Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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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: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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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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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org