A forensic psychiatrist testified in Yokosuka, Japan, on June 17, 2024, that a U.S. sailor was suffering from acute alcohol intoxication and delirium when he injured five people two years ago. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA, Japan - The U.S. sailor accused of slamming into and injuring five people near a popular beach two years ago was suffering from delirium and not in control of his actions, a forensic psychiatrist testified Monday.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Krieger was suffering from acute alcohol intoxication, higher brain dysfunction and delirium when he collided with the group July 9, 2022, according to Taro Muramatsu, director of Rokubancho Mental Clinic in Tokyo and a part-time lecturer on neuropsychiatry at Keio University.
According to the World Health Organization, “acute alcohol intoxication” requires dysfunctional behavior and at least one of seven additional symptoms, such as difficulty standing, Muramatsu testified.
The definition is “just a guideline” and does not encapsulate the “essence of the symptoms,” he testified.
Krieger’s condition resulted from his excess consumption of alcohol and a prior brain injury, said Muramatsu, a defense witness at Krieger’s trial in the Yokosuka Branch of Yokohama District Court.
Krieger testified May 13 that he drank 10-20 alcoholic drinks the day of the incident.
Muramatsu concluded it was impossible for Krieger to control his behavior “because he was under a significantly altered state of consciousness,” he testified.
Prosecutors pored over Muramatsu’s 44-page report, questioning whether Krieger could have lied during Muramatsu’s interviews, and whether Muramatsu would reach a different conclusion had he reviewed video footage of Krieger’s police interview.
Muramatsu testified that he didn’t believe Krieger had lied to him, and that his conclusion was based on the facts of the case and clinical symptoms.
Krieger is charged with four counts of bodily injury from the July 2022 incident. Prosecutors allege he slammed into the group on the streets of Zushi, a popular beach town near Yokosuka Naval Base.
All five were injured, the most severely injured a 33-year-old man with multiple sprained vertebrae and a 58-year-old woman with a broken upper jaw, broken nasal bone and other facial injuries.
Kanagawa Prefectural Police on Oct. 21 recommended charging Krieger with the bodily injury on all five people, but prosecutors on Nov. 11 indicted him on four counts. Prosecutors, not police, decide formal charges under Japan’s criminal justice system.
Krieger, a logistics specialist assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius, and his attorneys do not deny the allegations but say a previous brain injury and his heavy intoxication that day should absolve him of criminal liability.
In 2015, Krieger suffered a brain hemorrhage after intervening in a fight at a train station in Yokosuka, he testified. After his recovery, he became increasingly irritable and forgetful, he said.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Sept. 9, and a final hearing is tentatively scheduled Sept. 26.
