When asked by the media for comments ahead of controversial court rulings, Tokyo-based lawyer Kenzo Akiyama usually prepares two statements -- one for when the defendants lose and another for when they win.
Yet Akiyama limited himself to a not-guilty draft when asked about one particular murder case in Hokkaido.
To his amazement, however, the Sapporo District Court sentenced 33-year-old Minako Okoshi to 16 years in prison last March for strangling a woman and burning her body in Hokkaido in 2000. Okoshi was allegedly motivated by jealousy, with the victim having tried to come between her and her boyfriend.