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The Michael Brown Okinawa attempted assault incident arose from an attempted indecent assault by U.S. Marine Corps Major Michael Brown on a Filipina bartender in Okinawa, Japan, on November 2, 2002. The bartender accused Brown of attempting to rape her and of throwing her cell phone into a nearby river; Brown denied the rape charges. The victim later recanted and attempted to withdraw the accusation, though prosecutors presented evidence that she had received a cash payment just before doing so. The case received extensive attention in the Japanese media, especially in Okinawa, and the crime sparked a public debate over the U.S. military presence in Japan, the privileges of extraterritoriality, as well as the fair trial practices of Japanese legal system and the Japanese police. The case involved the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan and the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). On July 8, 2004, after a 19-month trial, Brown was convicted by a Japanese court of attempted indecent assault and destruction of private property and received a one-year suspended prison sentence. As a result of this incident and others involving crimes committed by U.S. military personnel in Japan, both countries entered into negotiations aimed at modifying the SOFA in July 2003; ultimately, no changes were made to the agreement. In 2005, Brown was arrested and charged with kidnapping in the United States. He was demoted and involuntarily retired from the military in 2006 and at his trial in 2009 entered a Kennedy plea, receiving probation on the felony conviction. ==Crime and arrest== Early in the morning of November 2, 2002, a female employee of the Camp Courtney officers' club on Okinawa drove up to the Courtney main gate and reported to base security personnel that a Marine Corps major had just attempted to sexually assault her in her car on a deserted road near the back gate of the base. She identified the Marine as Major Michael Brown and stated that during the assault the major threw her mobile phone into the nearby Tengan River. The woman, later identified with the initials V.N., who was 40 years old, and originally from the Philippines, had lived in Okinawa for 17 years, and was married to a Japanese citizen of Okinawan descent. She reported that she had picked up Brown in her car about 1:30 a.m. after the officers' club closed and that he directed her to the deserted road behind the base and after parking, Brown tried to rape her and then threw her mobile phone into the river when she tried to call the police. The Camp Courtney security personnel called the Japanese National Police Agency (NPA). Japanese officers came and took V. N.'s report.〔Allen, David, "Marine major in Okinawan custody after indictment on sex crime charge," "Okinawa Marine denied bail in alleged attack," and "Filipina testifies to major's innocence."〕 Michael Brown was at the time 39 years old, was married, had two small children, and was a 19-year Marine veteran assigned to the command element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Courtney on his second tour on Okinawa. Brown voluntarily underwent several hours of questioning at the JNP station in Gushikawa. He told Japanese police investigators that V. N. had propositioned him for sex and that, when he refused, a physical altercation ensued. During the altercation, Brown said, V. N. took his wallet and Brown grabbed her mobile phone, which he, "out of frustration," proceeded to toss into the nearby river. Brown stated that V. N. drove away but returned a few minutes later and gave his wallet back to him. Both Brown's and V. N.'s accounts agreed that V. N. had originally picked up Brown in her car after meeting him for the first time at the base officers' club that evening. Both stated that V. N. had agreed to give Brown, who was intoxicated, a ride home.〔Kyodo, "U.S. Marine handed over to authorities," Allen, David, "Marine major in Okinawan custody after indictment on sex crime charge," and "Okinawa Marine denied bail in alleged attack."; Jiji Press, "Okinawa Police Get Arrest Warrant for U.S. Marine", December 4, 2002.〕 On December 3, 2002, the JNP issued a warrant for Brown's arrest. The Japanese government asked that Brown be turned over to Japanese authorities immediately. Although the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement stated that service members would only be turned over to Japanese law enforcement if formally indicted, the U.S. had agreed to give "sympathetic consideration" for serious crimes in response to the 1995 Okinawan rape incident, in which a U.S. Navy sailor and two Marines raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl.〔''Japan Times'', "Japan wants U.S. Marine handed over," Allen, David, "Marine major in Okinawan custody after indictment on sex crime charge," and "Okinawa Marine denied bail in alleged attack."; Xinhua News Agency, "Japan demands US hand over Marine on attempted rape charge", December 4, 2002.〕 The United States, in this case, decided not to turn Brown over to the Japanese authorities before he was formally indicted and restricted Brown to base on Camp Courtney. On December 9, the JNP filed formal charges against Brown and, on December 19, he was formally indicted on charges of attempted rape and destruction of private property. The next day, Brown, escorted by U.S. Marine Corps military police, was turned over to the custody of Japanese police at the Naha detention center. When asked why they had waited ten days after the formal charges to indict Brown, Japanese Deputy Chief Prosecutor Junichi Okumura stated that they wanted to give Brown a chance to apologize (called ''jidan'' in Japanese) to the victim. Since that apparently did not occur and V. N. still expressed a desire to press charges, the Japanese authorities went ahead with the indictment.〔China Daily, "US Marine officer handed over to Japan", December 20, 2002. p. 12; Kyodo News, "Japan regrets US refusal to hand over Marine, rules out further request" ''BBC Monitoring'', December 6, 2002;Mainichi Shimbun, "U.S. military won't hand over major accused of rape", December 5, 2002, p. 1; ''Japan Times'', "Japan wants U.S. Marine handed over," Allen, David, "Marine major in Okinawan custody after indictment on sex crime charge," and "Okinawa Marine denied bail in alleged attack." The article states, "''Jidan'' is the Japanese custom of apologizing to an injured party regardless of whether guilt is admitted. The carefully worded apologies and monetary compensation go a long way toward convincing judges of the sincerity of a defendant's remorse and often result in reduced sentences in criminal cases, Japanese legal experts have said."〕 On December 25, Naha District Court judge denied bail for Brown because, "there was concern that he (Brown) might try to destroy evidence or intimidate witnesses if he was set free."〔Allen, David, "Okinawa Marine denied bail in alleged attack"〕 Ikeda also said that she was concerned over the seriousness of the charges and the large discrepancy between the statements of Brown and V. N.. Brown was represented at the hearing by a local Japanese defense attorney, . Akamine reported that Brown's family in the United States had begun ''jidan'' negotiations with the victim. At this time, Brown's brother also launched a website to protest Brown's detention and to complain about what he perceived to be unfair treatment of Brown by the Japanese courts. Brown later reported that Japanese prison officials "admonished" him over the launching of the protest website by his family.〔 On January 9, 2003, bail was denied for Brown by the same judge for a second time. Brown then appealed the bail decision to a three-judge panel of the Naha court who upheld the denial of bail on January 16. The Naha court scheduled Brown's trial to begin on March 13, but later changed the date to May 26 because of delays incurred by legal motions filed by Brown's attorneys. The trial was expected to last for some time because, under the procedures of the Japanese justice system, trial hearings are usually only conducted for one or two days a month.〔Allen, David, "Okinawa Marine denied bail in alleged attack," "Marine again denied bail in Okinawa assault case," and "Court denies bail for Marine major for the third time."〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Brown Okinawa assault incident」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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