Opinion from the defense expert, Mr. Avner Rosengarten (P/7):
The documents on which the opinion is based include the report of Examiner Yaakov Partush, the report of the examination of the vehicle by Officer Alex Singer, an opinion regarding the field of vision prepared by Examiner Shimon Cohen, an expert opinion of the Institute of Forensic Medicine conducted by Dr. Chen Kugel, a field of vision experiment and drone photographs, a book of investigation and reconstruction of road accidents, the Road Accidents Section of the Traffic Division for the year 2021, and a report on a visit and measurements at the scene.
Purpose of the opinion: The expert witness was asked for his opinion on the following questions: whether the accident was prevented; whether there is forensic evidence of murder by car-ramming.
The main conclusions of the defense expert:
- The deceased crossed the road from right to left in relation to the direction of the Dodge. This determination is based on the fact that the deceased was injured in his left thigh, which is a fractured left hip, an injury typical of a pedestrian going out from right to left in relation to the direction of the car's movement.
- The point of impact (the point at which the Dodge hit the deceased) is 10 meters south of the intersection with Doha Street from which the Dodge came). This conclusion is based on the presence of the first blood stain 2.4 meters before the speed bump. It is detailed that this blood stain was created by the impact of part of the deceased's blood on the road (probably the head). It follows that the impact point is even further north (located at a point closer to the intersection than to the bumper), since the use of the "pedestrian throwing formula due to a car hit" while placing the deceased's height (1.6 meters) indicates that the distance between the point of impact and the first blood stain is 6.3 meters. The location of the impact also negates the conclusions of the tester Partush, who conducted the field of vision experiment while ignoring the blood stains at the scene.
- The location of the blood stains along a length of 29 meters on the road is approximately 2.3 meters from the eastern sidewalk. The line connecting the blood stains indicates that the injury to the pedestrian occurred while driving parallel to the street route, and contradicts the police reconstructions (in accordance with Jaudat's testimony) according to which the Dodge vehicle first ran on the sidewalk and later swerved to the right toward the deceased.
- The calculation of the distance traveled by the deceased, together with the rest of the data relating to reaction time and braking time, leads to the conclusion that at any speed above 14 km/h, this is an inevitable accident.
- After hitting the deceased, the defendant swerved slightly to the left, which is learned from the blood stain on the outside of the right rear tire, possibly with the intention of evading injury.
- There is no forensic finding in the investigation material that could indicate criminal intent in the car-ramming. There is also no finding that is consistent with the two wheels of the car mounting on the deceased. The tire marks at the scene cannot be linked to the thesis that the vehicle ran on the sidewalk, and even if it were possible to link the findings to this thesis, it is suitable for an attempt to evade an accident.
The opinion was submitted as a main witness and the defense expert was cross-examined about it. For reasons of efficiency and in order not to prolong it, the details of the testimony will be made during its evaluation.