The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal lodged by a 42-year-old unemployed man sentenced to 16 years in prison for murdering a university student in a road rage incident in Osaka Prefecture in 2018.
The ruling given at the top court's Second Petty Bench with presiding Justice Mamoru Miura, which took effect on Friday, finalizes the prison sentence handed down in the lay-judge system at the Osaka District Court's branch in Sakai in January last year and endorsed at the Osaka High Court in September last year.
According to lower court rulings, a vehicle driven by Akihiro Nakamura was overtaken by a large motorcycle driven by Takumi Takata, then 22, on a prefectural road in Minami Ward, Sakai, on the night of July 2, 2018.
Getting angry, Nakamura chased the motorcycle and rammed into it at a speed of 96-97 kph, causing the bike to fall and killing the college senior, the ruling said.
Nakamura denied an intent to kill the victim during the trial, but the district court pointed out that Nakamura was "willing to let the victim die."
Nakamura saying, "Okay, that's it" after the crash "can never be translated as him showing feelings of sorrow or lamentation, given such light words," the district court said.
The high court also ruled that Nakamura was guilty of murder and dismissed the appeal filed by the defense.
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