‘My husband who shed a lot of blood’…4 people killed and injured after drinking for over 4 hours “Drunk driver defendant appeals” Surprise!
When I rushed to the scene, I found my husband bleeding a lot. Life is like hell with my husband gone. ……”
The victim’s wife spoke angrily in court. However, the family’s painful thoughts did not seem to reach the defendant.
Yasuyuki Inoki, 49, who is accused of causing death or injury to four pedestrians while driving drunk, filed an appeal on October 3 against a 10-year sentence handed down by the Sakai Branch of the Osaka District Court on September 29.
The prosecutors said, “There is no room for leniency at all. The court also stated, “The defendant is a habitual drunk driver. The court also found him guilty, saying, ‘It is clear that he was habitual drunken driver and that he did not take into account the risks involved.
On the other hand, Inoki denied some of the charges, saying, “I don’t think I was that drunk at the time,” and “I don’t know if I caused the incident solely because I was under the influence of alcohol. The defendant was not convicted of manslaughter by dangerous driving, but rather of manslaughter by negligent driving, which is a lesser charge,” said a judicial reporter for a national newspaper.
In an article distributed on January 18 of this year, “FRIDAY Digital” reported in detail on the drunk driving accident that Inoki caused after drinking for more than four hours. We would like to reproduce the article and look back at Inoki’s statements and his surprising words and actions before and after the accident (some of the contents have been revised).
I was not aware that I hit anyone.
I am sure I caused the accident and drove away, but I thought I hit an electric pole or something. I was not aware that I had hit anyone. I don’t think it was a hit-and-run accident.
On January 16, media reports revealed that the man had been drinking at two Japanese-style pubs just before the accident. There is a strong possibility that he was in a drunken state.
The accident occurred on a city street in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, just after 11:30 a.m. on December 27, 2010. The defendant, Inoki, was arrested. He allegedly hit four men, all in their 40s, who were on night patrol, with his car, killing two and slightly injuring two others. The defendant, Inoki, drove away without taking appropriate action.
Eight men from the local neighborhood association were on patrol. The city street at the scene was one lane on each side and about 6 m wide, and the eight men formed a double line and appealed to residents in the neighborhood to be careful of fire. Inoki’s car approached the patrol at a high rate of speed from behind and hit the four men one after another. Inoki was apparently asleep at the wheel.
The two men who died were walking at the rear of the car. The autopsy revealed that both men had broken bones in their heads. They must have been hit hard from the head to the ground by the impact of being hit. There were no brake marks at the scene, so it is believed that the driver did not slow down and hit the four people.
The day after the accident, police found a sports-type utility vehicle (SUV), which closely resembled the getaway car caught on multiple security cameras, in the parking lot of a house about 700 meters from the scene. The owner was defendant Inoki.
Inoki denied some of the charges, saying, “I thought I hit a utility pole. However, there is no utility pole near the accident site. At the time of his arrest, he had not even apologized to the victim.
The morning after the accident, Inoki was seen heading to work in his work clothes. Inoki admitted that he had been drinking just before the accident, but since he was arrested late at night on December 28, almost a full day after the accident, no alcohol was detected in his breathalyzer test.
According to the police, it is known that around 8:00 p.m. on the day of the accident, Inoki entered his favorite izakaya (Japanese-style pub) alone. He drank more than five draft beers and highballs in total and left the restaurant after 10 pm. Inoki staggered to another izakaya, drank more alcohol, and apparently caused the accident.
The testimony of the owner of the first izakaya also reveals a serious lie on the part of defendant Inoki. When the owner asked the defendant if he had come by car, he denied it. The next morning, he received a phone call from the defendant saying, ‘I hit a telephone pole on my way home. When the owner asked if it was a person, he explained that it was a telephone pole.
What will the appeals court really decide?
PHOTO: Asahi Shimbun / Jiji Press, Kyodo News, Afro