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.