During the cross-examination, Officer Fares was presented with bruises on the defendant's face that were documented after the incident (P/70 - photos 4 and 5). Prison guard Fares estimated that the injuries to the defendant's face were caused when the defendant fell to the ground during the takeover attempt (p. 43 of the transcript of the hearing of February 2, 2025, line 1).
- Jailer Manjouri also described the circumstances of the attack. According to him, he noticed the defendant cursing the guard Fares as he passed by. He and the guard Fares tried to calm the defendant, the guard Fares took the defendant with the handcuffs, and the two put the defendant in the waiting cell (p. 51 of the minutes of the hearing of February 2, 2025, lines 7-9). The guard Manjouri further described that during the removal of the handcuffs, the defendant hit the shoulder of the guard Fares with his head, as follows: "Then we had to put him in the gift box, and as I said, until the guard cleared up and made the reception for him. And that's after that we went into the cell, we came to take the handcuffs off to him so that he wouldn't continue to be in the handcuffs there and during the unloading we came to take him off he brought his head into Fares' shoulder, he came as if to attack him and then Fares moved his one and it hit him in the shoulder" (p. 51 of the minutes of the hearing of February 2, 2025, lines 14-18). Prison guard Manjouri emphasized that he had seen the assault on the guard Fares with his own eyes (p. 57 of the transcript of the hearing of 2 February 2025, line 3). Manjouri also described that after the assault, he and Fares took control of the defendant and handcuffed him (p. 52 of the transcript of the hearing of 2 February 2025, lines 9-10). He also speculated that the injuries to the defendant's face may have been caused during the takeover (p. 56 of the transcript of the hearing of February 2, 2025, line 28).
- The testimonies of the guards Fares and Manjouri were systematic and coherent. The two similarly described the circumstances that led to the assault, the defendant's behavior prior to the assault, and the act of assault itself. The descriptions of the guards Fares and Manjouri of the defendant attacking the chest/shoulder of the guard Fares with his head are consistent with the documentation of the result of the attack in the photographs of the guard Fares from the day of the incident (P/70, photos 1 and 2), from which one can get the impression of a wide and slight redness spot on the left chest.
The defendant, on the other hand, chose to maintain his right to remain silent even when confronted with the accusations regarding the said assault. He did not shed light on the circumstances of the case and did not refute the prosecution's claims on the matter. Therefore, I find it necessary to adopt the prosecution's arguments regarding the circumstances of the assault that was committed.
- Counsel for the defendant referred to the fact that the incident ended after the defendant sustained bruises on his face. He complained that the guards Fares and Manjouri were unable to explain how the incident ended in this way. He argued that this would cast real doubt about the alleged incident and weaken the accuser's ability to prove that it was the defendant who attacked the prison guard Fares, and not that the defendant was attacked by the guard Fares. The testimonies of the guards Fares and Manjouri regarding the circumstances that preceded the assault, the incident of the assault and the sequence of events after the assault were not concealed, and the need to take control of the defendant following the assault and the possible damage caused by it was not refuted.
Therefore, I determine that it has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that after the defendant's arrest, while he was in a waiting cell in the detention center, the defendant began to curse the prison guard Fares, shout, knock on the cell doors and spit out. In response, the guards Fares and Manjouri moved the defendant to a single cell, and when the guard removed the handcuffs from him, the defendant slammed him in the chest.