1 Facts of the Case

Around three o'clock in the afternoon on June 19th, 2001, two masked foreigners robbed Hanada Post Office, Himeji City, Japan, of approx. 22 million yen (approx. 170, 000 USD). While the foreigners in question were still on the run, almost the entire amount of stolen money was found in a warehouse located only 1km from the said Post Office.

On the same day of the robbery, Himeji Police arrested a certain Mr.Justice Palmer Jr. who was renting the aforementioned factory for the purpose of running his own small export company dealing in car parts.

However two days later, on the 21st June, Mr.Dave Omo turned himself into Himeji Police confessing his guilt for the crime.

Both cases are now on trial at the Himeji branch of the Kobe District Court.

2 Dubious Charges and Detention

When Mr.Omo handed himself over to Himeji Police he made it quite clear that Mr.Palmer Jr. had absolutely nothing to do with the robbery of the Post Office and that it was him and another man named "Austin" who had committed the crime.

However the police authorities refused to release Mr.Palmer Jr., insisting that he was their main suspect along with Mr.Omo, and have since brought charges against them both.

The two defendants have now been in custody for over 10 months and all visiting privileges have been refused other than to their respective lawyers.

3 Doubts

Neither the Police nor the Prosecution accept Mr.Omo's story of the existence of a third man called "Austin" and believe that "Austin" is none other than Mr.Palmer Jr. himself. The foundation for their charges obviously being that the stolen money was discovered in the warehouse being rented by Mr.Palmer Jr. at the time of the robbery.

In addition to Mr.Omo's claims to the contrary, and also the fact that Mr.Palmer Jr.'s business was making a profit at the time in question implying no necessity to commit such a crime, many question marks hang over the case for the Prosecution. It would appear that Mr.Palmer Jr. has become an innocent victim of an organised crime syndicate's more elaborate operation.

4 Trapped

During questioning by Police, Mr.Palmer Jr. revealed the details of his circumstances leading up to his arrest:

Two years previous Mr.Palmer Jr. had been approached by the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, in relation to dealing illegal drugs within Japan. After refusing, the Yakuza intimidated and threatened both him and his family to try and force him into using his warehouse for one of their drug trafficking rackets. However, in order to keep his family out of harm's way, Mr.Palmer Jr. instead offered to pay nearly 100,000 yen a month to the Yakuza in place of accepting their initial requests.

The person who supposedly pushed the Yakuza Mr.Palmer Jr.'s way was the third man "Austin". Since that time evidence has surfaced suggesting that "Austin" had wanted to incriminate Mr.Palmer Jr. in the Post Office robbery and had, along with Mr.Omo, purposely hidden the stolen cash at Mr.Palmer Jr.'s rented warehouse.

5 Police Negligence

Before leaving the Post Office concerned it appears that both criminals took off the black masks they were wearing. This was all caught on the Post Office's surveillance cameras and one can clearly see Mr.Omo removing his mask, however the pictures of Mr.Palmer Jr. supposedly removing his mask have been "mysteriously" deleted by Himeji Police. This crucial evidence for the Defense has led it to believe that there may be dubious and ulterior motives on the part of the Police in relation to the case as a whole.

6 New Evidence

In light of this it was impossible to prove the existence of "Austin" until
Mr.Palmer Jr. recalled that "Austin" had been caught speeding on camera in the past whilst borrowing his company truck. On this occasion though, owing to being threatened by "Austin" and his dubious "friends", Mr.Palmer Jr. was forced into taking responsibility for "Austin's" speeding indiscretion.

However despite the Defense's demands, the Prosecution has refused to allow the speed camera photo into evidence at the trial claiming it to be irrelevant to this case!

7 To be Continued……….

The above briefly and scantily outlines the unfortunate case of Mr.Palmer Jr. As his lawyer I am still continuing to pressure the Prosecution to release the speed camera photo in dispute while at the same time using Mr.Omo's testimony to help prove the total innocence of my client.

It is not going to be an easy task taking on the feudalistic and heavily bureaucratic structures of both the Japanese Police authorities and the Prosecution Service, but we believe this to be a necessary step to maintain the integrity of the Japanese Judicial System at large and more importantly to protect the Human Rights of innocent individuals wherever injustice decides to rear its ugly head.