According to counsel for defendant 1, defendant 1's silence and his suppressed versions and the contradictions revealed in his words do not necessitate the conclusion that he knew of the intention to murder, and according to them, it can also be assumed that the defendant thought that a robbery or stabbing was "going to take place" and then there would be room to determine that he was only an accomplice to the killing. It was also argued that the court would be obliged to assume the more lenient possibility whereby Muhammad offered the defendant to join him and cause the deceased's injury.
Defendant 1's Lies in His Interrogations with the Police
An examination of defendant 1's interrogation with the police on July 2, 2019 (P/1) shows that when the defendant was asked when he was last in the southern region, he replied: "More than two months" (paras. 81-82), and this fact is inconsistent with his explanations in his interrogation in court, where he admitted that he was in the southern area on the night of the murder. (P. 26.12.22, p. 296, p. 298, paras. 23-27).
Moreover, in the continuation of his first interrogation with the police, defendant 1 stated that he had not met with Muhammad Hura in the two months prior to the interrogation, and that he had not seen Muhammad at all on the day of the murder (P/1, paras. 129 and 276), and that these claims of the defendant are also contradicted by photographs taken from the Dor Alon gas station in Lakiya (P/56), and from his statements in his interrogation (P/26 December 2022, pp. 299, paras. 1-8).
In his second interrogation with the police on 3 July 2019, defendant 1 was asked where he was on the day of the murder between 19:30 and 21:30 and replied that he had been "in Lod" while mentioning his presence at the gas station in Lod (P/2 S. 7-8), a fact that is also contradicted in the defendant's photographs at the Dor Alon gas station in Kia (P/56).
These statements of the defendant also contradict the defense attorney's statements in response to the indictment, where he noted that at the time of the alleged murder, the defendant was "on his way to Lod." (Transcript of October 12, 2020, p. 41, paras. 25-28).