{"id":160695,"date":"2024-03-13T11:42:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T02:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=160695&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2024-03-13T11:42:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T02:42:33","slug":"fukuoka-high-court-revises-sentence-for-kudo-kai-syndicate-leader-to-life-imprisonment","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/fukuoka-high-court-revises-sentence-for-kudo-kai-syndicate-leader-to-life-imprisonment\/","title":{"rendered":"Fukuoka High Court Revises Sentence for Kudo-kai Syndicate Leader to Life Imprisonment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a significant turn of events, the Fukuoka High Court has overturned the death sentence initially handed down to the leader of the Kudo-kai, a designated dangerous crime syndicate based in Kitakyushu City. The appellant, Satoru Nomura, 77, faced accusations in four separate attacks, including the murder of a former fisheries cooperative leader. The second court ruled to abolish the death penalty, replacing it with a life sentence, citing insufficient evidence to confirm Nomura&#8217;s directives in the murder case, leading to his acquittal on that charge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the serious nature of the remaining three incidents, where individuals were targeted by firearms or blades, the court acknowledged conspiracy but deemed the evidence inadequate to uphold the capital punishment for Nomura. His second-in-command, Fumio Tanoue, 67, also saw his life sentence reaffirmed, as the court recognized his involvement in orchestrating some of the attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The decision has sparked significant reactions, with the defense indicating plans to appeal the ruling, challenging the convictions on the grounds of disputed murderous intent. Critics, including former police officials involved in anti-gang operations, expressed disappointment and disbelief over the court&#8217;s verdict, emphasizing the gravity of the crimes and their impact on the community. The case, encapsulating a lengthy and notorious history of the Kudo-kai&#8217;s violent acts, continues to evoke strong sentiments within Fukuoka&#8217;s legal and civic circles, with many awaiting the final resolution as the defendants move to appeal the high court&#8217;s decision. <\/span><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www3.nhk.or.jp\/fukuoka-news\/20240312\/5010023696.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NHK<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-146720\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fnn_fukuoka-court_2022_WEB.jpeg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Fukuoka High Court Revises Sentence for Kudo-kai Syndicate Leader to Life Imprisonment\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fnn_fukuoka-court_2022_WEB.jpeg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fnn_fukuoka-court_2022_WEB.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fnn_fukuoka-court_2022_WEB.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fnn_fukuoka-court_2022_WEB.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &amp; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free weekly newsletter <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this <\/span><b>form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a significant turn of events, the Fukuoka High Court has overturned the death sentence initially handed down to the leader of the Kudo-kai, a designated dangerous crime syndicate based in Kitakyushu City. The appellant, Satoru Nomura, 77, faced accusations in four separate attacks, including the murder of a former fisheries cooperative leader. The second [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29305,"featured_media":146721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-160695","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-fukuoka-prefecture","news-category-general","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/160695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}