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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Attempted Murder |
Sentence: |
5 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
3.4 |
Year Crime: |
1995 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Japan |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Tokyo |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Naoko Kikuchi was wrongly convicted on June 30, 2014 of attempted murder in the May 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government headquarters, that seriously injured one official. The bombing was performed by members of the doomsday Aum Supreme Truth cult, that earlier in 1995 released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system, killing 13 people and sickening thousands of commuters. Kikuchi, who was 23 in 1995 when she was a member of Aum Supreme Truth, was arrested in June 2012. She was prosecuted for attempted murder and explosives charges based on her carrying chemical materials to the cult's hideout in Tokyo three times in April 1995. The materials were used in making the bomb. Kikuchi's defense was that she was not aware that the material would be used to make a bomb, and she wasn't told beforehand about the intention to bomb the government office. After her conviction in the Tokyo District Court of attempted murder, but her acquittal of the explosives charges, Kikuchi was sentenced to five years in prison. On November 27, 2015 the Tokyo High Court vacated Kikuchi's conviction and ruled "the defendant is not guilty," based on the prosecution's failure to introduce evidence she was aware of what the materials would be used for, and the bomb plot. Thirteen Aum Supreme Truth, members are on death row in Japan for their convictions of being involved in the 1995 sarin attack. After the High Court's ruling was announced, Kikuchi's lead lawyer, Toshihiko Takahashi, described the ruling as “common sense” and evidence-based. Takahashi said that in convicting Kikuchi the district court made an unsupportable “leap of logic,” noting that “There is a huge difference between knowing something is dangerous and knowing it is meant to kill somebody."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On November 27, 2015 the Tokyo High Court vacated Kikuchi's conviction and ruled "the defendant is not guilty," based on the prosecution's failure to introduce evidence she was aware of what she was carrying or bomb plot." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
40 |
Age When Released: |
43 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
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Information Source 1: |
"Court acquits Kikuchi of 1995 Aum bombing, deeming she was unaware of plot, By Tomohiro Osaki, The Japan Times, November 27, 2015" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/27/national/crime-legal/reversal-ex-aum-cultist-kikuchi-found-not-guilty-95-tokyo-city-hall-bombing/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Japan court overturns cult member parcel bomb conviction, By AFP, news.Yahoo.com, November 27, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
https://news.yahoo.com/japan-court-overturns-cult-member-parcel-bomb-conviction-083856395.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Cultist Kikuchi gets five years, By Tomohiro Osaki (Staff writer), The Japan Times, June 30, 2014" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/30/national/crime-legal/cultist-kikuchi-gets-five-years/#.VlqB_PsS29V |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org