Shoji Sakurai

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Charge:	Murder and Robbery
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	29
Year Crime:	1967
Year Convicted:	1970
Year Cleared:	2011
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Japan
County or Region of Crime:	Ibaraki prefecture
City of Crime:	Tone
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Takao Sugiyama and Shoji Sakurai were co-defendants. Both men were convicted in October 1970 of the October 1967 robbery and murder of a 62-year-old carpenter. The men's convictions were based on their confessions after intense interrogations, and their identifcation by an eyewitness. Sugiyama and Sakurai were sentenced to life in prison. They were released on parole in 1996. Sugiyama and Sakurai were acquitted on May 24, 2011 by the Mito District Court in Tsuchiura, Japan. The two men were incarcerated for 29 years from the time of their arrest in 1967."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification and false confessions by both defendants.
Innocence Proved By:	"Sugiyama and Sakurai were acquitted on May 24, 2011 by the Mito District Court in Tsuchiura, Japan."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"Japan court acquits two after decades in jail, AFP, May 24, 2011"
Information Location 1:	http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iZ_THLwgUrVOI8nLWhq6CX9PSRzQ?docId=CNG.70d06a6c49b3b0a2f5170461c7277a26.c1
Information Source 2:	"Court acquits pair after serving decades in jail, The Japan Times, May 25, 2011"
Information Location 2:	http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110525a2.html
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Shoji Sakurai

Charge:

Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

29

Year Crime:

1967

Year Convicted:

1970

Year Cleared:

2011

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Japan

County or Region of Crime:

Ibaraki prefecture

City of Crime:

Tone

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification and false confessions by both defendants.

Innocence Proved By:

"Sugiyama and Sakurai were acquitted on May 24, 2011 by the Mito District Court in Tsuchiura, Japan."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Japan court acquits two after decades in jail, AFP, May 24, 2011"

Information Location 1:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iZ_THLwgUrVOI8nLWhq6CX9PSRzQ?docId=CNG.70d06a6c49b3b0a2f5170461c7277a26.c1

Information Source 2:

"Court acquits pair after serving decades in jail, The Japan Times, May 25, 2011"

Information Location 2:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110525a2.html

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Information Location 3:

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Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: