FUKUI (Kyodo) -- The retrial of a man who served a seven-year sentence for the 1986 murder of a junior high school girl in central Japan is expected to result in an acquittal as prosecutors will not present new evidence, his defense team said Wednesday.

The prosecutors disclosed their stance during a meeting with judges and the lawyers for Shoshi Maekawa, 59, at the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court, his defense team said.

The retrial scheduled for March is likely to end with a one-day hearing. Under the criminal procedure law, retrials are held when there is "clear evidence to find the accused not guilty."

Presiding Judge Koji Yamada of the Kanazawa branch, who in October ordered the case to be reopened after questioning the credibility of the testimonies from Maekawa's acquaintances, will also oversee the retrial.

There was no direct evidence linking Maekawa to the murder. He has maintained his innocence since his arrest in 1987, filing two requests for a retrial.

Maekawa was accused of murdering a 15-year-old student at her home in Fukui Prefecture. The Fukui District Court acquitted him in 1990, but the Kanazawa branch later convicted him, and the Supreme Court upheld the ruling.