Can someone who knows read us in on The Rest of the Story? Because the Japanese dropping the hammer on a US officer for a car accident seems extreme, unless there’s more to it.
Sentenced to prison for 3 years for equivalent of reckless driving. Allegedly fell asleep at the wheel driving back from Mt Fuji and plowed into parked cars killing two Japanese nationals (elderly mother and son). Later, he claimed that he suffered from acute mountain sickness and blacked out as a result; even though his wife said that he fell asleep at the wheel when interviewed after the crash. Certain politicians in the states believe he got railroaded, loudly called for SOFA to renegotiated, he was denied constitutional due process etc. etc. That ignores that his sentencing was similar to what one could get in the United States, the SOFA doesn't guarantee constitutional rights, and that there didn't seem to be any major shortcomings in how the case was handled, just that they don't understand how the Japanese judicial system works. This exchange or whatever it is was probably the best outcome for the Japanese government to save face, and the US to bring a troop home.
My take is that when it comes to the military, there is the judicial system for those who can get on Fox News, and there is the judicial system for those who don't.
I don't have a personal connection, but when we deployed to Misawa a few years ago we were told that the Japanese take American driving violations very seriously. The fact that two people were killed likely makes it even worse.
Sometime in 2012 the SOFA was renegotiated such that any DUI (regardless of whether or not one was performing official duties or not) was a direct ticket to the Japanese criminal system, do not pass go.
