Masahiro Nagura

Supreme Court clears professor in 1st reversal of guilty decision on groping

Wednesday 15th April, 06:41 AM JST

TOKYO —

The Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted a college professor of the charge of groping a high school girl on a packed train in the first instance of the apex court overturning previous guilty rulings in a molestation case.

The top court’s Third Petty Bench overturned the lower courts’ rulings of a 22-month prison term without suspension for Masahiro Nagura, a 63-year-old professor at the National Defense Medical College, with three of its five justices casting doubts over the credibility of the girl’s testimony.

Nagura, who has been suspended from the college since the indictment, said at a press conference following the ruling that the top court verdict ‘‘rid me of feelings of distrust against the judicial system…I couldn’t stop crying. All I was able to say to my wife was ‘thanks.’‘’

‘‘I’m thankful for the not-guilty verdict on my case. But I have no appropriate words to express my feelings on people who have been branded as criminals (with false accusations) and their families,’’ he said.

In the ruling, the majority opinion of the top court said it was unnatural for the girl, who testified that the groping began before the Odakyu Line train arrived at Seijogakuenmae station, to get off the train and get on again at the station, and then to stand near the professor.

However, Justice Mutsuo Tahara, who presided over the bench, and another justice presented a dissenting view that the girl’s testimony was ‘‘trustworthy.’‘

‘‘It’s regrettable the top court denied the credibility of the victim’s testimony. But we will take the court decision seriously,’’ said Masayuki Ikegami, head of the division in charge of trials at the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Yukiko Tsunoda, a lawyer knowledgeable about sexual crimes targeting women, said the ruling was ‘‘based on ancient and false assumptions’’ that a woman pleading she has been sexually assaulted tends to make fictitious statements, adding, ‘‘The girl has no reason to make up a story that she has been molested.’‘

In the ruling, the top court called on courts to make ‘‘a careful judgment’’ in cases involving molestation that takes place on packed trains, because it is often difficult to gather objective evidence and the victims’ depositions tend to serve as the only evidence.

This is the first opinion presented by the Supreme Court on how to examine a groping case, and is expected to influence future investigations and court decisions on such cases, observers say.

According to Nagura’s lawyer, since 1998 there have been more than 30 molestation cases across the nation in which the accused has been acquitted.

Looking back on the past three years since his arrest in April 2006, Nagura said he ‘‘feels resentment’’ at the way the lower courts handled the case, saying, ‘‘How dare they could make light of a person’s life.’‘

After delivering a 22-month prison term to Nagura, the presiding judge at the high court told Nagura he ‘‘still had the Supreme Court’’ to continue with the court battle, according to the professor on the Japanese intellectual history.

Nagura was indicted on the charge of molesting the girl, who was then 17 years old, on the morning of April 18, 2006.

According to Nagura, the girl suddenly grabbed his tie and screamed, ‘‘This person is a groper.’‘

He consistently pleaded not guilty to the charge, but the lower courts’ rulings found him guilty, saying the girl’s depositions were ‘‘concrete, convincing and reasonable.’‘

Tsunoda criticized the top court claiming it was ‘‘unnatural’’ for the girl not to do much to escape from Nagura.

‘‘It was only natural for her not to be able to move because she was on a packed train. I wonder if the Supreme Court judges have ever taken a crowded train,’’ she said.

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Latest 15 of 59 Total Comments Show All

Betting at 10:34 PM JST - 15th April

"Stupid men would say: "Oh! The crap is not guilty. This is girl's fantasy! She just wanted to have some advantages." Probably some men would never get it serious, until it comes to there daughters. Please think of the situation when the victim is your own child".

So what you are basically saying is, "guilty until proven innocent"?
Ke11iente at 02:48 AM JST - 16th April

I can't believe that instead of trying to figure out whether he did or did not grope her, they're only analyzing about her behavior, and pointing out what they think is or is not natural for a woman to do. That's so disgusting that I can hardly find words. It's worse than saying that someone deserved to be assaulted because of their clothing, they're saying that she deserved to be assaulted because of where she stood, OR that she's lying about it because she fought back and caught the guy instead of keeping quiet or running away.

