The recent court case of actor Manabu Oshio shows that ordinary people can do a good job judging a high-profile trial despite wall-to-wall media coverage and intense pressure to understand technical evidence, according to legal experts and the lay judges themselves.
The heavy media presence continued throughout the trial — the first involving a celebrity under the 1-year-old lay judge system — at the Tokyo District Court, which lasted seven sessions spread out over two weeks and saw testimony from 19 witnesses, including medical experts.
Despite fears they would be unduly influenced by the media, the lay judges who handed down the 2 1/2-year prison sentence Friday said they are confident they reached a fair judgment based on the evidence.