Lawyers and family members of an American man convicted of sexual assault in Japan are campaigning for support after a high court ruled that his conviction was based on insufficient evidence and sent his case back to the district court.
The Tokyo High Court ruling in December raised hopes for supporters of Christopher Payne that he might have been wrongfully found guilty of sexual assault based on flawed DNA evidence. Cases are normally sent back to a lower court when the initial ruling is deemed problematic.
Payne¡¯s mother, Ronda, who is in Japan to visit her son, described the agony she and her family have gone through since his arrest.
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