The Fukuoka District Court on Wednesday turned down a request for a retrial for the 1992 murder of two girls in the southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka, for which a death row convict had been executed.
The court thus denied the second retrial request over the so-called Iizuka incident, in which two primary school first graders in the Fukuoka city of Iizuka were killed. Michitoshi Kuma was ruled guilty of the murder and put to death in 2008 at age 70.
The defense is set to appeal against the latest decision. So far, no decision has been made in Japan to grant a retrial of a convict already executed.