Criminal Case (Haifa) 19071-09-18 State of Israel v. Anonymous

Attendees:

Counsel for the accuser – Adv. Raed Rahal

The Defendant – Himself

Counsel for the defendant – Adv. Oppenheimer and Adv. Ms. Rosenblatt (Public Defender)

Verdict

At the beginning of the judgment, and as  required by section 182 of the Criminal Procedure Law, I order that the defendant be acquitted of the acts specified in sections 3.1 (Risha), 3.6, 4.4 (Sifa), 4.5, 4.6 (insofar as he relates to girl D), 4.7 and 4.9 of the indictment.

The indictment and the response to the indictment:

1. An indictment was filed against the defendant, accusing him of committing offenses of aggravated assault against a family member, as well as offenses of threats.

The acts described in the indictment were committed by the defendant, according to the accuser, against members of his household – his wife at the time and his five minor children – during the period of their joint residence.  In view of the large number of events detailed in the indictment, and for the convenience of the reader, the specific events attributed to the defendant will be referred to in the title.  The defendant's then-wife, A.T., is described as the complainant.

2. According to the indictment, between 1997 and 2015, the defendant and the complainant were married, and they had five children: A. - born in 1998, B - born 00, C - born 03, D. - born 07, and F. - born 10. At the relevant times of the indictment, the defendant, the complainant and their children lived in the city of Karmiel.
3. During the years 2013-2015, on a number of occasions and on unknown dates, the defendant used to attack, curse and humiliate the complainant, spit and threaten her, sometimes even in the presence of the children:
   • During 2015, an unknown exact date, the defendant threatened the complainant, saying: "I'll throw a bottle of wine at you and kill you, it will take me five minutes"; "I'm going to strangle you, it's going to take me five seconds to kill you" [hereinafter: "The Wine Bottle Incident" and "The Threat Incident"].
   • On 1 September 2015, at night at their home in Karmiel, the defendant grabbed a schnitzel hammer and threatened the complainant in the presence of their son G., saying that the complainant would not survive. Later, the defendant hid the phone's handset in the house, broke the lock of the complainant's wardrobe, entered the children's room where the complainant slept, hid her mobile phone that was lying next to her, and strangled her with an object he held in front of her.  The defendant let go of the complainant a few moments later and left the room [hereinafter: the "choking incident"].
   • On 30 October 2015, at around 4:00 A.M., the defendant burst into the room where the complainant was sleeping, shouted and threatened her, saying: "You touched the documents, what do you think I can kill you?"
   • During 2014, an unknown exact date, the defendant threw a laundry rack at the complainant that damaged her body [hereinafter: the "laundry rack incident"].
   • During 2013, an unknown exact date, the defendant threw a plate of food containing fish at the complainant, which she harmed, soiled her and shattered her on the floor. In addition, on a date that is not known to the accuser, the defendant threw a knife at the complainant, which struck their son W., who was next to the complainant [hereinafter: "the fish plate incident" and the "knife incident", respectively].
   • On many occasions, when the complainant refused to have sex with the defendant, the defendant would attack her, kick her, and hit her in the back and legs. In addition, the defendant used to push the complainant out of bed and did not let her sleep.  Sometimes, due to the defendant's actions, the complainant went to sleep in another room and in the morning discovered that the defendant had thrown all the contents of the closet on the floor.
4. During the years 2003-2015 and on a number of occasions, the defendant used to attack, curse and humiliate the children, as well as threaten them with bodily harm:
   • On dates that are not known to the accuser, the defendant used to threaten his children, saying: "Stupid, retarded, stupid, if you go to the bathroom for such a long time I will make sure you don't go in again"; "I'll blow you in the face, I'll give you a slap that no one gave you"; The defendant also threatened B., saying: "I'll push you against the wall, this will be your end," and "I'll break your teeth if you talk like that, you won't have teeth."
