Okinawa Marine Claims He Was Sleepwalking When He Sexually Assaulted Japanese Woman
I will be surprised if the Japanese court believes this defense. If this holds up every rapist will be claiming they were sleepwalking to justify their crimes:
A U.S. Marine accused of sexually assaulting a Japanese woman and injuring another will rely on a defense of insanity due to a sleep disorder when his case comes to trial in June, his attorney said Wednesday. Pfc. Austin Wedington, 28, of California, should not be held responsible for an incident prosecutors allege occurred on March 18, 2025, according to a Feb. 12 filing by attorney Tetsu Amakata in Naha District Court.
Amakata’s pleading was partially read in court by Presiding Judge Tomohiko Shinomiya on Wednesday. The defendant was showing symptoms of parasomnia and was in a state of insanity during every act he is accused of in the indictment, according to Amakata’s filing. Parasomnia is an umbrella term for disruptive sleep disorders that include sleepwalking, sleep terrors, sleep talking and sleep paralysis, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Article 39 of Japan’s penal code states that “actions due to insanity are not subject to punishment.” Wedington pleaded not guilty Nov. 18 to forcible sexual intercourse and guilty to injuring the second woman before a three-judge panel presided over by Judge Kazuhiko Obata.
You can read more at the link.
Worth noting that “sleep-walking” with violence will get him kicked out of the service, too. So he can expect to be dropped off in California as a felon (pled guilty, remember) without an honorable discharge, the right to vote, or the right to possess firearms…
Also, he will have had obvious symptoms previously. They will have been noticed by roommates, others in his unit. If no proof, the Japanese court will punish him fully. If he did have symptoms and it was known to other Marines, the USMC may be liable for civil damages under the SOFA agreement.
Either way, the Marines will not be tolerant of conditions affecting deployability or field readiness. And he may be separately punished under the UCMJ.