A three-way conference involving the court, the prosecutors office and lawyers for former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn was held Wednesday at the Tokyo District Court regarding the dispensation of his case, where it was indicated that his trial will start in September, a source close to the negotiations said.
It was also revealed that after the initial hearing, the idea is to have the trial of the 65-year-old Ghosn, indicted on charges including aggravated breach of trust, proceed at a pace of about six sessions per month, the source said.
In addition, the district court decided that in regard to Ghosn, the pretrial conference procedure would commence on May 23. Legal issues and evidence are narrowed down ahead of the start of the trial during this procedure.
According to Ghosn's lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, the defendant himself expects to be present at the procedural meeting.
No date was set for the pretrial conference procedure for Greg Kelly, 62, Nissan's former representative director who was arrested along with Ghosn on suspicion of violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law by falsifying annual securities reports. There was also no date set for Nissan itself as a corporate entity.
Procedural matters for Ghosn will be carried out separately from those for Kelly and the other defendants, according to the district court.
The prosecutors office, in preparing for the trial, submitted documents on March 15 in support of its main assertion of financial violations. The disclosure of evidence to the defense is also proceeding.
"We will respond quickly to the court's directives in the trial," Shin Kukimoto, the deputy chief of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
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