "I know my brother was a Christian and I hope to see him again someday."

Tucker, 47, had been drinking at a bar before going into Bullets, a club located beside his home in downtown Tokyo. The club was known for its parties, noise and fights, and Tucker went there because he wanted the place to quiet down, according to witness statements. At the time, officials with Tokyo police told Japan Today, an English-language newspaper, that Tucker appeared very drunk and acted violently toward customers, at times striking a boxer's pose. "With the help of alcohol he went down there to tell them," said David Yoshida, who attended the trial with Yamakazi.

Yoshida, a Baptist missionary, served as an interpreter for Ken Tucker when he went to Japan after his brother died. According to Yoshida and Yamazaki, witnesses told the court that Scott pushed a couple of people who fell on the floor and were not hurt. Watanabe then kicked him in the groin and got Tucker in a chokehold, crushing his Adam's apple.

In court, Watanabe said he felt his life was in danger. Watanabe is 5 feet, 9 inches and weighs 154 pounds. Scott was 5 feet, 9 inches and weighed 242 pounds. The courtroom was flooded with supporters for Watanabe, Yoshida said. Earlier this week, Tucker's family sent a letter to Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan's ambassador to the United States. They hope that he will look into the case. "We do not understand how it is possible that the two detectives (Sergeant Abe and Megumi Akita, who assured us the evidence pointed to a deliberate and brutal murder), were not in court because they had been re-assigned or possibly promoted; nor do we understand the absence of the original prosecutor at the trial," Kenneth Tucker wrote in the letter, provided to the Gazette. "We also don't understand how our family's concerns were not admitted into evidence during the court proceeding."

The conviction rate for those accused of murder in Japan is 99.95 percent, Michael Griffith, an international criminal defense attorney who has handled many cases in Japan said previously. Japanese police routinely hold suspects for 23 days without seeing a judge, Griffith said. During that time they can interrogate them daily, for as much as 12 hours at a time. "The lawyers over there aren't defense lawyers. I'd categorize them as sentencing experts," Griffith said previously. Once a case goes to sentencing, the convicted often get more lenient sentences than in the U.S., he said. People convicted for murder often get under 10 years, he said.

[Behan]

"We do not understand how it is possible that the two detectives (Sergeant Abe and Megumi Akita, who assured us the evidence pointed to a deliberate and brutal murder), were not in court because they had been re-assigned or possibly promoted; nor do we understand the absence of the original prosecutor at the trial," Kenneth Tucker wrote in the letter, provided to the Gazette. "We also don't understand how our family's concerns were not admitted into evidence during the court proceeding."

Both of these points seem a bit strange.

I thought the feelings of the bereaved family were taken into consideration in Japan.

Can it be that easy to crush someone's Adam's apple? I would guess he had to squeeze pretty hard.

Five years' probation sounds like getting off Scott free.

So if he doesn't kill anyone else again during these five years, it's like he never did anything wrong.

[McTojo]

I think the foreigner was asking for it and I'm glad to see the people take back their community.