Indictment
If the prosecutor believes there is sufficient evidence, the suspect will be brought before a judge again and formally indicted. Prosecutors in Japan generally do not take a case to trial unless they are convinced they can win, and about a quarter of all cases are dropped prior to indictment. However, after indictment, the conviction rate in Japan is over 99%. If indicted, the defendant is usually transferred to the regional detention prison where he/she will be held for the duration of the trial. At times prisoners are held at local police stations due to space constraints at other facilities.
Read the information on the Japanese Judicial System at Japan Federation of Bar Associations website
There is no trial by jury in Japan. Instead, cases are tried by a panel of three judges. Individual court sessions can last a short period of time or several hours. Subsequent sessions will be held anywhere from several days to several weeks later.
Depending on the complexity of the case, a trial could last for many months. If a defendant pleads guilty, the trial could be resolved in as few as two hearings.
Private attorneys are expensive in Japan, charging roughly $4,000 to $6,000 for a criminal case. Statistics suggest that the most effective period for legal intervention is at the pre-indictment period when a lawyer can exert most influence on the outcome of the case. In our experience, intervention is most effective when the evidence is truly ambiguous.
American-style plea bargaining in which the prosecutor agrees to indict on a lesser offense in return for a guilty plea is unknown in Japan. Japanese prosecutors do not face the same workload constraints as their American counterparts and have sufficient resources to prosecute each and every crime to the full extent of the law.
If a defendant is unable to hire a lawyer, the court-appointed lawyer will only be assigned in certain crime cases before indictment, when the case will go to court. If you are not eligible for a court-appointed attorney before indictment, you are still eligible for a court-appointed attorney after indictment when the case will go to court. There is no Public Defender's office in Japan, and court-appointed lawyers are really private lawyers who have been tasked with defending an indigent client.
A court-appointed lawyer normally examines the records and evidence assembled by the police before meeting with the client. It is not unusual for a defendant not to see his court-appointed lawyer until a couple of weeks before the first trial date; in some instances the court-appointed lawyer and prisoner first meet just before the first hearing..
A trial will typically begin by identifying the defendant and reading the charges against him/her. The defendant will be advised of the right to remain silent and to refuse to answer individual questions. The defendant will be given an opportunity to make a statement about the charges but warned that the statement could be used against him/her. The defendant then enters a plea. Following this the lawyer makes the opening statement for the defense followed by the prosecutor's opening statement.
If the case is complex, subsequent sessions will be held for the prosecutor and the defense to present evidence. After all the evidence is presented, the prosecutor and the defense make their closing arguments. The judges will then set a date to render their judgment and sentence. Even with a guilty plea, a trial will consist of a minimum of two sessions.
Follow this link for Part V, Daily Life at the Detention Center.