Police investigating the June 1994 sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, improperly collected evidence, lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara argued in court Thursday.
Asahara is accused of masterminding the Matsumoto attack, which killed seven people and injured about 600.
Shinichi Amano of the Metropolitan Police Department testified that on June 14, 1995, he collected as evidence three copper canisters from the cult's compound in Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi Prefecture, based on a former cultist's confession that these canisters had been used to produce sarin for the Matsumoto attack.
While cross-examining the witness, Asahara's lawyers claimed that Amano was not authorized to seize the canisters, pointing out that a court warrant for the June 14 probe was for a separate case -- the March 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
Asahara's defense team apparently made a gain after prosecutors were later barred by Presiding Judge Fumihiro Abe from correcting Amano's statement.