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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Conspiracy |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
20 |
Year Crime: |
1995 |
Year Convicted: |
1999 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Japan |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Osaka |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Tatsuhiro Boku and his defacto wife Keiko Aoki were codefendants wrongly convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 1999 for the death of her 11-year-old daughter Megumi in a fire in Osaka, Japan on July 22, 1995. Aoki and Boku were arrested in September 1995 and held without bail. Their convictions were based on the confession of Boku that he recanted as coerced, in which he stated he spread gasoline inside a garage and set it on fire with a lighter. Aoki also recanted her confession as coerced. Aoki and Boku were both sentenced to life in prison. Their convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal in 2006. In 2009 Aoki and Boku petitioned for retrials, which were granted in 2012. That ruling was upheld by the Osaka High Court in October 2015. The two were released from prison on bond after 20 years and one month in custody. In March 2016 the prosecution announced it would not present a case against Aoki and Boku during their retrial. On August 10, 2016 the Osaka District Court announced the acquittal of Aoki and Boku, after they were separately retried. Presiding Judge Goichi Nishino stated that the confessions made by Boku to the police were not credible evidence of his guilt. The court similarly found no credibility in Aoki’s confession during investigations. Judge Nishino said, "There is a possibility that the two were forced into making false confessions after (investigators) instilled fear in them and applied excessive psychological pressure. Judge Nishino also ruled that the fire could have been accidental, because tests of the same mini-wagon model they had parked in their garage showed that gasoline could have leaked from the vehicle and spread to the pilot burner of the hot water furnace, resulting in an explosive fire in only seconds. The judge also noted that Boku’s confession contained nothing that could be considered first-hand insight." |
Conviction Caused By: |
False confession by Boku and her codefendant Aoki coerced by police torture. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 10, 2016 the Osaka District Court announced the acquittal of Aoki and Boku, after they were separately retried. Presiding Judge Goichi Nishino stated that the confessions made by Boku to the police were not credible evidence of his guilt. The court similarly found no credibility in Aoki’s confession during investigations. Judge Nishino said, "There is a possibility that the two were forced into making false confessions after (investigators) instilled fear in them and applied excessive psychological pressure. Judge Nishino also ruled that the fire could have been accidental, because tests of the same mini-wagon model they had parked in their garage showed that gasoline could have leaked from the vehicle. The judge also noted that Boku’s confession contained nothing that could be considered first-hand insight." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
29 |
Age When Released: |
49 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Japanese |
Information Source 1: |
"Couple to be acquitted in 1995 Osaka girl's death in retrial, By Kyodo, Japan Today, March 17, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/couple-to-be-acquitted-in-1995-osaka-girls-death-in-retrial |
Information Source 2: |
"Aoki visits daughter’s grave after release, wants to ‘win back’ 20 years in prison, By Kyodo, Japan Today, October 27, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/27/national/crime-legal/aoki-visits-daughters-grave-release-wants-win-back-20-years-prison/#.VurUyr9r3cx |
Information Source 3: |
"Woman, ex-partner acquitted in retrial over daughter's death in 1995 fire, By Kyodo, Japan Today, August 10, 2016" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/woman-ex-partner-acquitted-in-retrial-over-daughters-death-in-1995-fire |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org