   • During 2014, at a time that is not known to the accuser, B. suffered from toothache and during a conversation between her and the defendant, the defendant threatened her, saying: "If you keep talking, I will hit you and your whole mouth will hurt." On a date that is not known to the accuser, the defendant threatened B. by saying: "One more word you will get slapped for counting all your teeth" [hereinafter: "The Dental Threats Incident"].
   • Between 2014 and 2015, on a date that is not known to the accuser and during Friday evening, the defendant attacked B. by slapping her in the face because she was leaning her chin on a drinking bottle [hereinafter: the "bottle incident"].
   • The defendant used to slap his son G. as a routine matter, used to take him into the room and the shower, and beat him there. When G. would close his eyes while the defendant would hit him, the defendant would shout at him to open his eyes and even forbid him to cry [hereinafter: the "shower incident"].
   • On a number of occasions, when complaints came from the school about G.'s performance, the defendant used to slap and kick him, punish him, interrogate him about the complaints, and on one occasion threatened him to take him to the forest and leave him there [hereinafter: "the school events"].
   • On August 30, 2015, G. and D. went for a walk with V., who got lost. When G. and D. returned to the house, the defendant shouted at them and slapped them.  As a result, and due to his fear of the defendant, G. closed himself in the shower and got out of it only when the complainant returned home [hereinafter: the "bicycle incident"].
   • During 2014, on a date that is not known to the accuser, the defendant attacked A. by throwing the home phone at her that hit her in the head [hereinafter: "the telephone incident-1"].
   • During 2015, at a date that is not known to the accuser, the defendant attacked A. by throwing the phone of the house that hit her at her [hereinafter: the "Phone-2 incident"].
   • During 2014, on a date that is not known to the accuser, the defendant attacked D. by kicking her in the stomach and throwing a chair at her [hereinafter: "the stomach kicking incident"].
5. As a result of the defendant's actions, the complainant and the children suffered emotional damage, inter alia, fears, anxiety, emotional problems, and more.
6. In light of all of the above, the accuser attributed to the defendant many offenses of assaulting a family member under aggravated circumstances [under sections 379 and 382(b)(1), (2) of the Penal Law], as well as many offenses of threats, under  section 192 of the Penal Law.
7. In his reply to the indictment, the defendant denied the allegations against him. It was argued that this was a case of "parental alienation", when the complainant fabricated false libel against him and recruited the welfare workers and the police in her favor with the aim of exhausting him and harming him in order to exhaust the proceedings in the civil proceeding that was taking place in parallel.  It was further claimed that the accuser was negligent in a manner that impaired the conduct of the defendant's defense – the indictment was filed three years after the opening of the investigation; The accuser refrained from transferring material documents to the defense when the indictment was filed, and only in the framework of proceedings under section 74 of the Criminal Procedure Law, were the documents transferred to the defense for review.
8. In light of the defendant's denial, the case was set for an evidentiary hearing. On behalf of the prosecution, the complainant and her two adult daughters testified – A and B; Mrs. Ruth Peretz – the complainant's mother – also testified; the children's investigator - Mrs. Carmit Hemo; The social workers who cared for the family members within the framework of the welfare office in Karmiel - Mrs. Adi Ma'ayin-Guy, Mr. Yitzhak Maoz, Mrs. Anat Freiman, Mrs. Nurit Frieda and Mrs. Noa Weinstein.  The prosecution also submitted a file of exhibits that includes various documents, including documents from the Welfare Office and social reports, documents relating to the children's investigations – C, D and F, the defendant's interrogations with the police, and various memoranda from the police officers who investigated the affair.  As part of the defense case, the defendant's testimony was heard.  In addition, Mr. Eli Tayeb – a friend of the defendant and Mr. Yosef Turgeman – the defendant's brother – were summoned as defense witnesses.  The defense submitted various documents: statements taken to the police by the complainant, statements taken to the police by daughters A and B, as well as two documents – a folder that included wedding anniversary greetings from the children of the defendant and the complainant, as well as a folder that included "root work", which was allegedly prepared by daughter A.

Summary of the prosecution's case: