It’s OK you killed him… he was an American anyway!
You seemed to be liking the crime stories I have been posting from Japan, so here’s one you can really get your teeth into. I read the initial story a week or 2 ago. It read something like this: American guy goes into a bar a little worse for wear through drink. He starts an argument with a Japanese guy while going into the club. The DJ from the club then pins him to the floor and beats him to death.
See, got you interested now! It’s all about giving people a hook and then reeling them in! Anyway, I’ll let the Japan Times let you know what’s going to happen to the DJ:
Death of American in bar fight likely to draw leniency
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
The death of an American resident in Tokyo in a fatal bar fight late last month is not likely to result in any severe punishment being meted out due to the circumstances of the case, legal experts say.
Richard “Scott” Tucker, 47, died at Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital after being punched and choked at Bullets, a nightclub in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, on Feb. 29. Police arrested Atsushi Watanabe, a 29-year-old disc jockey at the club, for the fatal assault.
While some media reports have suggested the West Virginian visited the club to complain about the noise, a police official told The Japan Times on Tuesday that Tucker appeared “heavily drunk and acted violently toward other customers,” at times striking a boxer’s pose, on the night of the incident.
Watanabe has told investigators he attempted to halt the disturbance in his club “because (Tucker) was picking a quarrel with everyone,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Legal experts suggest such circumstances would likely result in Watanabe receiving relatively minor punishment.
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Let’s completely disregard all nationalities from this argument for a second. Firstly, what were the bouncers/security in the club doing, or not doing while this was happening? Japanese clubs do, like most western places, have bouncers on the door and in the club itself. Secondly, does that mean it’s now OK to beat someone to death if they pick a quarrel with people in a club? If so, you’d better get ready for some killing sprees in nightclubs around the globe. This seems like a shocking prediction of what is going to happen to this guy if he is punished leniently.
Now let’s, for argument’s sake, reverse the nationalities a little. Let’s say a Japanese guy walks into a club owned and run by Americans in Okinawa. The guy is obviously drunk and trying to pick a fight with customers. The American DJ at the club then comes over to him, knocks him down and pummels him until he’s a bruised corpse on the ground. Do you think when he’s arrested the “Well, he was picking quarrels with everyone” will mean the accused gets a lenient sentence? Me neither.
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Dave,
This is BAD. Definately Justice has two different ways of measuring in Japan, again, similar to Thaialnd.
It’s an attitude kind like; if you werent here in the first place, the accident wouldn’t have happened, so therefor it’s your fault.
Funny. I saw on Technorati that we’d both written about this. This is a story that really needs to get out in a big way. I’m surprised we haven’t heard more from his wife. Seems he was established in the community so I’m surprised there haven’t been more people looking for justice to be served. I hope this story doesn’t just disappear into the mist.