Ruling on Miura double jeopardy expected this afternoon *UPDATE
4:25 PM, May 9, 2008
* Update 4:25 p.m.
The decision by the judge has been delayed.
Prosecutors want to try Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura with the fatal shooting of his wife on a downtown street in 1981. (That's Miura and his late wife, Kazumi, on their wedding day.)Trouble is, Miura was already tried and convicted in Japan. The verdict was later overturned.
Though a state law passed in 2004 allows such prosecutions, Miura’s attorney, Mark Geragos, says both the crime and the Japanese trial predate it, so the law shouldn't apply.
Will a new trial for Miura equal double jeopardy? A judge is scheduled to make the call this afternoon.
--Veronique de Turenne
File photo: Los Angeles Times
