The murder trial more than half a century ago of Matsuo Fujimoto, a man afflicted with leprosy, was a bizarre affair.
Due to fears of infection, court proceedings were virtually closed to the public. The trial was not held in a courtroom but at an isolated, government-run rehabilitation facility for leprosy patients, and evidence materials were handled not by hand but with tongs.
Fujimoto maintained his innocence but was sentenced to death, with his attorney absent. The sentence did not mention any specific reason for meting out the death penalty.