[sumo] Ex-Tokitsukaze denied bail

[Carl Freire]

At 7:54 PM +0800 3/4/08, Jezz wrote:
>  > I wonder if they will ever call the dastardly deed "murder" or
>>  "manslaughter" instead of "fatal assault", or are the two harsher 
>>words not  really a part
>  > of the Japanese language. I'm not criticizing, just  wondering.
>
>Just wondering... if the deceased were a woman, would 'manslaughter'
>or 'fatal assault' be presumed the better choice of expression, or is
>it all just semantics?

Not so much semantics as the choice of a translator who doesn't 
necessarily know what the right terms are.  Or perhaps does know what 
the right terms are.  I would go with "fatal assault resulting in 
death" as the preferred translation, especially in a legal context 
where words can, um, kill you.  Best to be as literal as possible.

Also, regarding the charges, the police may later impose a murder 
charge, or they may not.  They usually start with the minimum thing 
they can charge with.  They may later tack on extra charges as their 
investigation proceeds if they become convinced that other or heavier 
penalties not only apply but more importantly can be made to stick. 
This one reason why you hear about the 95 percent or 99 percent or 
whatever it is conviction rate--police and prosecutors do not press 
any charges that they don't think a judge will uphold.

Carl
-- 

**********

Carl Freire
cfreire-[AT)-ix.netcom.com
Tokyo, Japan