Most criminal defense involves allegations of a crime committed for personal gain or deliberate harm.  Yet every once in a while, the “criminal” turns out to be a quixotic do-gooder, a person whose strong beliefs in right and wrong compel him to take action against an evil committed by others.  The moral quotient is reversed, and the guy in the dock is an angry man.

Dan Harris, famed for his excellent China Law Blog, finds himself on unfamiliar turf, defending Peter Bethune, the angry man, before a Japanese criminal court.  From TVNZ :

Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune accepts the facts of most of the charges against him but has not pleaded guilty to any of them in a Japanese court, his defence lawyer said today.

In the first hearing in Tokyo yesterday, the 42-year-old denied he had any intention to hurt anyone while accepting details of the other charges.

Lawyer Dan Harris says Bethune is arguing that the Japanese whaling operations are illegal under international law and that he was justified in trying to stop them.

The argument certainly resonates with those of us who share his concern about environment, conservation and protection of endangered species.  But the Japanese take their whaling very seriously, and don’t share our concern.  They are a sovereign and have their own laws on the subject.  Their laws provide a sentence of 15 to 25 years for Bethune’s conduct, which he doesn’t deny, even though Dan argues that no actual harm accrued.

The defence says nobody was ever harmed or in fear and the whole thing is “much ado about nothing”.

The prosecution says Bethune interfered with Japanese business and that he put the Japanese whalers in danger.

Bethune boarded a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean in March and it is alleged he threw a substance at a crew member leaving him with burns.

Whether this falls under the heading of fighting the good fight or environmental vigilantism is a matter of perspective.  While there are obvious differences, the same argument is made by anti-abortion extremists who murder physicians; they are just saving unborn babies.  The problem arises from the conflict between beliefs, priorities and law.  It’s one thing to believe as you do, but another go take to the seas to try and make it happen.

Dan has taken a more aggressive stance with a statement that found its way into Time Magazine as the quote of the day:

For Japan to act like it’s enforcing a criminal law is a little disingenuous, when you look at what Pete Bethune did.

His point is well taken, where Japan eschews international law when it comes to its own self-interest, then justifies its prosecution of Bethune by wrapping itself in the righteousness of its own criminal laws.  Can we think of any other country that does that as well?

Dan’s expectation, according to the TVNZ article, is that the prosecutors will seek a sentence of three years, despite the astoundingly serious potential term of imprisonment provided by law.  But that doesn’t jibe well with the attitude of the locals:

Harris says the defence believes the judges are fair and will look at everything that has transpired.

Harris says more interesting than the feeling in the court, was outside the court where Japanese nationalists were calling for Bethune to be hanged.

I told you the Japanese take their whaling seriously.  The problem we face is that as unreasonable, even ridiculous, as this prosecution may seem, it’s as real to the Japanese as our terrorism hunts are to Americans.  Not the same, you say?  It is to them.  Why do we persist in the belief that when a foreigner does something that violates our sensibilities, it’s horrible, yet when we do something that violates theirs, we’re in the right?  Hello, jingo.

Making quote of the day is a huge coup for Dan and Bethune, taking this matter to the larger public forum in a way that will evoke sympathy from many Americans as well as environmentalists everywhere.  But good PR is just one part of the criminal defense puzzle.  Considering that Dan isn’t a criminal defense lawyer, I hope he’s got something more up his sleeve.  Three years is a very long time for being a well-intended but angry man. 

H/T Ed at Blawg Review

Update:  Bethune has taken the stand in his own defense:

Bethune, 45, admitted he had climbed aboard the Shonan Maru 2 in Antarctic seas to confront the Japanese captain for the destruction of a protest ship that sank during the collision a month earlier.

Bethune described how the sinking of the $3 million boat Ady Gil, which he designed and built, still affected him mentally and financially, suggesting its loss was part of his motive behind his actions.

They said Bethune and other activists threw glass bottles containing rotten butter at the Japanese boat, causing them to explode, splashing a crew member in the face and slightly injuring him and obstructing the whaling mission.

Bethune today acknowledged firing four or five bottles of rancid butter from a launcher but didn’t expect they would break into pieces or spread their content onto crewmembers. He acknowledged that rancid butter could cause skin irritation, but denied his intention of assault.

“Definitely no,” he said, responding to a question if he would have still fired them had he known they could hit whalers and cause injuries. He added Watson told him rancid butter was harmless.

Bethune is also accused of slashing the ship’s protective net with a knife that he illegally carried with him when he sneaked on to Shonan Maru 2.

It would appear that things went far beyond the mere attempt to make a citizen’s arrest.  From the audience, Bethune was called a terrorist, a fascist and a racist.  While it likely that there was no choice but for Bethune to testify, it’s unclear from reports whether he’s helping himself or sealing his fate, the latter looking more likely.