TOKYO ― For more than 17 years, Toshikazu Sugaya, a soft-spoken former kindergarten bus driver, lived behind bars, serving a life sentence for the murder of a 4-year-old girl.
On Friday, Mr. Sugaya, 63, was cleared of all charges after a judge acknowledged that Mr. Sugaya had been bullied by investigators into making a false confession ― a practice that critics say is all too common in Japan’s criminal justice system.
It was only the sixth time since World War II that a defendant with a finalized death penalty or life sentence had been acquitted in a retrial, according to Kyodo News.
“We are truly sorry that your words of truth fell upon deaf ears,” Masanobu Sato, the presiding judge, told Mr. Sugaya at a retrial at Utsunomiya District Court, north of Tokyo, according to news reports.
Human rights groups have long criticized the Japanese authorities for relying on confessions to take suspects to court, instead of building cases based on solid evidence.
Japan’s conviction rate of nearly 100 percent in criminal cases cannot be compared directly with that of the United States, because there is no plea bargaining and prosecutors bring cases only when they are confident of winning. But critics say the high conviction rate creates a presumption of guilt in the cases that do come to court.
“There are deep-rooted problems in Japan’s criminal justice system,” said Kanae Doi, director of Human Rights Watch in Japan and a former defense lawyer. “It is rampant with human rights violations.”
Mr. Sugaya’s case, which involved forced confessions and flawed DNA tests, has shown just how far the authorities will go to obtain confessions that will ensure severe sentences.
Mr. Sugaya was charged with the 1990 murder of Mami Matsuda in Tochigi, north of Tokyo, and was sentenced to life in prison in 1993. He had admitted to the crime but then retracted his confession and pleaded not guilty at his initial trial.
But his life sentence was upheld by a higher court and affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2000.
After fresh DNA analysis conducted at the request of Mr. Sugaya’s lawyers cast doubt on his involvement in the case, the Utsunomiya court opened a retrial. Mr. Sugaya was released in June.
During the initial investigations, prosecutors also neglected to tell Mr. Sugaya that he could consult with defense lawyers and that he had the right to remain silent, his lawyers said.
On Friday, the three judges at Mr. Sugaya’s retrial bowed deeply, saying the court had been at fault for not making sure that a fair investigation had been carried out. Mr. Sugaya bowed back, before leaving the court and collapsing, in tears, in the arms of supporters waiting outside.
“I feel completely different today from yesterday,” Mr. Sugaya said. “I feel refreshed by the verdict of complete innocence.”
A version of this article appeared in print on March 27, 2010, on page A8 of the New York edition.