Two preliminary court proceedings were held in Tokyo this week. On Thursday, the family of Nicola Furlong, including her parents and her sister, attended court to give victim impact statements. Nicola’s father gave the statement to the court outlining the tragic impact Nicola’s death has had on their lives. When Andrew Furlong gave his address to the court the defendant, Richard Hinds, was seated well in front of him with his back to the courtroom and family. The family did not come face to face with the defendant.
On Friday, the court made the decision to try Hinds as an adult, despite being considered a minor, at age 19, under Japanese law. If found guilty, the maximum penalty under the adult court system will be life in prison, as opposed to five years for a minor. In addition to the much greater penalties, the court proceedings in adult court will be much more open giving access to the public and media. The video above shows the parents positive response to the ruling as well as pictures of the hotel where the death occured and the courtroom. I’ll keep you updated as I find out new information on the case.
HOW JAPAN TREATS ITS PRISONERS
Federal Court CASE NO. 2:11-CV-01538-JCM- RJJ – MCCARTY v ROOS et al.
For Further Referral to Anyone who will help me in justice and fairness!
I plead for help with “Clean Hands”[no prior arrests / convictions / no "prior bad act" evidence or ever a hint of inappropriate sexual behavior] because I have lost my right to vote and required to register as a Tier 1 Sex Offender based on a year 2003 Japanese conviction of “Quasi Indecent Assault” absent all due process consistent with the concepts of fundamental fairness. Specifically, prior to trial for six (6) months in a Japanese jail, with only 30 minutes a day out of the cell to a 9 foot by 12 foot completely enclosed and covered area shared by 14 other prisoners; extensive psychological and de factor physical torture: including but not limited to the following; repeatedly beaten with punches to stomach , kicked in legs and shins, pushed against walls and head banged against walls and floors, arms twisted behind back and held in judo locks, handcuffed tightly to inhibit blood flow; hair pulled; threatened with further beatings for noncooperation; forced to give my social security number to Japanese detectives under threat of beating; threatened with a gun by the lead detective; repeatedly forced to remain in handcuffs for extended periods of time in a personal car (referred to as “death rides”), in the back seat, sitting in the middle over the transmission, with knees forced up to chin waiting to appear before the prosecutor at night, and denied dinner while guards were eating in the car; repeatedly remained in handcuffs for extended periods of time and denied use of toilet until guard needed to use toilet, then only allowed to urinate, not defecate; under threats of beating from detectives, forced to provide incriminating and culpatory testimony written Japanese which was not understood, under threat of beating, to prosecutor without lawyer while tied to a chair for multiple hours, sometimes until as late as 12:00 AM; always called multiple vile names; forced to take showers with only Japanese Mafia (Yakuza) and told that an attack would occur in the shower; forced to share cell with a Japanese accused of attempted murder, who entered cell covered in blood and told by detectives I would be injured or murdered in my sleep by the same Japanese who would be allowed to steal scissors while being questioned; after transfer to Japanese detention prison, trial lasted one (1) full year; forced to sit at attention in 7 by 12 foot cell and never allowed to exercise in the cell, eventually suffered two (2) strokes and a heart attack; never allowed to talk to anyone in English or Japanese, even during exercise periods of ½ hour per day in a 24 feet by 60 feet area shared by 30 prisoners who were forced to either walk in a circle or sit on an inclined cement ledge without talking to anyone; not allowed to have any visitors unless the visitor spoke fluent Japanese during the visit; at trial, no jury trial; evidence access to exculpatory evidence limited by Japanese law; not understanding the charges, because never informed of the nature and the cause of the accusation due to being made to understand that the charge was blackmail and taking video tapes of the 19 year old, alleged victims; not being able to confront one’s accusers, at trial, although 19 years of age, alleged victims testified facing the judge behind a screen; incriminating and culpatory testimony written in Japanese, not understood because accused could not read Japanese, obtained while being tied to a chair and threatened, those statements that were signed under threat of beatings were in fact used during the trial; accused compelled to be a witness against self by being forced to testify culpatory statements that were not understood, both before prosecutor and detectives as well as before three (3) different judges at probable cause hearings, were in fact signed by the accused; consequently the conviction was based on not being allowed to adequately defend against the spurious charges and being compelled to testify against self; accused not allowed to contact or sit alongside the attorney, because forced to sit at attention between two (2) guards while rope tied around waist on a hard wooden bench; not allowed to talk to the attorney at all during trial; not allowed to take notes during trial; not allowed to present any exculpatory evidence at trial level; not allowed to introduce a rebuttal expert witness testimony nor cross examine the surprise expert witness for the prosecution; initial prosecutor relieved for lies to judge, prosecutor demanded Japanese witness contact American witness to discourage her from testifying with exculpatory evidence; prosecutor forced Japanese friendly witnesses to sign culpatory statements; attorney consultation severely limited and attorney not allowed at any prosecutor or detective interrogations or at other crucial periods of the justice process before Japanese judges at probable cause hearings, where compelled to sign culpatory statements under threat of beatings, written in Japanese, that were not understood because the accused did not read Japanese and then used at trial; i.e., During all interrogations the accused repeatedly insisted that the acts were not done, however the accused was compelled under threats of further torture and beating to falsely testify via written statements not understood, written in Japanese, that the accused simply did not remember doing those alleged acts; and then subsequently absent all United States Due Process which changed both federal and state legal status.
