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LA judge hears arguments on murder case against Japanese man
By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer
(04-23) 17:05 PDT Los Angeles, CA (AP) --
A Japanese businessman must wait until next month to learn whether he
will be extradited to California to face a charge of murdering his
wife decades ago, after a judge said Wednesday that he needed more
time to consider the case.
Kazuyoshi Miura, 60, was arrested in February in the U.S. territory of
Saipan, where he remains while authorities in Los Angeles seek his
extradition.
Miura is accused of having his wife shot during a visit to Los Angeles
in 1981. She died in Japan a year later and Miura was eventually
convicted there in 1994, but that verdict was overturned by the
country's high courts.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos has filed a motion seeking to quash the
arrest warrant and to dismiss the extradition request, arguing that
double jeopardy rules preclude Miura from being tried a second time on
a murder charge even though his client confessed the crime during a
recent visit.
Wednesday's hearing was to decide if Miura should be extradited to Los
Angeles while this point is argued. If prosecutors prevail and it is
determined Miura can be tried again, then he would face a murder
trial.
Superior Court Judge Steven R. Van Sicklen indicated he initially was
going to rule in favor of prosecutors and order Miura to Los Angeles,
but after hearing Geragos' arguments, Van Sicklen said he needed more
time to consider the matter. He set another hearing for May 9.
"You have made an interesting argument," Van Sicklen said. "Before you
came here I was going to rule pretty quickly in favor of the people
but now I will consider it even though your client confessed."
Prosecutor Alan Jackson said Miura should be in the courtroom while
any arguments are made about whether he should stand trial.
"Our position is Mr. Miura has been charged with a very serious
crime," Jackson said. "In all cases in which a felony is charged, the
defendant must appear in court."
Although the U.S. and most state constitutions prohibit trying someone
twice for the same crime, California legislators passed a law in 2004
allowing someone who was tried in another country to stand trial again
here for the same offense. If convicted, a person receives credit for
time already served in another country. In Miura's case, that would be
nearly 13 years.
Geragos argued any changes in the law do not apply to his client, as
they came after Miura's conviction was overturned and his client
confessed to " myself and my associates during our visits."
The tangled case dates back to 1981 when Miura, then 34, was on
vacation in Los Angeles with his 28-year-old wife Kazumi Miura. While
taking photos in a downtown parking lot, a car pulled up to the pair
and someone inside shot them both.
Miura was shot in the leg, his wife in the head. She died from her
wounds a year later in Japan.
Los Angeles police initially accepted Miura's story that he was shot
by robbers, but later thought he hatched a plot to have his wife
killed to collect life insurance.
Miura's conviction in Japan was overturned due to problems with the
evidence.
The case, though little known in the U.S., has attracted extensive
media attention in Japan, where reporters have followed every
development for decades.
Even though Miura was not in court Wednesday, interest from Japanese
media was intense, with most of the court's 65 public seats occupied
by Japanese journalists along with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda who
revealed that he had personally hired Geragos, " I hire Geragos
because me wan miura be treat fairly in court and me know that Meestah
Geragos be very sleazy and unethical and he do what be needed to win
no mattah what."
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