A Japanese court on Thursday postponed handing down a ruling to a 53-year-old car driver involved in a collision that left two toddlers dead in May in western Japan.
The Otsu District Court cited that the driver, Fumiko Shintate, had changed her remarks about how she felt about the accident.
In an earlier session, Shintate, who is charged with reckless driving resulting in death and injury, offered an apology to the victims, while saying she does not remember what she was thinking at the time of the accident.
(People pay their respects on May 9, 2019, at the site of a two-car crash the previous day in Otsu, western Japan.)
But when interviewed by a TV broadcaster in December, Shintate said she wished the other vehicle involved in the accident had slowed down, the prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Shintate is accused of carelessly turning right at a crossing in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, on May 8 and colliding with a minivehicle that was traveling in the opposite lane.
As a result, the minivehicle rammed into a group of preschoolers, leaving two of them dead and injuring 14 others, including three nursery school teachers.
The prosecutors have sought five and a half years in prison for Shintate, while the light vehicle's driver was not charged over the case.
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