Japan ยท Tochigi Prefecture
Toshikazu Sugaya: wrongly convicted, exonerated
Convicted of Kidnapping and murder of a four year old girl in Ashikaga in May 1990.
Convicted1993
SentenceLife imprisonment
Years in prison17
Exonerated26 March 2010
How the conviction was overturnedAcquitted at retrial after new DNA testing showed he did not match biological evidence from the crime, Utsunomiya District Court1,2
What went wrong
- False confession, which the retrial verdict found was pressured by flawed DNA tests and a questionable investigation
- Flawed early DNA testing
From conviction to exoneration
- Arrested in late 1991.1
- Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.1,2
- Japan's Supreme Court rejected his appeal.1
- Released from Chiba Prison after a fresh DNA test ordered by the Tokyo High Court found no match, and prosecutors did not contest the result.2
- Acquitted at retrial, and the presiding judge apologised. Police and prosecutors had apologised earlier, and prosecutors did not appeal.1
Today
Acquitted at retrial in March 2010, with the verdict final.
Sources
- Associated Press (via Fox News), Japanese Man Acquitted 17 Years After Forced Murder Confession (26 March 2010)
- The Japan Times, DNA test findings lead to lifer's release (13 June 2009)