Japan | Kyoto Animation arsonist’s defense seeks to nullify the accused’s withdrawal of appeal following death penalty finalization

After being sentenced to death in January 2024 by the Kyoto District Court for the Kyoto Animation Studio 1 arson attack in July 2019, Shinji Aoba and his defense lawyer appealed to the Osaka High Court. However, a document submitted by Aoba on January 27, 2025 indicated the defendant’s wish to withdraw the appeal, which means the finalization of his death penalty sentencing.

But three days later, on January 30, 2025, Aoba’s lawyer submitted a petition seeking to invalidate the document given by his client. In other words, the defense seems to intend to pursue the appeal on behalf of Aoba (as reported by MBS news and other Japanese media).

During the trials, Aoba openly admitted to all of the charges, including the murder of 36 people, attempted murder, and arson of an inhabited object with no apology or remorse. His lawyer then claimed Aoba was “non compos mentis” (i.e. not in his right mind) and pleaded not guilty. Considering Aoba was set on fire during the arson attack and suffered extreme burns to the legs, chest, and face, this could be seen as a valid argument.

Even though Aoba eventually admitted that he went too far, the prosecution could not count the act as homicide by willful negligence due to the inherently dangerous nature of igniting gasoline in a building during the middle of Summer.

The petition by Aoba’s lawyer to invalidate his client’s document draws parallels to a 2015 case wherein a defendant withdrew the appeal of his death sentence for killing two junior high school students in Neyagawa, Osaka. The defendant’s lawyers filed a request to invalidate the withdrawal on his behalf, stating that the client wasn’t aware that he was finalizing his own death sentence. The case was reopened, whereupon the defendant once again sent a withdrawal for his death sentence. This second withdrawal was considered valid, and the lawyer’s second appeal was dismissed, finalizing the defendant’s death sentence.

In the case of the Kyoto Animation arsonist, it remains to be seen how the court will respond to the defense’s petition. Meanwhile, the move has earned widespread criticism from the public, as people hope to see a conclusion to the case and justice for Aoba’s victims.

Source: automaton-media.com, Carlos "Zoto" Zotomayor, February 3, 2025

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