The lay judges in the four-day trial of a 20-year-old Filipino said Friday they felt their new court duty was a valuable experience and, although the defendant's case required translators, no question was left unanswered.
The two male and four female lay judges and the one female and two male professional judges handed the man a five-year prison term with the hope that he will regret his crimes — muggings involving bodily injury — and get on the right track while behind bars.
The Saitama District Court trial was the first involving a non-Japanese under the lay judge system, which debuted in May.
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