The Osaka High Court announced on January 28 that Shinji Aoba — the defendant who was sentenced in January 2024 for the Kyoto Animation arson attack — withdrew his appeal of the guilty verdict on January 27, closing the case and bringing the trial to an end, according to the NHK. Aoba’s defense team initially appealed the sentencing on January 26 last year, a day after the initial ruling.The Kyoto District Court sentenced Aoba to the death penalty following the guilty verdict on January 25, 2024 for the murder of 36 employees — who included The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya director Yasuhiro Takemoto, animator Yoshiji Kigami, chief animation director on the Free! franchise Futoshi Nishiya, Sound! Euphonium character designer Shouko Ikeda and many more — attempted murder on 32 counts, arson, breaking and entering, and violating the firearms and sword control law.Kyoto Animation’s lawyer Daisuke Okeda released a short statement to the NHK about the withdrawal saying, “[Kyoto Animation] is aware that the appeal has been withdrawn. However, we will refrain from further comments until the situation has been resolved.”
Aoba in court on January 25, 2024 (Image via NHK)
Shinji Aoba’s defense team did not make a statement at the time of reporting, with the Osaka High Court announcing the withdrawal directly. According to Kyoto Shimbun, a letter of withdrawal was submitted to the Osaka High Court from Aoba’s lawyers, but there have been cases where such letters have been invalid due to systematic reasons, and it is unlikely to be the case in this trial.Throughout the trial, Aoba’s defense lawyers argued for a reduced sentence based on mental health reasons, stating back in September 2023 that “[Aoba] was mentally incapable of distinguishing between what is good and what is bad.” Aoba passed two mental health evaluations with doctors from both sides agreeing that he “understood that the acts committed were criminal.” Kyoto District Court Presiding Judge Keisuke Masuda echoed the doctor’s evaluations, saying at the time of sentencing, “The court has found that the defendant was not mentally incompetent nor emotionally compromised at the time of the crime.”
Sources: NHK, Kyoto Shimbun
