EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers for an Australian man who was jailed in Japan last week say they believe the court ignored crucial evidence throughout the trial.
The Tokyo District Court found Daniel Otto, 33, intruded into the Shinjuku home of Masahiro Masuda, 70, at 11.30pm on June 23 last year.
The court ruled the Australian man said “this is a robbery” before engaging in a scuffle with the older man.
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Otto’s lawyers claimed the whole incident was a misunderstanding and the Australian’s attempts to warn Masuda about the smell of a nearby gas leak were lost in translation.
Defence lawyer Rie Nishida argued Otto had been practising parkour outside when he smelled gas coming from a nearby building.
His lawyers claimed that after smelling the gas, he tried to warn the nearby residents of the potential fire risk by climbing their fence.
According to his lawyers, when he came face-to-face with the 70-year-old inside, Otto said in English, “Go to a door” – a phrase that sounds like “gōtō da”, which means “this is a robbery” when translated into Japanese.
“Otto called out in simple English, saying, ‘Gas, gas,’ and ‘Go, gas’,” Nishida told the court in the opening stages of the trial.
The court found Otto reached inside the apartment and Masuda, who was gripping both of Otto’s hands in resistance, was pushed back into the house.
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In a short scuffle that followed, the older man sustained a cut to the head which required three stitches.
Ultimately, a panel of judges in Tokyo’s district court dismissed Otto’s argument that he was attempting to help the older man evacuate the room.
Otto was found not guilty of robbery but was convicted of trespassing and assault.
He will spend the next 490 days in jail, having already spent 240 days in custody since his arrest.
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Otto moved to Japan in 2022, after graduating from UNSW with a linguistics degree.
Since then, Otto has worked in a variety of freelance positions translating video games, software, and anime into English, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Otto’s lawyers said on the night of the incident he wore no mask and carried no bag or even a phone.
“I think they just ignored our supportive evidence, video recordings, and all our objective evidence, and then reached a very unreasonable decision,” Nishida told 9news.com.au.
“Also the victim just had three stitches on his head, (which was) probably the result of a very small injury.
“Two years of actual sentence is so severe, considering the standard of practice.”
Nishida said she had spoken to Otto after the sentencing.
“He was really disappointed by the court ignoring all the objective material,” she said.
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The court’s judgement stated that police officers at the scene didn’t detect any smell of gasoline.
But the defence disputes this.
Nishida claims Otto was interrogated by police alongside a translator after his arrest in September 2023.
She alleged that the investigating officer, named only as police sergeant Yamamoto, spoke to the interpreter during the interrogation about the “gas-like smell”.
Despite a recording of this interaction being played to the court, she said Yamamoto denied recollection of a gasoline smell.
“But the fact the investigation information exists, that the gasoline-like smell existed even months after the incident, it’s a very, very supportive factor for us, but that was ignored.”
Otto’s legal team has not filed an appeal against the ruling.
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