JAPAN. TOP COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR DOUBLE MURDER

June 5, 2008: the Japanese Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that sentenced a 47 year old man to death for a murder in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The five-justice first petty bench of the highest court turned down an appeal from defendant Toshiaki Kaga who was convicted of murder and robbery.
Justice Chiharu Saiguchi, the presiding judge, said there was no room for leniency. According to lower court decisions, Kaga stabbed 43 year old Kazuko Matsui to death with a knife after strangling her daughter Manami, 12, on August 4, 2001.
He stole 10,000 in cash and a bank card. The defendant withdrew 850,000 yen using the bank card the following day, according to the decisions.
The Yokohama District Court sentenced Kaga to death in 2004, a decision upheld by the Tokyo High Court the following year. Kaga can still file an objection with the top court however it is limited to technicalities such as an error in wording, if any, in the decision.
Judicial experts say the top court has rarely accepted such an objection. (Sources: Kyodo News, 05/06/2008)