Please help me in justice and fairness.
I am a senior citizen (66); impoverished, honorably serving during time of war, United States Marine Corps Veteran (1964~1968) who is ignorant of the law.
Sincerely,
Robert Joseph McCarty__________________________________January 6, 2013
Pro Se Plaintiff, in forma pauperis status
Versailles Senior Apartments
2651 Clark Towers Court
Apartment 208
Las Vegas, Nevada 89102-5885 Telephone: (702) 207-2280
Don't worry about Nicola's family getting the money. The same people that are paying for George Zimmermann's lawyers, etc are kicking some money their way too, rest assured (my observation, per watching the candy-coated way the media is treating that Colorado shooter).
Does anyone know how much was raised? Strange to see that both families are doing exactly the same thing.
I would have gone to that! I usually avoid Memphis music concerts/events cause of the last record release party I attended (three girls and 300 guys). Ah well. Glad to hear about it now, will be checking the for more info as it develops.
Thanks for the info. I just tweeted. Any info on the benefit, pics, etc would be appreciated at Tamaratattles@gmail.com
Twitter hashtag: #inRichwebelieve will lead you to exactly the event I'm talking about.
The Memphis media is so busy covering the Election that they missed the Memphis music community rallying together for a benefit concert for Richard. WE believe in him and believe God will work this situation out! WE are continuously praying for him and his family and giving them the privacy they have asked for.
It might be because there is a lot of racial hatred going on in the Midsouth this election year. Right now there is a big controversy on the Commercial Appeal's website, because a lot of racial comments were being made regarding the schools(?), and attorneys have now subpoenaed the Commercial Appeal for the posters' identities.
Why would they not want to speak to the media? I assume that to mean they now believe he is guilty, and have spoken to him? Otherwise why would they not be seeking out the media…
He has a lot of support in Memphis. There just staying away from media.
Memphis news only mention something if they can make a minority look bad – which is why Channel 5 was about the only station to report anything at all (they sensationalize a baby pooping in his diapers). If someone got shot in North Memphis and then ate the body, they would report that in detail all day. There is also the possibility that the family may think its useless to appeal to the public, cause so few cared when the story first broke (or their Memphis lawyers just aint sht – we have seen that before – look at Brian Banks)? Have you heard anything more from Mr. Hinds' supposed girlfriend? From years of going to Memphis churches, I purely thought the dude wasn't heterosexual to begin with, hence my assumption that he was babysitting the female from the get. Thanks for the info! You are reporting more than BT is, and all of them live there!
I do know if he is innocent or not. But I hope the police tell us or show us what they have. There appear to be no family members making public appeals for help through the media. For me this is telling. If I had a relative in this situation I felt was innocent, I'd be standing in front of every TV camera I could begging for help. The Memphis media doesn't so much as mention him. He doesn't have supporters here anymore. It seems everyone has accepted the fact he is guilty. I'd like to see Hinds make some sort of a statement but that is unlikely to happen.
Well, as the source said previously, with a dead body in the room, he wasn't going to be going home anytime soon… We all know how the Japanese love to save face, and Japanese governmental authorities need to save face even more… there is only one way I see to end this and get ol' boy out of trouble (if he is really innocent)…