Jury member loses cool in Miyagi high school girl rape case

Friday 20th November, 10:09 AM JST

SENDAI —

A male member of the lay jury in a Sendai District Court case was cautioned by a judge on Thursday after he was unable to contain his emotion, and began to use inappropriate language toward the defendant in a rape trial.

The defendant, Kazuhiko Yuki, a 39-year-old truck driver and resident of Osaki City, is accused of forcing a 15-year-old girl off her bicycle on Oct 2 last year, threatening her with a knife and raping her, breaking her right wrist in the process.

The jury member began his questions with: “Do you feel this trial is long?”

The defendant replied: “Yeah, it’s long.”

“Don’t you think it’s a hassle?”

“I can’t do anything about that.”

The jury member raised his voice. “Did you ever think it was bad luck you got caught?”

“No, I didn’t.”

The jury member continued to stare at the defendant. “Can you say you’ll never do it again? And how strongly do you feel that way?”

The defendant sat silent for 30 seconds.

The jury member leaned forward. “No reply. Since yesterday, you’ve been giving us the right answers, saying you regret what you did and are reflecting on what you’ve done. Well, your reflection lies ahead of you. You piss me off.”

At this point, the judge on the jury panel stepped in and said: “That will be enough.”

The jury member apologized and sat back in his seat, asking no further questions for the day.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 67 Total Comments Show All

the_sicilian at 07:34 PM JST - 20th November

TravelingSales at 02:00 PM JST - 20th November He has a right to a fair annd unemotional trial. Then, if duly convicted, he has the right to an unemotional and swift execution.

No, he has the right to a long excruciatingly painful death. Something horrific, so he has a lot of bad thoughts and feelings as his life is taken from him.

And don't anyone come on here and say he doesn't deserve it. He raped a kid, he deserves Bubba in the big house for a long time, then a painfully long death.
dolphingirl at 07:36 PM JST - 20th November

How bizarre! I was shocked that the lay judge could directly question the defendant but I checked it out and apparently citizen judges are allowed to do this. I'm also surpised that the defendant's lawyer didn't jump in an say 'relevance?' or 'I object!' or do something to protect the rights of his defendant. (the question: 'Do you feel this trial is long?' seems completely irrelavant to me)

Also, it's unclear whether they are deciding his innocence/guilt or whether they are deciding on sentencing. It seems from the questions the lay judge asked that the defendant is assumed to be guilty. (Can you say that you'll never do it again?) So this leads me to believe that they are only to determine a sentence.

I'd also like to add that defendants come straight from jail/detention center and are likely wearing sweats, plastic sandals/shoes, and probably haven't had a shower in days. Their appearance is certainly going to play a role in what these lay judges think of them.

It just doesn't seem right to me that a citizen judge is free to ask such questions and make such statemetnts.
jipster at 09:26 PM JST - 20th November

How do I say 'you piss me off' in Japanese?
WhatMeWorry at 10:24 PM JST - 20th November

I couldn't find it anywhere on the web and I'm probably misspelling it, but when my wife is pissed, like the layman juror in this article, she says something like "harakatatsu" followed by the ever popular, "kuso."
smithinjapan at 10:32 PM JST - 20th November

Sorry, but the lay system here clearly has a long way to go. The jurors should NEVER be allowed to ask questions or address the person like this, because it makes it pretty clear that they are swayed by the way the defendant answers their questions.

Anyone who comes on here and suggests that that implies I am siding with the defendant is simply a moron. Sorry, but that's the case. What I'm saying is that when questions we pose to people directly are answered in the way we want to hear them, one of two reactions occurs: a) we are satisfied by the answer. (b) we doubt they are telling the truth. Either way, it leads to further bias than would exist in a system where lawyers ask the questions and the jurors simply listen 'objectively'.

Had the defendant not been silent would he have felt differently? If the defendant did the Japanese bow and lowered his head, would everyone suddenly feel mollified and sympathize with the man?

Sorry... but either way there is going to be STRONG bias (for or against) when lay-judges are allowed to question people directly in this manner. It was clear in questioning in previous cases and is clear now.
Fadamor at 12:32 AM JST - 21st November

The whole point of a judge is to maintain your objectivity. With lay judges you are going to have a much harder time with that because they don't do that job for a living and some criminal actions make an objective evaluation all but impossible.

This lay judge obviously was losing his objectivity and the professional judge in the court had to nip it in the bud before things got out of hand.
usaexpat at 12:44 AM JST - 21st November

Personally I think the jury member was absolutely right. I think they should be able to react honestly to the replies a defendant gives. I probably would have said something stronger.
Ah_so at 01:20 AM JST - 21st November

Sorry, but the lay system here clearly has a long way to go. The jurors should NEVER be allowed to ask questions or address the person like this, because it makes it pretty clear that they are swayed by the way the defendant answers their questions.

Firstly, they are lay judges, not jurors - a key difference as they are participants in the trial, not observers. Secondly, surely the whole point of a trial is that the judges ARE swayed by the way the defendant answers their questions.
Brantastik at 01:26 PM JST - 21st November

Good on him. The law needs to be strictly enforced and there can't be any signs of weakness. This man behaved like any good, decent human being would. Raping a 15 year old girl is just utterly disgusting. Again, how is it that so many men cannot control themselves when the majority on this planet of ours can? Rapists need the book thrown at them, especially those that disturbingly rape underage girls. Urgh... just disgusting.
kinniku at 09:39 AM JST - 22nd November

Jipster,

How do I say 'you piss me off' in Japanese?

「むかつくよね。」(mukatsuku yo ne) is actually what was said and it basically means 'You really make me sick to my stomach, you know that right?'
dracpoo2 at 10:29 AM JST - 25th November

I am a layman to matters of the legal system, but are jurors allowed to question witnesses??
Nessie at 04:46 PM JST - 25th November

How do I say 'you piss me off' in Japanese?

Haratatsu!
Dewaashita at 09:51 PM JST - 25th November

Whatmeworry, Kinniku, Nessie, for my very first coloquilisms, domo arigatoo gozaimasu! Could I say both? Are they both correct, please?
glycol57 at 06:03 AM JST - 26th November

Sorry, but the lay system here clearly has a long way to go. The jurors should NEVER be allowed to ask questions or address the person like this, because it makes it pretty clear that they are swayed by the way the defendant answers their questions.

Actually, American jurors ARE allowed to directly question defendants and witnesses also - though usually for "clarification" purposes. It is not "usual" practice, carries certain risks to due process, but isn't explicitly forbidden. Jury involvement was more common in the 18th and early 19th centuries when juries often were composed of a defendents actual "peers" - people who knew him.

However, in the case under discussion, a jurors admission that he'd become "pissed off" at the defendant and thus could no longer be objective and unbiased would likely de-rail any American trial.

Of course Japan is not America, there are differences in ideas about how things should be done and exactly what might disqualify a juror. An "angry" Japanese juror might still be a "fair" juror, whereas an 'angry' American juror probably wouldn't.
elbudamexicano at 02:51 PM JST - 26th November

BRAVO! Bravo! My kudos to this excellent human being up in Miyagi! I hope this scum bag rapist truck driver burns in HELL!