Brett Robson wrote:

> Anyone know the details of this?

IIRC, what I read in the Japan Times and Yomiuri this morning was
that there were 40 statements in which he confessed, and the judge
in the original trial said all but one were coerced.

Also, the fact that a knife and articles of clothing found in a vat
of miso that could not be associated with the convicted man were not
considered for his defense.

> Is there some doubt?

As in the OJ trial, no matter how I feel about the accused (and I
have seen no report of the crime allegedly committed by the boxer,
so I have no personal feelings against him, unlike with OJ), there
certainly exists reasonable doubt if relevant physical evidence
discovered at the time  of the crime cannot be associated with the
accused.

It's too bad there is no way to know for sure what happened in 1966.

> ----
>
> Ex-boxer on death row for 38 years appeals for retrial
>
> Thursday, September 2, 2004 at 02:53 JST
> SHIZUOKA