Retrial sought in 1981 death
California prosecutors filed lengthy papers Friday insisting that a Japanese businessman can be prosecuted in the 1981 murder of his wife in Los Angeles even though he was acquitted of the crime in Japan.
In 60 pages of court filings, prosecutors said Kazuyoshi Miura cannot claim double jeopardy because he never entered a plea under California law and was not tried here.
At the time of the crime, California law barred prosecution of someone already tried in a foreign jurisdiction. However, that law was changed in 2005.
Attorney Mark Geragos, who is representing Miura, said the prosecution motions are a rehash of arguments made earlier. “I feel their pain, but this case is over. He was already acquitted in a foreign jurisdiction,” Geragos said.
Lead prosecutor Alan Jackson declined to comment beyond the legal filings.
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