A year after his brother was reduced to a vegetative state by the actions of a drunk driver, Masahiro Kizawa was shocked to hear the words of a local prosecutor.
He was told that the police investigative report was compiled only on the basis of the driver's testimony and thus greatly underplayed his criminal responsibility.
Initial police records of the October 2001 incident in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, which could not be accessed by the victim or his family under the Criminal Procedure Law, dismissed testimony given by a witness who said the vehicle was traveling on the wrong side of the road at speeds exceeding 70 kph.