The Asahi Shimbun reported today:
TAKAOKA, Toyama Prefecture--The first hearing Wednesday in the retrial of a man wrongly imprisoned for rape showed that police and prosecutors withheld evidence proving he was innocent. The 40-year-old defendant was convicted of two counts of rape and attempted rape in 2002 and spent 25 months in prison. "I did not commit those acts," the man told the court. Demonstrating the bizarre nature of the retrial, prosecutors actually admitted they had no case and that the defendant, who wishes to remain anonymous, was innocent of the charges just as he had claimed. It was not a complete victory for the defendant, however. Satoshi Fujita, presiding judge at the Takaoka branch of the Toyama District Court, rejected a request by defense lawyers for police officers who originally questioned the man to testify in court.
