At the Saitama District Court on Jan. 10, six lay judges — three men and three women — together with three professional judges started to deal with not only three murder cases but also with seven other cases involving the defendant, Ms. Kanae Kijima — fraud, attempted fraud and theft.
Ms. Kijima pleaded guilty to fraud charges of swindling two men of money but pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. As to the murder charges, there are no confessions and no concrete evidence linking her to the murders.
The lay judges have to attend court sessions about four days a week. Six more people were picked as supplementary lay judges to serve as backups. The lay judges will be subjected to great stress and pressure. They have to hear accounts by 63 witnesses. The trial is expected to last 100 days — the longest for lay judges since lay judge trials started in 2009. The court will hand down a ruling on April 13.