Beyond the fact that the starting point is that the weight of the defendants' testimonies before us is very low, due to the fact that they are a suppressed version, and even that in our case, in the absence of a response to the indictment, the very suppression of the testimony until the defense case also strengthens the prosecution's evidence; Thus, the impression aroused by the defendants' testimonies in court was unreliable, as will be detailed below, and this too could lead to the rejection of their suppressed version and the adoption of the version they gave to the police.
The Impression of the Testimony of Defendant 1
The testimony of defendant 1 before us left an unreliable impression. Defendant 1 answered many of the questions indirectly and irrelevantly, and often answered questions or referred to evidence; Part of his testimony gave the impression of being processed and "played", when it was clear that he had prepared himself for the testimony, while constructing a new and more convenient version for him, with a prepared response in advance to all the evidence presented; However, the more complex questions are asked by the accuser's attorney or the court, the more he becomes entangled in contradictions and quite a few lies. Defendant 1 even tried to present himself as someone who, as part of his repentance, wanted to make a "correction", to clean himself up and tell the whole truth, and as someone who was tormented by the incident (see pp. 334-335, 372, 422-423); But at the same time, he could not hide the strong impression that arose from his testimony, of a man devoid of any empathy, who testified to shocking events (even according to the new version) in a cold, mechanical manner and without expressing any emotion.
As noted, already in the first interrogations of Defendant 1 at the police, it was evident that he was able to lie without batting an eyelid, to adapt himself to the questions he was asked, and to present himself as someone who was surprised by the interrogators' questions; The aforementioned impression remained and was even strengthened when he heard his testimony before us.