JIADEP Note: This case a typical example of using prosecutorial power to stymie political dissent. Beamon was himself political, fervently anti-war and anti-USA. The couple were arrested six years after their son’s death and have remained in custody for about seven years and nine months since their arrest and throughout the trial proceedings.

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American parents acquitted of fatal child abuse
after being in custody since 2000
2008/April 04
TOKYO


The Tokyo District Court acquitted Thursday an American couple who have remained in custody since their arrest in Tokyo in 2000 on suspicion of beating their 4-year-old son to death in 1994, citing ‘‘reasonable doubt’’ and ‘‘unnatural’’ evidence provided by prosecutors. Chief defense lawyer Osamu Wakuda for Terry Beamon, a 52-year-old karate instructor, and his wife Jewel Curtis, 48, urged prosecutors to accept the ruling, saying, ‘‘Making an appeal and continuing to keep them in custody would be an outrageous denial of human rights.’’ But prosecutors called the ruling ‘‘regrettable’’ and said they will take ‘‘appropriate’’ action after studying the ruling. The couple were arrested six years after their son’s death and have remained in custody for about seven years and nine months since their arrest and throughout the trial proceedings. The court found the parents not guilty because of ‘‘reasonable doubt’’ that they conspired and committed the violence that caused the death of their second son. Presiding Judge Masanori Hatoko recognized the cause of death as shock as a result of trauma. Hatoko said, ‘‘The presentation of evidence by prosecutors was unnatural because there was no abnormal sign observed on the boy’s bone where largely built defendant Beamon was said to have trampled.’’ ‘‘His death could have been caused by violence from their other children and it is also possible that students who practiced martial arts with the son kicked or punched him,’’ Hatoko said. After the ruling, Curtis expressed her appreciation to the court for making an appropriate and fair judgment. Beamon and Curtis were indicted on suspicion of causing the death of their son at their apartment in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward in October 1994 by striking his back and buttocks with wooden sticks as a punishment. The parents, arrested in June 2000, admitted to the allegation at one point during the investigation but maintained their innocence during the trial. The prosecutors had been seeking a five-year prison term for Beamon and a four-year term for Curtis, arguing that only the defendants could have inflicted severe violence on their son. The trial started in September 2000 but the process was protracted because the defendants pointed to mistranslations by the interpreter several times and the verdict was delivered at the 95th hearing.

Acquittal in child's murder finalized Saturday, April 19, 2008 Kyodo News

The not guilty verdict given to an American couple indicted for beating their 4-year-old son to death in 1994 was finalized at midnight Thursday as prosecutors decided not to appeal the ruling. In its ruling April 3, the Tokyo District Court cleared Terry Beamon, a 52-year-old karate instructor, and his wife, Jewel Curtis, 48, of injury resulting in death, stating there was reasonable doubt that they were the ones who inflicted the injuries that killed their son. Beamon and Curtis were arrested in 2000 on suspicion of causing the death of their second son at their apartment in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, in October 1994. The couple allegedly had beaten him with a stick and other objects.