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INQUIRY Issue 1 (Summer 2011) ISSUE 1: SUMMER 2011 INQUIRY THE QUARTERLY NEWSLE TTER OF THE INNOCENCE NETWORK UK THE SUGAYA STORY: CR OSS CULTURAL HISTORY , JAPANESE INSIDE THIS ISSUE: JURISDICTION & MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE FEATURE: THE 1 By Jack Adams, deceive you into thinking it is a warm day when SUGAYA STORY Churchill Fellow, Project Director, Human Rights there is actually quite a sneaky cold edge to it. As BY JACK ADAMS TV the wind nipped at my fingers I stood in the car park of a Pachinko Hall filming Mrs Nishimaki I would like to present you with the story of the talking and pointing. This was where the four year EDITORS’ NOTE 2 Sugaya Case (1) but not as an academic text or old girl was snatched before she was taken away, a legal opinion, I want to present a human story. raped and murdered, Takayama efficiently trans- F E A T U R E : 5 We all know and appreciate the work of INUK lated. The coldness of the day somehow pene- trated my heart in that moment. I instinctively and P R E S U M E D and one of the reasons why it has such a pow- G U I L T Y erful impact is because its work touches our immediately wondered if this man was truly inno- own humanity. Can there be a worse situation in cent and if I could interview him later without BY MICHAEL life than to watch the sand in the hour glass of emotion. Yes, an instinctive reaction on being BARNES your life dwindle away whilst you sit in a prison brought face to face with the crime, an unprofes- convicted of something you didn't do? The story sional reaction, perhaps even an unjust reaction, NEWS BULLETIN 8 about to be revealed is that of a man losing 17 but a truly human one on hearing the nature of years of his life to a miscarriage of justice. If we the crime committed. A reaction that immediately identified one of the problems with a case of this K E Y N O T E then add the twist of a different culture and a 10 nature. S P E E C H different jurisdiction, those not satisfied by the common humanity of a tale then have a morsel B Y J U L I A N of something legal or academic to chew over. YOUNG In February 2011 my wife, Akane Takayama, and I arrived in Japan for our regular winter visit S N A P S H O T S 12 to the honourable mother-in-law. Through our FROM THE INUK SPRING CON- work with INUK we knew of a miscarriage case FERENCE in Japan but had no name or any contact de- tails, we just knew the fact that it was a DNA case. As I recovered from a nasty virus (caught BOOK REVIEWS 13 from the worst type of explosive sneezing pas- senger you could ever wish to spend 10 hours on a plane with) Takayama set about identifying and tracking this case down. Personal recovery and her inevitable success led to us to taking a 3 hour train journey out of Tokyo to some pro- The image of Takayama and Nishimaki is from the vincial town I really couldn't tell you the name of video series of the testimony gathered at the scene of crime. (Click for video footage.) right now. All we knew for certain was that an obscure woman had arranged to meet us at the station and had also arranged an hour interview EDITORS in the town hall with Mr Sugaya. As time progressed I began to realise just what a remarkable woman this Mrs Nishimaki is and how Gabe Tan At the station a slender middle aged woman important she was to the whole story. Before I Michael Naughton named Nishimaki met us with a sneeze and an can tell more of this, for those of you who have apology about not feeling all that well. She was no real experience of Japan or Japanese culture, Innocence Network UK (INUK) as polite as Japanese people are and gave the there are some facts you need to know. School of Law, appearance of someone who could be pushed University of Bristol about at will and mostly dismissed as ineffectual As a culture Japan is solid, intact, implacable, for Wills Memorial Building in life. We got into her small car, you know the all practical purposes non-negotiable and funda- Queens Rd sort, I think Suzuki make them, they are for peo- mentally and irrevocably pragmatic in the cause Bristol BS8 1RJ ple without a great need for elbow room and of its own continued existence. Natural disaster, look like an odd box on wheels. As I don't speak nuclear bombing, unconditional surrender, occu- pation by foreigners are all dealt with by that ir- E-mail: Japanese her conversation was through Taka- revocable pragmatism that never allows being Innocence- yama's periodic translation. To my great sur- Japanese to be surrendered. As a point of refer- [email protected] prise I was informed that this woman was going ence, my own definition of culture is: ―Culture is to take us through the scene of crime. We have been working with INUK for three years now but the human response to environment as a se- lected evolutionary preference to physical muta- DESIGN & TYPESETTING this is the first time we had ever been taken through a scene of crime. tion.