Japanese rape case acquittal

A CAIRNS District Court jury took just over two hours to acquit a man of raping a Japanese woman in 2014.

Takashi Maruko, also a Japanese national, had been part of a group at a dinner party at a Shields St restaurant on December 17, the court heard. The pair had met that night.

The court was told that Mr Maruko had been incredibly drunk on the night.

Afterwards the woman had been riding her bike home with a friend when they bumped into Mr Maruko at the Sheridan and Shields street traffic lights.

The light had been red and when it turned green, the friend rode ahead but the woman and Mr Maruko remained behind.

The pair engaged in sexual activity a short time later as they were walking together.

She claimed it was rape, but he pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial last week, saying it had been consensual.

DNA tests were performed on the woman’s underwear and there was no match to Mr Maruko.

Defence barrister Craig Eberhardt argued that Mr Maruko, who has limited English, had not understood what police were saying when they questioned him.

The jury began deliberations yesterday afternoon before reaching a not-guilty verdict about 4.10pm.

Mr Eberhardt argued the woman had been wrong about a number of her allegations because it had suited her narrative and only accepted some facts once footage of the incident had been played for her.

“The question is how did she get so wrong and what does that tell you about her reliability?” Mr Eberhardt submitted.