5khours

I don't think much of the Japanese ability of the staff of The Japan Times, nor would you if you checked the original Kyodo News story which they attempted to translate.

またハンプ容疑者が「膝が痛いので痛みを和らげるために輸入した」との趣旨の説明をしていることも捜査関係 者への取材で分かった。

hailstorm

Maybe you should have read just a little bit farther ahead.

Her powerful friends will probably keep her from a long stay in a Japanese prison, but in the end she will be a felon that's no longer welcome to work in Japan.

hailstorm

Okay, so a TV Tokyo report says that she had a friend send them to her.

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/mv/newsanswer/news/post_92436

So that part at least works out a little better for her, unless they can prove that she told the friend to concel the drugs as such.

5khours

Think it will depend on what they find in her email. One would assume the friend will lawyer up and I can't imagine the Japanese investigators will get any help from doctors, pharmacies or LE in the U.S.

Worst case, they'll just sweat her for few weeks and then deport her without prosecuting.

Best case for her, she keeps her mouth shut while under arrest and they can't find anything in writing where she specifically mentions oxycodone.

AlwaysAisle

What I have heard and read in Japanese press so far indicates this Toyota exec has not indicated that she did not have any knowledge of oxycodone in the package sent from the U.S. Actually what I heard and read in Japanese press indicates that this Toyota exec is pretty much admitting that 57 pills in the package was for her own use. I am sure this Toyota exec has lawyered up by now, but initial stage of this incident I read in the Japanese press that this Toyota exec indicated that these oxycodone were for her own use and she was not under any impression that she was using any illegal narcotics.

I am no expert, but even in the U.S. if a doctor writes a prescription for 57 pills of oxycodone at once to one patient then will that raise some flags among authorities?

hailstorm

Oxycodene is a Schedule II drug in the United States (on the same level as cocaine); as such, a prescription cannot be refilled. Therefore, I don't think that she can lay claim to the "I had a valid prescription" defense. These were drugs obtained by means other than a valid prescription, so perhaps the Americans have some incentive to do some investigating of their own.

This is a high profile case for the police, so I don't think that they can afford to let Ms. Hamp off easy, as this is an opportunity for them to show that they are tough on drugs (as this is becoming a bigger issue with the rise of "脱法ハーブ"), and that money and power will not help if you get caught with them.

5khours

A few observations.

Japanese law only allows you to import if a) it is for personal medical use, b) you have permission from MHLW, and c) you carry it to Japan (with some exceptions for research, etc.)

The law does not say anything about prescriptions or whether drugs are concealed or not, but this could influence how the authorities handle this.

Ignorance of the law (e.g. I didn't know Oxycodone is illegal) is not a defense under most law including Japanese law, but again probably has some impact on the authorities.

Ignorance of the facts IS a defense, e.g. "I didn't know it was Oxycodone, I just asked my friend to send painkillers and I was expecting something legal like ibuprofen."

It's not clear the law covers conspiracy to import or whether she actually took possession of the drugs in Japan.

As I said, we don't know the facts yet (and may never know them), but I suspect both sides are in a bit of pickle on this one.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I'm sure the police are hoping they can bully her into a confession and quick deportation, but we shall see.

abmj-jr

Not really. It is tracked but the quantity is not that unusual. A bottle of 60 would be fairly common.

abmj-jr

There is no evidence of this at all. Doctors write prescriptions for oxycodone all the time. The meds could well have been her own prescription at home that was packed and shipped to her by the friend in an effort to avoid carrying them in with her and having to explain them at Customs. That doesn't clear her of attempting to circumvent the law in Japan but certainly doesn't mean she scored the stuff on the street.

hailstorm

Ignorance of the facts defense only works if the person is truly ignorant of the facts. See the Nick Baker case for details on how the facade crumbles over time if they're not.

Where you see the police in a pickle, I see policy gifted with an opportunity. They've got a big problem with "dappo haabu" (or "....n doraggu" or whatever you want to call it), so when presented with a high profile drug case that they can use as propaganda to scare people away, they will milk it for all its worth. It's no accident that the facts are dribbling out little by little to keep the story in the news.

I think they will stop at nothing to push for a conviction and a figurative orz from Toyota and Ms. Hamp.

hailstorm

PS LOL at the naughty word filter for censoring k i k e n!

armagebedar

I'll let it go this time

evergrn

Even #120 is not that unusual.

When I hear reports that the police are raiding Toyota headquarter over a little personal matter like this, to me Jpnese authorities are not only overreacting but also acting more and more asinine.

hailstorm

The package was explicitly rendered in a way as to attempt to conceal drugs, and there is no presumption of innocence in Japan. The authorities who enforce (not create) the law would be derelict in their duty if they didn't investigate every lead to make sure that this isn't something much bigger than it appears.

---

Today we find that "friend/acquaintance" that sent her the drugs was actually her father.

She is going to have a hard time wrapping this up quickly if her story keeps gradually changing.

I would also advise her father not to come and visit her now.

---

She's now admitted that she didn't have a prescription for it.

http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/201...580003-n1.html

Taiwaned

Well, I've always thought "Chief Communications Officer" in an organization meant "Chief Spin Doctor / Liar".

Either the news / media is making her sound like a consummate liar or she is fabricating too many stories to make her sound credible.

If she survives this ordeal, how can she deliver Toyota's message without listeners wondering if she isn't just making things up? She really has lost her credibility.