Scheduled to participate in the nation's first lay judge trial Monday, a slain woman's family called on judges Friday to empathize with their loss and hand down a just verdict.
"I want the lay judges to understand the mortification our mother felt at having her life taken away in an irrational crime and my feelings and those of my brother at suddenly losing her," said one of the sons of Haruko Bun, 66, who was stabbed to death in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, in May. Katsuyoshi Fujii, 72, stands accused of her slaying.
The 37-year-old son, in a written statement released through his lawyer, said it was against the wishes of his family for the Tokyo District Court trial to attract so much public attention. The lay judge system got off the ground in May.