A pair of blood-spattered trousers in a miso tank and an allegedly forced confession helped send Iwao Hakamata to death row more than five decades ago. <\/p>\n
Now, the world\u2019s longest-serving death row convict has a chance to clear his name. <\/p>\n
A Japanese court on Thursday is set to hand down its verdict in the retrial of 88-year-old Hakamata, who was sentenced to death in 1968 for murdering a family in a marathon legal saga that\u2019s brought global scrutiny to Japan\u2019s criminal justice system and fueled calls to abolish the death penalty in the country. <\/p>\n
During the retrial, Hakamata\u2019s lawyers argued new information proved his innocence, while prosecutors claimed there was enough evidence to confirm he should be hanged for the crime. <\/p>\n
Once a professional boxer, Hakamata retired in 1961 and got a job at a soybean processing plant in Shizuoka, central Japan \u2013 a choice that would mar the rest of his life. <\/p>\n
When Hakamata\u2019s boss, his boss\u2019s wife, and their two children were found stabbed to death in their home in June five years later, Hakamata, then a divorc\u00e9e who also worked at a bar, became the police\u2019s prime suspect. <\/p>\n
After days of relentless questioning, Hakamata initially admitted to the charges against him, but later changed his plea, arguing police had forced him to confess by beating and threatening him. <\/p>\n
He was sentenced to death in a 2-1 decision by judges, despite repeatedly alleging that the police had fabricated evidence. The one dissenting judge stepped down from the bar six months later, demoralized by his inability to stop the sentencing. <\/p>\n
Hakamata, who has maintained his innocence ever since, would go on to spend more than half his life waiting to be hanged before new evidence led to his release a decade ago. <\/p>\n
After a DNA test on blood found on the trousers revealed no match to Hakamata or the victims, the Shizuoka District Court ordered a retrial in 2014. Because of his age and fragile mental state, Hakamata was freed as he awaited his day in court. <\/p>\n
The Tokyo High Court initially scrapped the request for a retrial for unknown reasons, but in 2023 agreed to grant Hakamata a second chance on an order from Japan\u2019s Supreme Court. <\/p>\n
Retrials are rare in Japan, where 99% of cases result in convictions, according to the Ministry of Justice website. <\/p>\n
Even as his case is closely watched around the world, a possible acquittal would not likely register with Hakamata, who after decades of imprisonment has seen a decline in his mental health, and is \u201cliving in his own world,\u201d said his sister Hideko, 91, who has long campaigned for his innocence. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes he smiles happily, but that\u2019s when he\u2019s in his delusion,\u201d Hideko said. \u201cWe have not even discussed the trial with Iwao because of his inability to recognize reality.\u201d <\/p>\n
But for Hakamata\u2019s supporters, the case is about much more than one man. <\/p>\n
It has raised questions about Japan\u2019s reliance on confessions to get convictions. And some say it\u2019s one of the reasons why the country should do away with the death penalty. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m against the death penalty,\u201d Hideko said. \u201cConvicts are also human beings.\u201d <\/p>\n