A New Zealand court has decided that a convicted killer can seek an appeal after new evidence showed that he may have been reenacting a scene from an anime.
The lawyers of Gabriel Hikari Yad-Elohim, who was convicted of killing a man in 2017, have argued that he was not in the right state of mind during the attack after they said new evidence showed he had been imitating a character from the anime "Bleach," as reported by the New Zealand Herald.
In "Bleach," main character Ichigo Kurosaki leads the souls of the deceased find peace while protecting them from evil spirits.
Forensic psychiatrist James Cavney believes that Yad-Elohim may have reenacted the show after noticing similarities between a scene from the anime and video of the attack, Law News reported.
Yad-Elohim had been diagnosed with schizophrenia prior to the trial, however the jury rejected the insanity plea after lawyers admitted that the possible anime reenactment could be speculative.
After similarities were also noted with Yad-Elohim's monologue to police and the show, the New Zealand Supreme Court said that the evidence "justify" the lawyers theories, and decided that Yad-Elohim should seek to recall a previous Court of Appeals decision.
Yad-Elohim, 36, was convicted of beating the 69-year-old victim to death, kicking and stomping on his head and torso for several minutes, after he had allegedly gone to the man's apartment to buy drugs. He was sentenced to life in prison.
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