Unfortunately, the truth is that if there is no proof or corroborating eyewitness accounts, you shouldn't be able to convict him. However, the way they are handling the case is incredibly sexist (read: Japanese).

I still remember struggling (and failing) to explain to my Japanese friend why it was sexist that the two hiking trails on a mountain near his house were named "Girl's trail" (easy level) and "Boy's trail" (difficult level). He would say, "But either girls or boys can take either trail, so it's not sexist." He just didn't get it. Sexism is soooo ingrained in the culture of that country that trying to point it out to someone is like trying to make a fish aware of the water in which it swims.
bobcatfish at 11:13 AM JST - 16th April

Deguchisan at 01:27 PM JST - 15th April

"Just because he says he is innocent doesn't mean he is"

were your ancestors witch-burners by any chance?
airrunwesker at 01:14 PM JST - 16th April

...please don't throw stones. Is it possible each one of them are telling the truth? A crowded train... could have been someone else and she simply made a mistake. Maybe, just maybe, neither of them are lying.
kwilkins21 at 03:37 PM JST - 16th April

Both are being ridiculed! Plain and simple, if the girl was strong enough to grab his tie and scream CHIKAN then she is mentally strong enough to slap this if he did grope her.

She is the one who got off the train and then backed into him! Maybe he did touch her and maybe it was an accident but it in no way threatened her life! If this was my daughter, I would have told her that it was her fault for not getting on the women only car!

I have women have women sometimes laying head on my chest on crowded trains because it is packed! Once I lifted my suitcase and it touch a woman's bottom and she jumped to turn around and hit the older Japanese guy and screamed CHIKAN and tried to drag him off the train. After explaining it was my suitcase she said a bad word and walked off without apologizing to the guy! WOMEN GROW UP! Obsession for money is driving a lot of young girls to doing this kind of action! If you can't handled being around men then go to the station a little earlier to make sure you can have a chance to ride in the Women only cars! Why be biased , make men only cars also!
majimekun at 06:37 PM JST - 16th April

ahahah kwilkins21 ... very good story! :)
likeitis at 08:10 PM JST - 16th April

Ke11iente: I still remember struggling (and failing) to explain to my Japanese friend why it was sexist that the two hiking trails on a mountain near his house were named "Girl's trail" (easy level) and "Boy's trail" (difficult level).

Its not sexist to point out that mother nature has made women less physically strong than women. If it were, then it would be similar to laying the allegation that the girl in this case also groped the man, because, not wanting to admit the differences between the sexes that mother nature has given us, it would be sexist to suggest that so very few girls would do such a thing.

I am sorry, but sex differences exist, not only in our bodies but also in our general thoughts and actions. People are ready to call this guy guilty instantly simply because he is a man. They would not be so quick if the situation were reversed. Its not fair, but its not sexist either. It comes simply from observing what usually occurs, and usually, when there is groping it is man on woman. And most men also tend to want to try the harder trail by far when compared with most women.
timtak at 10:40 AM JST - 17th April

‘The girl has no reason to make up a story that she has been molested.’ Alas I don't think that this is true. There was a recent story of a man who was aquitted when it was found that she had been "molested" several times previously on trains and had come to out of court settlements with her previous "attackers".

This man's career and reputation was at risk.

Was he offered the chance to reach an out of court settlement? Did he not offer that option to his "victim" himself? Rare perhaps is the lady the lady that would not shut her mouth about a bum fondling for a million yen, and rarer too the man that would not offer a million yen to save his livelihood.

If I were the victim of false accusation with financial aim, I am afraid that I would lack the integrity to refuse to pay up.

