Prosecutors on Monday appealed a high court ruling that an 84-year-old man who served a prison term for a 1985 murder committed in Kumamoto Prefecture be retried.
Upholding a lower court decision, the Fukuoka High Court said Wednesday new evidence presented by the defense team cast doubt on the conviction of Koki Miyata, who initially admitted to investigators that he killed his acquaintance but later said in court his confession was untrue.
The Fukuoka High Public Prosecutor's Office argued in their appeal that evidence deemed new by the defense team is not definitive enough to warrant a not-guilty verdict, suggesting that it does not satisfy conditions required to reopen the case.