Media frenzy over Miura extradition

For seven months in 2008, Saipan witnessed the most extensive media coverage it had ever had of an event on the island. The media frenzy was not stirred by local journalists, but by the huge flock of visiting Japanese media that covered the arrest of murder suspect Kazuyoshi Miura.

Miura was accused of plotting to kill his wife, Kazumi Miura, during a visit the couple made to Los Angeles, California, in 1981. Kazumi was shot in the head. She died of her wounds a year later in Japan.

L.A. prosecutors said Miura wanted his wife dead so he could collect $750,000 in life insurance policies. Miura was convicted in 1994 in Japan over his wife’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. Four years later, a Japanese high court overturned the sentence.

Two days after local Immigration authorities arrested the then 60-year-old Miura at the Saipan International Airport on Feb. 22, about 50 Japanese journalists, mostly from TV stations and newspapers in Tokyo, descended on the island.

When Miura was first taken to the Superior Court for a bail hearing, DOC officers, court marshals, and court employees were taken aback at the presence of such a huge number of “aggressive” media. DOC officers who escorted Miura could hardly squeeze through the hallway as reporters, cameramen, and photographers blocked their way.

In the next hearing, Superior Court associate judge David Wiseman advised the visiting media not to act like paparazzi.

Wiseman’s reminder resulted in a smoother transportation of Miura from the court to DOC. In the next hearing, about 20 police officers, 10 court marshals and probation officers assisted some 10 Corrections officers in bringing the defendant to the court and after the hearing.

The arrival of the Japanese media revived the ailing taxicab industry on the island. Their extensive coverage of the proceedings in court also helped the island’s artists hone their drawing skills as artists were tapped as sketchers since cameras were not allowed inside the court.

After Miura hired three lawyers—Bruce Berline, Mark Hanson, and William Fitzgerald—his long court battle against his extradition to L.A. began. The extradition case even became more sensational when Miura retained pop star Michael Jackson’s attorney, Mark J. Geragos, as his L.A. counsel.

Geragos raised the double jeopardy argument in California, while Miura’s Saipan lawyers filed a petition for habeas corpus to challenge the extradition case.

The legal issues slowed down the proceedings until Superior Court associate judge Ramona Manglona in September denied Miura’s petition for habeas corpus and ordered his extradition. Miura’s counsel went to the CNMI Supreme Court. But the high court after a week affirmed the extradition order.

Miura did not give up. He went to U.S. District Court for the NMI. But after a few days, the California court ruled that Miura can be tried on the conspiracy charge.

On Sept. 29, Miura withdrew his petition for a writ of habeas in federal court. His lawyers announced that California “is now free to come” and escort their client.

In October, Los Angeles Police Detectives arrived and escorted Miura to California. The media frenzy on the island ended.

Less than 24 hours after he set foot in the U.S. to answer the murder charges, Miura committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell, bringing an end to the sordid 27-year saga.