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205144
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 20:01
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https://oananews.org//node/205144
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Prosecutors eye fresh DNA tests over 1997 killing of TEPCO worker
TOKYO, Sept. 4 Kyodo -
Prosecutors plan to conduct fresh DNA tests in connection with the 1997 killing of a female employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co., over which a Nepalese man serving life in prison has sought a retrial, a prosecutorial source said Sunday.
The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office also plans to disclose to the defense around 40 pieces of previously unreleased evidence, a move a senior prosecutor said signals ''our intention to fully disclose what we can disclose, whether it benefits us or not.''
''We also want to avoid being criticized for withholding evidence,'' the prosecutor said. The prosecutors notified the court and the defense counsel for Govinda Prasad Mainali, 44, of the plan on Friday.
But the defense counsel may not agree to the new tests on the grounds that it is expected to take some time to compile a new DNA analysis report, delaying a decision by the Tokyo High Court on Mainali's request for a retrial.
The evidence that the prosecutors plan to disclose includes a sample collected from around the neck of the 39-year-old victim, who died of suffocation, and blood type O saliva found on the victim's chest. Mainali's blood type is B.
The evidence apparently could not be subjected to DNA analysis given the technology available at the time of the initial prosecution.
The prosecutors' office has recently analyzed 42 pieces of evidence at the request of the defense, including semen inside the victim's body, her bag and wallet, and human hair.
The semen showed a DNA profile different to Mainali's and perfectly matching the DNA profile of a piece of hair collected in the apartment where the killing took place. The same DNA profile was detected in two separate pieces of hair discovered at the scene.
The defense team has submitted a report to the high court, disputing its ruling that denied the possibility that the victim could have entered the room with someone other than Mainali.
The defense argues that the analysis provides strong new evidence proving Mainali is not guilty and will therefore consider carefully whether further analysis, as proposed by the prosecutors, is necessary, it said.
Mainali's defense team is expected to submit its opinion to the court by the end of this month after the prosecutors submit their opinion by Sept. 16.
The Tokyo District Court acquitted Mainali in April 2000 of strangling the woman and stealing around 40,000 yen at a Tokyo apartment around midnight on March 8, 1997, citing a lack of evidence and saying that a third party could have been at the scene of the crime.
In December that year, however, the high court sentenced Mainali to life in prison, saying the defendant's guilt had been proven sufficiently. The Supreme Court upheld the high court decision in October 2003. Mainali pleaded not guilty during the course of the trial.
Prosecutors plan to conduct fresh DNA tests in connection with the 1997 killing of a female employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co., over which a Nepalese man serving life in prison has sought a retrial, a prosecutorial source said Sunday.
The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office also plans to disclose to the defense around 40 pieces of previously unreleased evidence, a move a senior prosecutor said signals ''our intention to fully disclose what we can disclose, whether it benefits us or not.''
''We also want to avoid being criticized for withholding evidence,'' the prosecutor said. The prosecutors notified the court and the defense counsel for Govinda Prasad Mainali, 44, of the plan on Friday.
But the defense counsel may not agree to the new tests on the grounds that it is expected to take some time to compile a new DNA analysis report, delaying a decision by the Tokyo High Court on Mainali's request for a retrial.
The evidence that the prosecutors plan to disclose includes a sample collected from around the neck of the 39-year-old victim, who died of suffocation, and blood type O saliva found on the victim's chest. Mainali's blood type is B.
The evidence apparently could not be subjected to DNA analysis given the technology available at the time of the initial prosecution.
The prosecutors' office has recently analyzed 42 pieces of evidence at the request of the defense, including semen inside the victim's body, her bag and wallet, and human hair.
The semen showed a DNA profile different to Mainali's and perfectly matching the DNA profile of a piece of hair collected in the apartment where the killing took place. The same DNA profile was detected in two separate pieces of hair discovered at the scene.
The defense team has submitted a report to the high court, disputing its ruling that denied the possibility that the victim could have entered the room with someone other than Mainali.
The defense argues that the analysis provides strong new evidence proving Mainali is not guilty and will therefore consider carefully whether further analysis, as proposed by the prosecutors, is necessary, it said.
Mainali's defense team is expected to submit its opinion to the court by the end of this month after the prosecutors submit their opinion by Sept. 16.
The Tokyo District Court acquitted Mainali in April 2000 of strangling the woman and stealing around 40,000 yen at a Tokyo apartment around midnight on March 8, 1997, citing a lack of evidence and saying that a third party could have been at the scene of the crime.
In December that year, however, the high court sentenced Mainali to life in prison, saying the defendant's guilt had been proven sufficiently. The Supreme Court upheld the high court decision in October 2003. Mainali pleaded not guilty during the course of the trial.
