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TWO DEATHS, NO JUSTICE
For his part, Peairs gave tearful testimony that his wife had been terrified by the boys. He told the jurors that Yoshi had moved in a threatening manner, leaving him with no choice but to shoot him to protect his family. Judging by their verdict, the jurors believed him. Peairs was, after all, a minister's son who had worked in the same grocery store since he was in junior high school. He was a longtime Baton Rouge resident. Yoshi was merely a visitor from the other side of the world. The jury deliberated three hours and fifteen minutes before returning the verdict. As it was being announced, Peairs stood up, his attorney holding him by the arm. When the not-guilty verdict was read by the forewoman, spectators cheered loudly enough to prompt the bailiff to quiet them. Peairs slumped in his chair and began weeping in joy. Yoshi's father, an engineer for an auto-parts manufacturer in Nagoya, was taking a walk when the verdict was announced. Most likely, he had not expected such a swift verdict. When told of the jury's decision, Hattori said through an interpreter that he was "appalled" and found the decision "unbelievable." Hattori was not the only one who expressed incredulity at the verdict. "This trial did not make a lick o sense to me," says Richard Haymaker, Webb's father. The Haymakers were hosting Yoshi through a student exchange program sponsored by the American Field Services. They described him as the "ideal" exchange student, one of three that they have hosted at their home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood of Baton Rouge. Yoshi called them "mom" and "dad" and occasionally cooked supper for the family. And he had no problem adapting to his new environment. "He was totally open to this country," said Haymaker. Haymaker argues that America's love affair with firearms and its "frontier mentality" led Peairs to grab the gun, aim and shoot it before asking a single question. "He went into firing position in a quiet, suburban neighborhood assuming that he would terrorize anything out there that moved," says Haymaker. "He never imagined that there would be something out there that wouldn't be terrorized." |
Haymaker is an engineering professor at Louisiana State University. His wife Holley is a family practice physician who teaches at the same university. In the wake of the shoting, the Haymakers have thrown their support solidly behind the gun-control movement. They've collected thosands of signatures to protest the availability of handguns. Back in Japan the Hattoris are also lending support to the Haymakers' endeavor. "We're in touch all the time," says Haymaker. Coincidentally, a similar Halloween-related shooting took place within two weeks of the Hattori slaying, but with slightly different results. In Grand Haven, Michigan, a homeowner named Todd Vriesenga shot a teenager through a window set in his front door. Vriesenga, like Peairs, misread the situation. The slain teenager, Adam Provencal, apparently was trying to tell Vriesenga that he had no role in a Halloween prank that had taken place earlier that evening at the Vriesenga residence. During the trial, Vriesenga said he meant only to scare away Provencal by brandishing his shortgun and didn't know that it was loaded. He told the court that the gun accidentally discharged as he raised it to block the front door, which he thought was being opened. The fatal blast struck the 17-year-old Provencal, a popular high school soccer and wrestling star, in the face. Vriesenga was tried in March on charges of open manslaughter and faced a maximum of 17 years in prison. After a six-day trial, the jury discarded the maslaughter charge and convicted Vriesenga of a misdemeanor, the reckless use of a firearm resulting in death. The conviction carried a maximum two-year sentence, and Vriesenga received a 16- to 24-month term. Although many people in the quiet resort community of Grand Haven believe that Vriesenga's actions merited a felony manslaughter conviction, he was found guilty of a lesser charge. However, the jury at least conceded that his tragic error violated the law. Peairs, on the other hand, was completely exonerated. The killing of 16-year-old Yoshi Hattori resulted only in an apology and a promise from Pears that he would never again use a gun. The battle isn't over for Peairs, however. In July the Hattoris filed a civil suit accusing him of acting with "no reasonable basis" when he shot Yoshi. Unlike a criminal trial in which the prosecution must prove its case "beyond a reasonable doubt", in the civil case the plaintiff need only prove her case by a "preponderance of the evidence." Meanwhile, the anniversary of Yoshi's death will be commemorated on October 17 with memorials in both U.S. and Japan. For Yoshi's mother Mieko Hattori the rites will not lighten her loss. "While my son was growing up, he was intending to do something for the world," she said. "He died and left many things undone."
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