The retrial of Mr. Toshikazu Sugaya will hopefully reveal how and why a false charge was made against him that resulted in him serving 17 1/2 years of a life sentence for the May 1990 murder of a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi, Prefecture. He was released last June after a new DNA test revealed his innocence.
In the second hearing Tuesday, the Utsunomiya District Court decided to summon a former public prosecutor who pressed Mr. Sugaya to accept the charge, using the results of the original DNA test while interrogating him in connection with two other unresolved murder cases involving 5-year-old girls.
The court also decided to allow playback of part of the tape recording of the interrogation. As the defense counsel said, the decision is epoch-making. It will expose how the public prosecutor badgered Mr. Sugaya into accepting the charge. Mr. Sugaya may be able to question the former public prosecutor in future hearings.
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