Serious Crimes Case (Beersheba) 20142-08-19 State of Israel v. Ibrahim Shehain

Verdict

The Honorable Judge A.  Strong:

Consolidated and Amended Indictment

This is an amended and consolidated indictment that was filed against the defendants, after on September 25, 2019, the trials were consolidated in two indictments filed before this panel, (an indictment filed against defendants 1-2, in a serious crimes case 20142-08-19, and an indictment filed against defendant 3, in a serious crimes case 48435-09-19).

The provisions of the statute and the offenses attributed to the defendants in the consolidated and amended indictment are as follows:

For Defendants 1-2: Murder – an offense under  Section 300(a)(2) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977 (hereinafter: the "Law").

For Defendant 3: Aiding and abetting murder – an offense under  Section 300(a)(2) together  with Section 31 of the Law.

For all the defendants: destruction of evidence – an offense under section 242 of the law.

For Defendant 1: Possession and Use (Possession of a Drug Not for Self-Consumption) - An offense under Section 7(a) + (c) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (New Version), 5733-1973.

The facts of the consolidated and amended indictment:

1. There was a prior acquaintance between Nissim al-Sayed (hereinafter: "the deceased") and Muhammad Assawi (hereinafter: "Muhammad").
2. A dispute arose between Muhammad and the deceased, after on December 17, 2015, when Muhammad was leaving a barbershop in Hura, the deceased arrived armed with a knife behind him, grabbed him and stabbed him in the chest and hand, and also caused him to cut his face, which left him with a scar.
3. As a result, at some time that is not known to the accuser exactly, on June 14, 2019, Muhammad made the decision to cause the death of the deceased.
4. At some point before 14 June 2019, Muhammad shared with Defendants 1 and 2, who are his relatives, that he intended to cause the death of the deceased, and that the three conspired to commit the murder of the deceased.
5. On 14 June 2019, at approximately 9:15 P.M., Muhammad and Defendants 1 and 2 drove in Defendant 2's vehicle, a 6X-BMW vehicle, 9430771 square meters (hereinafter: "the X6"), from the city of Lod to the Fitanim checkpoint, and crossed the checkpoint at 9:43 P.M. in the direction of the Tulkarm area, in order to equip themselves with the vehicle in which the murder of the deceased would be carried out.
6. Later, at 11:41 P.M., Muhammad returned to the State of Israel through the Fitanim checkpoint, in another Mazda 626 vehicle, 6903735 square meters, owned by a resident of the Occupied Territories and without a valid vehicle license (hereinafter: "the Mazda"), and drove to Lod, where defendants 1 and 2 live.
7. At 11:48 P.M., defendants 1 and 2 returned to Israeli territory using the X6 through another checkpoint, the Eliyahu Checkpoint, located in the Qalqiliya area, in order to obscure evidence and prevent future discovery.
8. On 16 June 2019, at approximately 10:00 P.M., Muhammad and Defendant 1 drove in a Mazda from Lod to the settlement of Hura, where the deceased lived, and left the Mazda in Hura for the purpose of committing the murder later, as described below.
9. In the meantime, Muhammad and defendant 1 left the mobile phones they used together in Lod, operating and charging as of the evening of 16 June 2019, in order to create a false impression that they were in Lod and not in a girl.
10. On June 17, 2019, at 4:03 P.M., defendants 2 and 3 arrived at the Alonit gas station near the settlement of Lakiya (hereinafter: "the gas station"), and waited for Muhammad and defendant 1.
11. At 6:01 P.M., Muhammad and Defendant 1 arrived at the gas station in a Toyota Corolla vehicle, 1510163 square meters, registered in the name of Muhammad's father (hereinafter: "the Toyota").
12. The four sat at the gas station, talking to each other about the plan to carry out the murder.
13. At 6:47 P.M., Muhammad and Defendant 1 left the gas station in the Toyota and drove to Hura.
14. At 7:17 P.M., in coordination with Muhammad and Defendant 1, Defendants 2 and 3 drove from the gas station in the direction of Hura on an X6 with Defendant 3 driving it, stopped at a landmark: 34.965096, 31.306195, which is located on the outskirts of Hura (hereinafter: "the meeting point"), and waited for Muhammad and Defendant 1.
15. The Ottoman Settlement [Old Version] 1916At approximately 8:20 P.M., Ahed Abu Shaldam, the deceased's cousin (hereinafter: "the cousin") and the deceased drove from the deceased's home in Neighborhood 5 Beit 27 Hura in the cousin's car (hereinafter: "the vehicle"), in the direction of the Hura Bakery, located at the junction near the square of Neighborhood 8 (hereinafter: "the Baker").
16. 12-34-56-78 Chekhov v. State of Israel, P.D. 51 (2)Beginning at 8:21 p.m., defendant 1 and Muhammad followed the deceased and his cousin in a Mazda, until they reached the bakery parking lot at 8:25 p.m., when the deceased got out of the car and walked towards the bakery to buy pastries.
17. When the deceased returned from the bakery, he leaned against the passenger door of the car and spoke to his cousin. Meanwhile, at 8:26 P.M., Defendant 1 and Muhammad arrived in a Mazda with Defendant 1 driving it and stopped behind the vehicle so that it was blocked.
18. Then, Muhammad came out of the left back door of the Mazda holding a pistol in his hand, approached the deceased, and fired three bullets at him, hitting him in the cheek, neck, and abdomen, and the deceased collapsed while drenched in blood.
19. Immediately Muhammad returned to the Mazda, and Defendant 1 and Muhammad drove quickly and wildly to the meeting point where Defendants 2 and 3 were waiting for them. When they arrived, the four used a flammable substance that they had placed in the passenger compartment of the Mazda and set it on fire, with the intention of preventing the use of it and its software as evidence against them, and the Mazda was completely burned.  The four left the scene using the X6 and drove towards Lod.
20. The bullet that hit the deceased's cheek penetrated through his upper jawbone, the soft tissues of the pharynx and tongue, and the right temple bone, causing bleeding in his brain and was found intact near the fracture of the temple bone on the right. The bullet that hit the deceased's neck exited from the back of the deceased's right shoulder, and the bullet that hit his abdomen entered from the upper left quadrant of the abdomen, leaving a metal fragment in the gate of the left lung and causing bleeding in the upper lobe of the left lung and moderate air in the chest on the left.  The deceased was rushed to the hospital unconscious, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
21. On July 2, 2019, at the time of the arrest of defendant 1, a dangerous hemp drug weighing 68.30 grams net was found in his home.
22. Defendants 1 and 2, in their actions, together with Mohammed, killed the deceased, in cold blood, after they had decided to kill him without being preceded by a frequent provocation of the act, in circumstances in which they could think and understand the consequences of their actions, after they had prepared themselves for it, and prepared the murder weapon by which they killed the deceased.
23. Defendants 1 and 2, in their actions, together with Muhammad, intentionally caused the death of the deceased, after planning or after an actual process of weighing and formulating a decision to kill him.
24. Defendant 3, in these acts, before or at the time of the commission of the murder, committed an act in order to enable the execution, to facilitate it or to secure it, or to prevent the apprehension of the perpetrators or the discovery of the offense, or to contribute in any other way to the creation of conditions for the commission of the murder.
25. The defendants, in their actions, knew that a certain thing was or might be required for evidence in a judicial proceeding, and they deliberately, together with Muhammad, destroyed it or made it undecipherable or identifiable, all with the intention of preventing it from being used as evidence.
26. Defendant 1 was in possession of a dangerous hemp drug in his home not for his own consumption.

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