The Associated Press

Fri, May 9, 2008 (8:07 p.m.)

A Japanese man accused of killing his wife can be absent from a Los Angeles courtroom when his attorney argues for the charges to be dismissed, a judge said Friday.

Kazuyoshi Miura, 60, is in custody in Saipan, a U.S. territory where he was arrested in February. Authorities say he had his wife shot during a visit to Los Angeles in 1981. She died in Japan a year later, and in 1994 Miura was convicted of murder in that country; a Japanese court later overturned the verdict.

Los Angeles authorities, who first thought the Miuras were robbery victims, finally issued an arrest warrant for Kazuyoshi Miura in 1988 but weren't able to arrest him until he went to Saipan this year.

In March, defense attorney Mark Geragos filed motions to quash the arrest warrant and dismiss the felony complaint for extradition. Geragos said that trying Miura for murder in Los Angeles after he was tried in Japan would violate double-jeopardy rules.

But prosecutors contended the motions could not be argued unless Miura was present. He should not be allowed to "telephone in his defense," Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson said during a hearing Friday before Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen.

The judge disagreed.

"It makes no sense to me to insist that the person be here when their presence isn't required," Van Sicklen said.

A written order on his decision was expected next week.

Most states prohibit trying someone twice for the same crime. In 2004, the California Legislature passed a law to allow someone who was tried in another country to stand trial again.

Geragos contends changes in the law don't apply because they came after Miura's conviction was overturned in Japan.