An American man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to robbing and injuring a taxi driver in conspiracy with two other foreign nationals in 2008.
Burnside Brandon Lee, 28, said as his trial opened in the Tokyo District Court that another man is the real culprit, claiming he was staying in the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, when the crime occurred in Shinagawa Ward.
The two other men, a Peruvian and an American, were convicted last year. Lee claimed they were lying and trying to frame him. His lawyers were expected to probe the motivation for this later in the trial.