Okinawa prosecutors seek 2-year sentence for US employee who caused fatal collision
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Japanese prosecutors on Wednesday recommended a two-year prison sentence for a U.S. civilian worker who admitted to causing a fatal traffic collision last year on Okinawa.
Rufus J. Ramsey III, 24, an employee of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, pleaded guilty in January to vehicular manslaughter in the death of a teenage Japanese driver. A Naha court judge is expected to make a final decision on Ramsey’s sentence later this month.
Ramsey’s trial comes just two months after the U.S. and Japan changed treaty guidelines to allow for his prosecution. Okinawans had staged a protest after the U.S. military punished Ramsey by revoking his Japanese driving privileges for five years following the traffic death. The Japanese government was unable to charge him with a crime based on an interpretation of the treaty governing U.S.-Japan relations.
But months of mounting local pressure convinced the two countries to review the treaty rules, and in late November it was determined that any U.S. civilian who causes death or permanent injury to Japanese nationals while on duty may face prosecution in Japanese courts.
Ramsey was indicted one day after the rule change.
“His gross negligence robbed the life of a 19-year-old man with a promising future” and has caused his mother deep sorrow, prosecutor Takafumi Sugiyama said. “Her emotional pain is immeasurable.”
During testimony in January, Ramsey, who remains an AAFES employee, said he lost control of his vehicle after overtaking a car ahead of him and swerved into a car driven by Koki Yogi, 19, on Highway 329 in Okinawa City.
He told the court Wednesday he is deeply remorseful and his defense attorney, Kotaro Ito, asked the court for leniency and a suspended a prison term.
“It was an accident that involved no speeding, no cellphone talking or reckless driving,” he said. “It was an accident that could happen to anyone.”
A two-year sentence for vehicular manslaughter is typical in Japan, said Toshimitsu Takaesu, a veteran lawyer on Okinawa.
“It was not too harsh when you consider similar cases, in which recommended sentence would be 18 months,” he said.
The additional six months in the recommendation was added due to public outrage over the crime, according to Takaesu.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 22.
