Osaka High Court Upholds Retrial Order for 1984 Robbery, Murder

Osaka, Feb. 27 (Jiji Press)--Osaka High Court on Monday upheld a ruling granting a retrial for a deceased man who was found guilty in a 1984 robbery-murder case.

The high court, presided over by Judge Kyoji Ishikawa, maintained Otsu District Court's decision in 2018 to reopen the case for Hiromu Sakahara, who was accused of killing a female liquor shop owner and stealing a cashbox in the town of Hino in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, dismissing an immediate appeal filed by the prosecution.

Sakahara, who was a regular customer of the liquor shop, confessed to the crime during investigations but maintained his innocence at trial. The Supreme Court finalized his guilty ruling, and he died of illness in 2011 at the age of 75 while serving an indefinite prison term.

Sakahara's family members had sought the retrial in a second appeal.

The credibility of his confession was the key issue in the trial, given the lack of material evidence directly linking him to the crime.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]