Abstract
In February 1992, the murder known as the Iizuka case occurred. Two six-year-old schoolgirls went missing on their way to school. The next day, they were found dead. Two days later, their belongings were found. In September 1994, Michitoshi Kuma, 54, of Iizuka city was arrested for the murder on the basis of the DNA tests and fiber identification of samples from the girls' clothes. Despite consistently denying that he had committed the crime, he was prosecuted for murder and sentenced to death at the District Court, the High Court, and the Supreme Court. In October 2008, Kuma was executed only two years after the judgment had become final and binding. In October 2009, an appeal was made for a retrial, and from September 2014 up to now, the court has been considering whether this case should be permitted to be retried. Thus far, this trial has revealed the following facts: (1) The National Research Institute of Science, which is a laboratory of the National Police Agency, committed data falsification and withheld information from the DNA tests they conducted and became a Key piece of evidences in the conviction. (2) A judicial police officer visited Kuma's house and investigated and gathered details on Kuma's car and wrote a report about it. Prior to this, the crime investigation team found a witness who insisted he had seen a suspicious person and a vehicle near the scene where the girls' belongings were found on the day the girls went missing. The officer who made the report on Kuma was the same officer who interviewed and took down the statement from the witness. This interview took place two days after the officer had gathered and been privy to significant details regarding Kuma's car.
