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ZWC_yamada We have received the following report from lawyer Sosuke Seki of the Suraj legal team, which we are publishing here.
Suraju Legal Team, Attorney Sosuke Seki
On September 14, 2015, at 1:30 PM, the questioning of Yoshinao Katsumata, a forensic pathologist and professor emeritus at Nagoya University, took place. This questioning was originally scheduled for April 8 of this year, but was delayed due to difficulties securing Mr. Katsumata's availability, and finally took place at this time.
Since it was difficult for Professor Katsumata to travel to Tokyo (to appear before the Tokyo High Court), the examination was conducted in a closed-door format, using a courtroom at the Nagoya High Court.
Due to these circumstances, unfortunately, our supporters were unable to attend the questioning of witness Katsumata, so I will give a very brief report on the situation. (If you have any questions, please ask them at the next debriefing session or other opportunity.)
Those who appeared in court that day included Dr. Katsumata, one judge (sitting to the left of the appointed judge), a court clerk and a court officer, Mrs. Suraj from our side, and four lawyers: Kodama, Abiko, Nohara, and Seki. On the government side, a massive group of 11 or 12 people, completely disregarding cost considerations, came all the way from Tokyo.
As mentioned earlier, despite the decision to question Professor Katsumata being made five months prior, the government suddenly submitted a supplementary statement from Professor Katsumata (a document spanning nine pages) on September 7th, the week before the questioning. At the beginning of the hearing, lawyer Kodama asked the government for an explanation as to why it was submitted so late, but the government only gave a childish answer, saying, "It ended up being at this time because we worked very hard to prepare it."
The government's direct examination largely followed the content of this supplementary statement and concluded in 20 minutes.
In response, our lawyers, Attorneys Nohara and Abiko, who were in charge of the questioning this time, conducted a cross-examination for about 40 minutes. As it involves medical matters, I will omit the details here, but the main points were: ① impeachment of Dr. Katsumata's judgment that the death was due to a heart condition (CTAVN, etc.); ② impeachment of Dr. Katsumata's denial that the death was due to asphyxiation; ③ impeachment of the view that the relatively high rectal temperature of Mr. Suraj's body indicated fierce resistance by him; ④ pointing out that Dr. Katsumata's opinion contradicts the findings of Dr. Tagasari, which the government requested in the first trial; and ⑤ pointing out that Dr. Katsumata is merely engaging in literally "theoretical" discussions without any direct involvement in the autopsy or organ analysis in this case.
Dr. Katsumata is the kind of person who gives lengthy answers to every question, making cross-examination difficult. Moreover, it appears that he doesn't even know the term "CTAVN" (cystic tumor of the atrioventricular node), which has been a topic of discussion throughout this trial. The cross-examination likely gave the impression that he is not knowledgeable about cardiology, cannot accurately explain its relationship to the Tagasari testimony, and that the high rectal temperature does not necessarily support Mr. Suraj's strong resistance.
With this, the presentation of evidence in the appeal trial is practically complete, and both parties will now promptly prepare and submit their final written statements. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18th, at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 825 of the Tokyo High Court. The appeal trial will conclude on this day, and the judgment is expected to be handed down at the following hearing. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.
*Please note that the transportation expenses for all four individuals involved in the questioning in Nagoya were covered by a donation from APFS. We would like to take this opportunity to report and express our gratitude.