Was he a molester that got off free, or a man with rare integrity?
kyolicious at 12:22 AM JST - 18th April

Likeitis - Then call the trails "easy" and "difficult," not "girl's" and "boy's." Obviously the point flew straight over your head as far as why this is sexism.

This is a difficult case, but I think the reason many assume guilt on the part of the man is because if you spend any time in Japan at all you notice that older men have most of the power in society and do whatever they can get away with to the point of behaving like animals at times. I've been flashed. I've been touched. I've been followed and stalked and propositioned. And every time the question is not "Did you report it?" or "Are you okay?" The question is, "Well, what were you wearing?" The implication being, this is what you deserve for going outside while female, and unless you go out wearing a giant cardboard box over your entire body, it's just to be expected.

I see this same view in the questions of, "Why don't women take the women only train?" Which ignores that the women only cars run for a very limited time and are often far at the ends of the train, making it difficult for someone who is rushing to catch their train or who is caught in a crowd to make it to the car. At my station it can take around 2 minutes to walk from the entrance to the place to wait for the last car. Why is it suddenly my fault for getting groped if I want to catch my train on time and can't make it all the way to the end of the train?

The message of this ruling was "shut up and do nothing, ladies--like you're supposed to." Guilty or innocent. And a lot throw around "guilty until proven innocent" ... HE WAS FIRST PROVED GUILTY. And then they threw out some bs on how she should have just waited for the next train if she didn't want to be groped. Wow.
Canadian121 at 11:50 AM JST - 20th April

I agree with Kyolicious, In canada the questions always asked of the woman when dealing with rape, sexual assault.. is "are you ok" "who was it?" "I'll kick his ass" so on and so forth...

because really, who in the hell would go through the trouble with the judicial system if it was fake, why not just pickpocket to get some cash.. I mean really, there is no logic telling me she is lieing...

and in the world, women shouldnt have to ride the women's only cart, that is demeening and totally unequal, women should be regarded as equal... just because they have different genitalia makes them liars.

and its not her fault! what the hell is wrong with you? ok... just let me put it this way: if an old man was fingering you up your anus and you were told to ride the young boys only cart only and it was your fault for being fingered?

and i have seen my fair share of japanese rape videos... and they are alot! you guys should really deal with this issue, and not make japan look so bad from the outside... because i will tell you... i am not going to japan, especially as a young woman myself.

its pathetic how they're making it her fault for being at the wrong place at the wrong time! OH MY FRIGGIN GOD! you guys!! really!!! are you all really women hating homosexuals??!
irishosaru at 07:25 AM JST - 21st April

because really, who in the hell would go through the trouble with the judicial system if it was fake, why not just pickpocket to get some cash.. I mean really, there is no logic telling me she is lieing...

She could have falsely accused the guy to try and get cash out of him, and then felt forced to follow it through to keep herself looking like a victim.

The truth is I don't know what really happened in this case. The guy could be the luckiest groper in Japan, or a mighty relieved victim.

What this decision could mean is that it won't be as easy to get convictions in the future which means that

a - less innocent guys being punished legally or financially

b - the emboldening of chikans everywhere.
nisegaijin at 12:46 PM JST - 21st April

its amazing what kind of cases get to supreme court here. In the US they won't even look at tax cases
BTADT at 07:11 PM JST - 21st April

Word of advice to all males riding the train: Keep both hands up on the rings. Over the years I have been groped on numerous occasions by both males and females, old salary men late at night, and junior high school girls in uniform in the morning, and I have fellow male colleagues that have also. Gee, I wonder if they would believe us at the station office. Doubt it. Keep our mouths shut, try to avoid soiling our suits, and chalk it up as just another day in Japan in conversations while on break.
Canadian121 at 12:32 AM JST - 22nd April

wow... well, i think that they should get some whinesses...

or women should carry pepper spray. or some taser...
Canadian121 at 12:35 AM JST - 22nd April

give them perverts a little shock... or something just to give them an idea that you do not like that. step on their feet... or something... pinch them!! XD