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Japanese Diplomat Pleads No Contest To Domestic Violence Charges In San Mateo

SAN BRUNO (CBS SF) -- A Japanese diplomat living in San Bruno pleaded no contest in San Mateo County Superior Court Thursday to two counts of domestic violence.

Yoshiaki Nagaya, 33, wore a black suit and a light blue tie when he entered his plea through a Japanese interpreter.

Nagaya, a vice consul for Japan stationed in San Francisco, had been accused of committing "constant acts of violence" against his ex-wife during their 18-month marriage, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

According to prosecutors, Nagaya allegedly stabbed his wife in the hand with a screwdriver, knocked her tooth out during a separate assault, and kicked her multiple times.

Nagaya's wife, who is much smaller in stature than her former husband, photographed her injuries after each attack, Wagstaffe said.

In March, the victim approached police and claimed that Nagaya had pushed her out of a car in the parking garage of their San Bruno apartment complex, Wagstaffe said.

Investigators were unable to substantiate the accusation, and questions about the wife's credibility prompted the district attorney's office to drop all but two of the charges against Nagaya, which ranged from assault with a deadly weapon to spousal assault, Wagstaffe said.

Nagaya's plea of no contest to the two remaining felony domestic violence charges could bring a sentence of up to a year in jail, according to the district attorney's office.

Judge Craig Parsons is scheduled to sentence Nagaya on Feb. 4 at the Hall of Justice in Redwood City.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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