‖ (2) .→ Gabe Tan The midday sun in a Japanese February can INQUIRY Page 2 THE QUARTERLY NEWSLE TTER OF THE INNOCENCE NETWORK FROM THE EDITORS By Gabe Tan & Michael Naughton such as cell-site and CCTV. Welcome to the first issue of INQUIRY, the For this reason, the scope of INQUIRY will quarterly newsletter of the Innocence Net- “We want INQUIRY to be broad and will cover a whole host of top- work UK (INUK). We have titled this newslet- ics relating to wrongful convictions and inno- ter INQUIRY to reflect the ethos of the work be a platform for cence project work both within the UK and of innocence projects: to undertake an ob- stimulating critical internationally. We hope that as INQUIRY jective, extensive investigation to uncover develops, it will become a useful resource the truth behind a convicted person‘s claim dialogues and for academics, students, criminal law practi- of innocence. The title also reflects our vi- tioners, prisoners and third-sector groups in analyses on the sion for this newsletter. We want INQUIRY this area. to be a platform for stimulating critical dia- multifaceted issues logues and analyses on the multifaceted This first issue kicks off with an international issues that encompass the subject of wrong- that encompass the dimension with an inspiring account on the ful convictions. Sugaya case, a recent DNA exoneration subject of wrongful case in Japan. It will explore the plight of Indeed, when wrongful convictions occur, convictions.” falsely accused carers and teachers and they often bring to light a wide range of er- how methods frequently used by the police rors and limitations of the criminal justice when investigating such cases reverse the system, from police investigations, trial and presumption of innocence. Also included in appeal procedures, the limitations of forms this issue is a news section, an abridged of evidence, the plight of prisoners maintain- version of the keynote speech by Julian ing innocence who are unable to achieve innocence projects work which often Young at the INUK Spring Conference and parole, the mountain of investigative and involves a variety of disciplines be- book reviews on Claims of Innocence: An procedural obstacles they have to surmount yond criminal law – investigative Introduction to Wrongful Convictions and to have their innocence established and the journalism, forensic science, psy- how they might be Challenged. lack of remedy for those who have over- chiatry, medicine, and even engi- turned their convictions. We hope that you will find INQUIRY an en- neering for those working on cases joyable and thought-provoking read! So too, is the multi-disciplinary nature of involving technological evidence THE SUGAYA STORY (CO NT) If you have any doubt about my defini- socially responsible for the good con- his innocence. tion, many do, then I would ask you to duct of their family, the Japanese con- draw from your memory the astoundingly duct of their family. From this basic unit This is an act of Japanese cultural dis- orderly queues of Japanese people post grows an inevitable pyramid of authority, belief. Let's face it, where in Europe or Tsunami. They suffered an apocalyptic a hierarchical system of power and con- America would someone conceive of event of a level I am unaware of another trol, a culture of knowing your place in being a bus driver for young children as leading economy suffering. (3) society‘s queue. (4) the reason why a middle aged man couldn't be a murdering paedophile? Imagine that was London or anywhere in Mrs Nishimaki clearly didn't know her When Sugaya received this letter he had England, perhaps the army wouldn't be place in the legal authority queue but for given up, he was depressed and all the in clearing up the debris, they would be very, very Japanese reasons. As she fight had been beaten out of him. → in dealing with armed looters, murder led us through the crime scene she told and mayhem. The Japanese queued. how she simply could not believe that a They queued because they are Japa- kindergarten school bus driver could nese and Japanese people value order, murder a child.
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