Japan court overturns death penalty for hit-and run, hands man life sentence

The Sendai High Court has overturned the death penalty handed to a man convicted of killing two people by ramming into them with a truck in Fukushima Prefecture, downgrading his sentence to life in prison. Yoshitaka Morito, 53, an unemployed man of no fixed address, was handed the lighter sentence on Feb. 16 in a decision overturning a June 2021 ruling by the Fukushima District Court's Koriyama branch.

According to the latest ruling, Morito stole a truck, drove it without a license, and fatally hit a man and woman, aged 55 and 52, respectively, while they were cleaning an area along a national route in the town of Miharu, Fukushima Prefecture, on the morning of May 31, 2020, and then fled the scene. The defendant, who was not acquainted with the victims, committed the crime just two days after being released from prison.

While the man was handed the death penalty as sought by prosecutors in his district court lay judge trial, the high court deliberated whether the choice of capital punishment was inevitable.

Presiding Judge Shigeyuki Fukasawa at the Sendai High Court pointed out that the defendant committed the crime from a desire to return to prison and stay there longer due to worries about an unfamiliar area and a job he had no experience with, on top of relationship difficulties.

"Although the crime was selfish and self-indulgent, he attempted to ram a truck into two people in desperation, and he was not trying to benefit from the act in itself by taking other people's lives. It was haphazard and immature," the presiding judge stated, adding that the crime "cannot be said to deserve the death penalty."

After handing down the sentence, Fukasawa told the man, "Life imprisonment is also a considerably heavy sentence, and I want you to be aware of your responsibility once again. It is an undeniable fact that the two people died. Please continue to pray for the repose of the victims' souls."

Morito, wearing a mask, nodded to the presiding judge's words throughout the hearing.

After the ruling, an attorney representing the defendant commented, "I'm convinced that the death penalty was avoided after our claim of the sentence being unjust was recognized."

Source: mainichi.jp, Staff, February 18, 2023

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