Top court clears professor in 1st reverse of guilty decision on groping

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TOKYO, April 14 Kyodo -
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, told a
press conference following the ruling that the top court verdict ''rid me of
feelings of distrust against the judicial system.''
''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 is regrettable that (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.
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.
Nagura was indicted on the charge of molesting the girl, who was then 17 years
old, on the morning of April 18, 2006.
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.''
==Kyodo