SAIPAN (Kyodo ) Kazuyoshi Miura's lawyer told a Saipan court Monday that his client should not be transferred to California to stand trial for the 1981 fatal shooting of his wife and instead should be freed immediately because his detention is illegal.
Attorney Bruce Berline made the statement as legal procedures began in the U.S. territory to determine whether to transfer Miura, 60, to California. He is in the custody of U.S. investigative authorities in Saipan.
The process may be a long one because Miura opposes the transfer and prosecutors are now required to prove there is no illegality in their process in arresting Miura.
Miura's side argued that his transfer would run counter to the spirit of not forcing people to face double jeopardy. The Supreme Court in Japan acquitted Miura of involvement in his wife's murder. Kazumi Miura, 28, was shot in the head in Los Angeles in 1981 and flown in a coma to Japan, where she died in 1982.
Prosecutors in Saipan are seeking Miura's transfer on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Miura was arrested Feb. 22 on the island in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on charges of murder and conspiracy.