Court orders Miura's transfer to L.A., man appeals to top court

SAIPAN, Sept. 12 Kyodo - The local court in Saipan ruled Friday that Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura be transferred to Los Angeles in connection with the fatal shooting of his wife in the city in the early 1980s.

Counsel for Miura, 61, who has been in detention on the Pacific island since
his arrest Feb. 22 for conspiring to kill his wife Kazumi, filed an appeal with
the Supreme Court here to have Friday's decision overturned.
Before the top court can rule on the appeal, local authorities are expected to
start the transfer proceedings as early as next week.
A local law enforcement official said the transfer can take place without the
top court's decision and expressed confidence that the ruling would not be
overridden anyway.
Kazumi, then 28, was shot in Los Angeles in 1981 while traveling and died a
year later. Miura himself sustained serious injuries to his left leg in the
incident.
Miura was sentenced to life in prison in 1994 by the Tokyo District Court,
which ruled that the triggerman was an unidentified third party. However, the
Tokyo High Court overturned the ruling four years later, which was upheld by
the Supreme Court in 2003.
In Saipan, Miura argued that his arrest and detention violate the prohibition
of double jeopardy and ex-post facto laws.
His defense team sought bail two times, but the Saipan court rejected the
requests on the grounds that an arrest warrant for murder has been issued
against him.
The Los Angeles Superior Court on Sept. 26 will hand down its decision on the
defense team's motion to invalidate the warrant.
A prosecutor in Saipan indicated that Miura would be present in court when the
decision is given, suggesting that his transfer could materialize within
several days.