Govinda Prasad Mainali was acquitted on November 7, 2012 after a retrial for the murder and rape of Yasuko Watanabe in Tokyo, Japan on March 8, 1997. Mainali was imprisoned for more than 15 years before he was released in June 2012 after his conviction was overturned based on new DNA evidence.
Govinda Mainali after his acquittal (AFP)
Watanabe worked by day as a senior economic researcher for the Tokyo Electric Power Company. She graduated from a prestigious university and she made about $100,000 a year. Unbeknownst to her family, friends and co-workers she moonlighted by night as a street prostitute.
The 39-year-old Watanabe’s double-life was discovered when her body was found on March 19, 1997 in a vacant apartment she used for her sexual liaisons. The medical examiner determined she had been strangled on March 8, 1997.
Mainali was a Nepalese immigrant in Japan who was arrested on March 23, 1997 for over-staying his work visa. He and other Nepalese workers lived in the apartment building where Watanabe was murdered. The 30-year-old Mainali, had been working in Tokyo for three years, and he sent his family in Nepal most of the money he made from his job in an Indian restaurant. When interrogated by police Mainali admitted to police investigators that he had twice paid Watanabe to have sex with him. However, he said he had not seen her for days prior to her rape and murder, and there were no witnesses to dispute his statement. Nevertheless, Mainali was charged with her murder.
After more than three years in custody while awaiting trial, Mainali was acquitted in April 2000 by the Tokyo District Court based on the judge’s finding there was no credible evidence of his guilt.
Yasuko Watanabe
In Japan the prosecution’s appeal of a trial court’s acquittal of a defendant isn’t barred by double-jeopardy. The prosecution appealed Mainali’s acquittal, and in December 2000 the Tokyo High Court reversed his acquittal and sentenced him to an indefinite term of life in prison.
There was intense interest in Nepal and Japan about Mainali’s case, and even the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy feature story in March 2001, “Japan’s Case of the Unlikely Streetwalker: An economist moonlighting as a prostitute and the foreigner declared guilty of her death highlight overlooked aspects of the society,”
In 2001 Japanese reporter Shinichi Sano wrote the best-selling book, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Office Lady Murder Case, that detailed the reasons why Mainali was innocent. Sano said about Mainali’s conviction, “It was the murder of the law by the guardians of the law.”
Mainali’s conviction was finalized on October 22, 2003 when Japan’s Supreme Court denied his appeal.
In March 2005 Mainali filed a new appeal seeking a retrial, and his appeal was denied.
On July 21, 2011 the Japanese newspaper Yomuiri Shimbun reported that the prosecution had secretly conducted DNA testing of crime scene evidence. DNA testing of semen recovered from Watanabe’s vagina excluded Mainali as the source. In addition the semen’s DNA matched the DNA of a pubic hair recovered from the crime scene, the semen matched the DNA of a blood stain on the Burberry coat Watanabe was wearing, and the semen matched the DNA of saliva found on the victim’s chest. Five days later, on July 26, Mainali filed a petition for a retrial with the Tokyo High Court based on the fact the prosecution had never disclosed that semen had been recovered, and that all the prosecution’s secret DNA tests conclusively excluded Mainali as the man who raped and murdered Watanabe.
After Mainali filed his new trial petition the prosecutors disclosed in September 2011 that Mainali’s trial lawyers had not been provided evidence that his blood type-B did not match the type-O blood type of saliva found on Watanabe’s breast.
Govinda Mainali’s wife Radha (center), his daughter Alisha, 19 (left), and his daughter Mithila, 20 (right), in front of the Tokyo High Court after he was granted a retrial on June 7, 2012
A hearing was scheduled in Tokyo’s High Court in June 2012, and supporters of Mainali paid for his wife Radha and his two daughters to travel from Nepal to Japan so they could give interviews and focus the media spotlight on the personal aspect of his case.
Based on the new DNA and blood evidence the High Court set-aside Mainali’s conviction on June 7, 2012 and ordered a new trial. The presiding High Court Judge Shoji Ogawa stated, “Suspicion has arisen that another person might have murdered the woman and it is assumed a guilty ruling would not have been handed down if the results of this analysis had been presented in the trial.” Mainali was released from prison about 3 p.m. that same day and transferred to a detention facility, since he had overstayed his visa and thus was in Japan illegally.
Japan deported Mainali on June 16, 2012 and he was flown to Kathmandu, Nepal after spending 15 years and 3 months in custody and being separated from family for more than 18 years.
On October 30, 2012 the Tokyo High Court held a retrial of Mainali in absentia that lasted 30 minutes. The prosecution admitted DNA samples of tissue found under the victim’s fingernails, semen found in and on the victim, and hair strands on the victim and elsewhere at the crime scene, matched a person other than Mainali and that he was not guilty of the crime.
Govinda Mainali at press conference in Kathmandu after his acquittal on November 7,, 2012 (Prakash Mathema – AFP)
On November 7, 2012 the Tokyo High Court announced its ruling that Mainali was not guilty.
During a press conference in Kathmandu after his acquittal Mainali told reporters: “I was forced to undergo 15 years of horrible and torturous time in jail despite being innocent. I prayed to God and asked: what mistake have I committed? God was the only witness of my pleas. Had a DNA test not been conducted, I would have been languishing in jail and probably would have died there.”
Mainali’s exoneration was abnormal in Japan, which has a 99.8% conviction rate. The Innocents Database only lists 20 exonerations in Japan since 1945.
The overwhelming majority of convictions are obtained by a defendant’s confession. A suspect in Japan can be detained for up to 23 days without charge, there are no rules on the length of an interrogation which are not fully recorded, and lawyers are not permitted to be present during an interrogation. When initially arrested Mainali was denied access to a lawyer, and he was beaten, kicked and pinned against the wall by police officers during interrogations.
After Mainali’s acquittal Amnesty International issued a Statement:
“Mainali’s acquittal shines a spotlight not only on the injustice he has suffered but on a system which unless reformed will perpetuate violations of international fair trial standards. It is simply not acceptable that the police can act with carte blanche powers during interrogations, with suspects routinely tortured or otherwise ill-treated and denied access to lawyers. It is long overdue that the Japanese government ends such abuses if it is to have a justice system worthy of the name. Vital reforms are needed to bring the process into line with international human rights law.”
Japan does not have an equivalent of the United State’s Brady rules that can require a new trial if the prosecution fails to disclose material exculpatory or impeachment evidence to a defendant. In 2005 Japan’s Supreme Prosecutor’s Office revised its Code of Criminal Procedure to require prosecutors to present a defendant’s lawyers with a list of evidence gathered. However, the revised code carries no penalties for violations so it is not a deterrent to prosecutors who withhold evidence.
With his acquittal Mainali can now file a petition for compensation from the Japanese government for his wrongful imprisonment.
It is reported that Mainali is writing a book about his ordeal with the Japanese legal system, including that he was physically beaten by prison guards, and that the police used forceful interrogation methods after his arrest.
