Request for Donations

The Imaichi case concerns the disappearance of a seven-year-old child who went missing at approximately 2:38 p.m. on December 1, 2005, while walking home from school in what was then Imaichi City, Tochigi Prefecture. At approximately 2:00 p.m. the following day, December 2, the child was found dead in a wooded area in Ibaraki Prefecture.

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Mr. Katsumata, who is now seeking a retrial, was arrested and detained in late January 2014 on suspicion of violations of the Trademark Act and other offenses. In June of the same year, he was arrested and detained on suspicion of murder and was subsequently indicted.

 

At first instance, the Utsunomiya District Court found that his confession had been made voluntarily and was credible, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

On August 3, 2018, the Tokyo High Court set aside the judgment of the court of first instance but, after reconsidering the case, again sentenced Mr. Katsumata to life imprisonment.

 

The Tokyo High Court found that significant portions of Mr. Katsumata’s confession—including his statements concerning the location and manner of the killing, the method by which the victim’s body was disposed of, and the purpose of the abduction—were not credible. Nevertheless, the Court concluded that the portion of his statement in which he admitted to having killed the victim was credible.

The sentence of life imprisonment was subsequently upheld and became final following proceedings before the Supreme Court of Japan.

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We are currently preparing a petition for retrial. In doing so, the defense team has been consulting extensively with a number of experts, including specialists in DNA analysis and the psychological assessment of statements and confessions.

Such expert work, however, entails substantial expense. DNA testing alone is expected to cost several million yen, and obtaining expert opinions concerning the psychological analysis of Mr. Katsumata’s statements also requires significant funding.

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At present, the defense team lacks the financial resources necessary to cover these costs and is not even in a position to provide adequate compensation to the experts who are assisting with the case.

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We therefore respectfully ask for your support through donations. Any contribution, however modest, would be deeply appreciated. Donations are welcome either in your name or anonymously.

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For those who make a donation and contact our law office, we would also like to offer a small token of our appreciation.