Shizuoka prosecutors said Monday they will argue in a retrial that convicted murderer Iwao Hakamata is guilty, meaning the expected hearing at the Shizuoka District Court will likely go on for some time.
In March, the Tokyo High Court ordered a retrial for Hakamata, who had been in prison on death row for more than 30 years, sending the case back to the Shizuoka court on the basis that the blood-stained clothing found in a miso barrel that led to his conviction being finalized may have been planted by “one of the investigators.” That ruling was seen as meaning there was a high chance of him being exonerated.
Prosecutors, however, said they plan to argue that the March retrial decision was “groundless.”