After a 7 1/2-year trial, the chief lawyer defending doomsday cult guru Shoko Asahara, charged with masterminding the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway, is about to wrap up his case and await a verdict, which may come in February.
If convicted for the rush-hour attack, which killed a dozen people and injured thousands, an earlier deadly sarin attack and other heinous crimes, Asahara could be hanged. But lawyer Osamu Watanabe said he will appeal if a death sentence is handed down, and that could add additional years before the case is concluded.
"The trial started with the assumption that Asahara's group was a bunch of murderers," Watanabe said in an interview earlier this week. "Asahara's responsibility as the leader of the religious group and his criminal responsibility are two different things."