October 24th 2024.
In a recent development, it has been revealed that the lawyers representing an Australian man who was imprisoned in Japan last week are convinced that crucial evidence was overlooked by the court during the trial. The man in question, 33-year-old Daniel Otto, was charged with breaking into the home of 70-year-old Masahiro Masuda in Shinjuku at 11:30 pm on June 23rd of last year. The Tokyo District Court ultimately found him guilty after determining that he had announced "this is a robbery" before getting into a physical altercation with Masuda.
However, Otto's legal team has argued that the entire incident was a misunderstanding and that their client's attempts to warn Masuda about a nearby gas leak were lost in translation. According to defense lawyer Rie Nishida, Otto had been practicing parkour outside when he noticed the smell of gas coming from a nearby building. In an effort to alert the residents of the potential danger, Otto climbed over their fence, but when he came face-to-face with Masuda inside, he simply said "Go to a door" in English. Unfortunately, this phrase, when translated into Japanese, sounds like "gōtō da," which means "this is a robbery."
Nishida explained in court that Otto was only trying to warn Masuda about the gas leak and had called out in simple English, saying "Gas, gas" and "Go, gas." However, the court disregarded this explanation and instead found that Otto had reached inside Masuda's apartment and pushed him back into the house while Masuda was trying to resist. This resulted in Masuda sustaining a cut to his head that required three stitches. Although Otto was found not guilty of robbery, he was convicted of trespassing and assault and sentenced to 490 days in jail, with credit for the 240 days he had already spent in custody since his arrest.
Otto had moved to Japan in 2022 after obtaining a linguistics degree from UNSW and had been working in various freelance positions, translating video games, software, and anime into English. His lawyers emphasized that on the night of the incident, he was not wearing a mask, carrying a bag, or even a phone. Nishida expressed her disappointment with the court's decision, stating that they had ignored all the objective evidence and reached an unjust conclusion. She also mentioned that Otto himself was disheartened by the court's disregard for the evidence.
The court's judgment had stated that the police officers who arrived at the scene did not detect any smell of gasoline. However, Nishida claims that Otto was interrogated by police with a translator present after his arrest in September 2023. During this interrogation, the investigating officer, referred to as police sergeant Yamamoto, had discussed the "gas-like smell" with the translator. Despite being presented with an audio recording of this conversation, Yamamoto denied any recollection of a gasoline smell. Nishida believes that this information, along with other evidence, was ignored by the court.
Otto's legal team has not yet filed an appeal against the ruling, but they firmly believe that their client's innocence will be proven in the future. They are determined to fight for justice and ensure that all the evidence is taken into consideration. The incident has caused a lot of distress for Otto and his loved ones, and they are hopeful that the truth will prevail in the end.
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