Japan's Life Prisoner for 'Robbery and Murder' Acquitted Only After Death

First Acquittal Granted in a Posthumous Retrial
Expected to Impact Criminal Procedure Code Reform

A prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment for robbery and murder in Japan was acquitted in a retrial conducted after his death.

The family of Mr. Sakahara, who was ultimately acquitted, holds a press conference. Yonhap News Agency.

According to a report by Yonhap News Agency on June 20, Japanese prosecutors have decided to withdraw their claim of guilt in the retrial request filed by the family of Hiromu Sakahara, who died at the age of 75 while serving his sentence.

Sakahara was arrested in 1998 on charges of robbing and murdering a female bar owner in 1994. He confessed to the crime during the investigation phase, but later pleaded not guilty during the trial. After being sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial and having the sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2000, he filed for a retrial the following year. However, he died in prison from illness in 2011. The following year, his family filed another request for retrial.

The Otsu District Court decided to open a retrial in 2018, based on new testimony regarding his alibi and previously unreleased photographs from the crime scene reenactment. In 2024, the High Court made the same decision, but prosecutors filed a special appeal. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the prosecutors' special appeal this February.

Prosecutors informed the court and Sakahara's defense that they would withdraw their claim of guilt, stating, "We take the Supreme Court's decision to initiate a retrial seriously, and after reviewing the case records, we determined that it is difficult to reasonably prove the charges against Sakahara."

Local media reported that this is the first time acquittal has been granted in a 'posthumous retrial' for a prisoner who had died after receiving a confirmed death sentence or life imprisonment.

In Japan, discussions are underway to reform the retrial system, particularly following the case of former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada, who was acquitted of murder charges in October 2024 after spending 48 years in prison through a retrial.

The Hakamada Iwao case concerns the arrest and prosecution of former boxer Iwao Hakamada in 1966 for allegedly murdering and setting fire to the family of a miso company executive in Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. In 1980, he was sentenced to death. The Shizuoka District Court decided to open a retrial on March 27, 2014, and suspended his execution and detention. In September 2024, Hakamada was acquitted.

The Mainichi Shimbun predicted that the posthumous acquittal of Sakahara would likely impact discussions in the National Diet’s House of Councillors, which began reviewing a bill to revise the Code of Criminal Procedure on June 19, with the core issue being the re-examination of the retrial system.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.