Overview
- At the first appellate hearing on December 8, the Osaka High Court took arguments from both sides and closed proceedings the same day.
- Prosecutors asked the court to overturn the Wakayama District Court’s not-guilty ruling, alleging serious factual errors in evaluating the case.
- The defense sought dismissal of the appeal and the defendant reiterated she did not kill the victim or make him ingest stimulants.
- The lower court had acknowledged drug purchases and internet searches by the defendant yet found those facts insufficient to prove intentional killing, leaving open the possibility of accidental ingestion.
- The appellate judgment is scheduled for March 23, 2026, in the case over the 2018 stimulant intoxication death of wealthy landowner Kosuke Nozaki, then 77.