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Carlos Ghosn changes to hotshot attorney and a new defense strategy

TOKYO — Carlos Ghosn's chief defense attorney Motonari Otsuru resigned and was replaced by a team that includes hotshot lawyer Junichiro Hironaka, in a change of strategy from the ousted Nissan Motor chairman three months after his arrest. Ghosn, Nissan's one-time savior, has been held in detention since his Nov. 19 arrest. He's been indicted and accused of under-reporting his salary and breach of trust. He has denied the charges. The once-feted auto executive hired Hiroshi Kawatsu as head of a new defense team, his office said on Wednesday. Hironaka, 73, has won several high profile cases, helping acquit senior lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa and senior bureaucrat Atsuko Muraki. Hiring Hironaka would mean a more aggressive legal strategy, said Nobuo Gohara, a former prosecutor. Otsuru previously led the special prosecutors' office that is now handling Ghosn's case. "Otsuru was miscast. He worked at the heart of the special prosecutors office so he was not someone who was going to go after them aggressively," Gohara said. "Hironaka is an experienced defense lawyer who has won a number of cases. He will mount a more thorough and aggressive defense." Otsuru's office confirmed his resignation in a statement, but gave no reason for the move. A second member of Ghosn's defense team, Masato Oshikubo, had quit, it said. Go Kondo, Ghosn's third defense lawyer, was unavailable for comment. Ghosn released a short statement thanking Otsuru for his team's "tireless and diligent work," and called him a "very capable and intelligent man and lawyer." The sudden change in attorneys comes ahead of the expected start of informal meetings with prosecutors and judges to discuss pretrial preparations, an indication that there will be no new charges against Ghosn. "As we begin the trial phase, I have decided to engage Hironaka-sensei as my legal counsel," Ghosn said, using an honorific suffix. "I look forward to defending myself vigorously, and this represents the beginning of the process of not only establishing my innocence but also shedding light on the circumstances that led to my unjust detention." Ghosn, 64, told the Nikkei newspaper last month that Nissan executives opposed to his plans for closer ties with automaking partner Renault SA had plotted to remove him. Ghosn was widely credited with rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy after he was brought over to Japan in 1999 by Renault after the French automaker bought a chunk of Nissan.

Carlos Ghosn, a year after arrest, still seeks trial date and access to evidence

TOKYO — A year after his arrest, Nissan ex-Chairman Carlos Ghosn remains stuck in Tokyo under stringent bail conditions and without a trial date as he seeks access to a trove of Nissan emails and other evidence to fight charges of financial misconduct. His lawyers have asked a court to grant access to 6,000 pieces of evidence collected from Nissan such as electronic communications, which they say is crucial for a fair trial, showed an Oct. 4 court filing seen by Reuters. The once-feted executive has spent 129 days in detention since his arrest shortly after his private jet touched down at a Tokyo airport on Nov. 19, 2018. He faces four charges — which he denies — including hiding income and enriching himself through payments to dealerships in the Middle East. Nissan sacked Ghosn, saying its internal investigations revealed misconduct ranging from understating his salary while he was its chief executive, and transferring $5 million of Nissan funds to an account in which he had an interest. An earlier court ruling allowed prosecutors to hand back evidence to Nissan during pretrial wrangling over witnesses and evidence similar to the U. S. discovery process. If prosecutors are "given the freedom to unilaterally delete the collected evidence and return it to relevant parties, this is equivalent to granting the investigative agencies the right to destroy evidence," showed the filing to the Tokyo District Court. The lawyers also asked the court to rescind the earlier ruling, saying some evidence could be erased by Nissan to protect confidential business information. They argued the "ruling deprives Mr. Ghosn of his right to receive a fair public trial by an impartial court," as it enabled prosecutors to view and use the evidence and withhold it from the defense. Prosecutors are not required to hand over all evidence they or the police gather during investigations unless ordered by the court, unlike in the U.S. discovery process where prosecutors and defense lawyers disclose the evidence they intend to present in court. A spokeswoman for the Tokyo prosecutors' office said the office could not comment on individual cases. A Nissan spokeswoman declined to comment. Ghosn's lawyers have also asked the court to dismiss all charges against him, accusing prosecutors of colluding with government officials and Nissan executives to oust him to block any takeover of the automaker by French alliance partner Renault SA, of which Ghosn was also chairman.

Long-serving Mitsubishi president Masuko to step aside

Long-struggling Mitsubishi Motors is reportedly preparing for a changing of the guard at home. According to Reuters, Osamu Masuko will step aside in favor of Tesuro Aikawa, currently the company's managing director. Masuko won't be leaving the fold entirely, however - he will take the role of chairman, displacing Takashi Nishioka, who will resign. The shakeup has not been confirmed by Mitsubishi, but word is that the changes will take effect April 1.
Mitsu's US troubles are no secret, but the brand's struggles in its home market haven't been quite so publicized. The company was bailed out by other arms of the Mitsubishi empire, and it just raised $2 billion this month to buy back preferred shares that were issued during the bailout. Masuko served as president for nearly ten years, during which the brand's US efforts utterly stalled out, recalls cropped up in Japan and an alliance with Daimler (which was DaimlerChrysler at the time) disintegrated.
According to Reuters, establishing the kind of alliances that will allow the brand to grow, such as its tie-up with Renault-Nissan, are key to Mitsu's long-term success. The thought is that an alliance will allow the brand to come up with some innovative models that won't be compromised by its lack of production scale. It looks like Aikawa has his work cut out for him.