Rafael Adana's trampling case: the accused Carol Fessler confessed and was convicted of neglect / Yotam Ronen
The investigation into the death and abandonment of 4-year-old Rafael Adana from Netanya caused a great public uproar and widespread protest.
After the drama unfolded today (Wednesday) in the trial of the accused driver Carol Fassler when the judge gave her time to confess her negligence in the death of Adna or retract her confession in the indictment, voila!
We are now sorting out the ramified chain of events.
"My grandson was snatched from my hands, he rolled onto the grass. I was traumatized and screamed."
4-year-old Raphael Adana was trampled in May 2023/documentation on social networks according to Article 27 A of the Copyright Law
Raphael's death
After going to the amusement park with his grandfather and his brother in May, 4-year-old Rafael Adana was fatally injured by a car that crossed the road on Ben Gurion Boulevard in Netanya along with his family members.
He died of his injuries four days later while the medical staff at the Schneider Medical Center fought for his life.
The offending driver did not stop after the accident and fled the scene.
"When we crossed the road, we looked left and right and there was no vehicle," Raphael's grandfather told Walla!
A few days after the accident.
"Suddenly they came and hit me and my family. We moved back, I was hit in the knee and hands, and my grandson was snatched from my hands. He rolled onto the grass. I was traumatized and screamed."
"A woman walking her dogs passed by and called an ambulance for us," he said, "my grandson was hurt and I broke my arm."
The grandfather added and accused the female suspects of the act, who after hitting the child fled the scene, "The one who hit us didn't give us a hand or anything. After knocking us down, she continued to drive, collided with the railing of the road and all her headlights broke. She continued to drive while my grandson was injured on the grass." .
And it's blue and white
The device that changes everything you knew about refreshing and firming the facial skin
In collaboration with Premier
"She kept driving while my grandson was injured on the grass."
Carol Fassler, who is accused of Rafael's neglect/documentation in social networks according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law
Carol Fessler and her daughter Dr. Heidi Fessler are arrested on suspicion of a hit and run accident
The day after the accident, the police arrested 80-year-old Carol Fesler, and her daughter Heidi in her 50s, who live in Netanya, on suspicion of being involved in the accident that killed little Raphael.
Police spokesmen stated in a press release that the mother and daughter were arrested after allegedly trying to disrupt and hide evidence by repairing the vehicle in the garage.
At the end of their investigation by the police, they were released to their homes under restrictive conditions.
The mother and daughter were arrested after allegedly trying to disrupt and hide evidence by repairing the vehicle in the garage.
Carol Fassler who is accused of the promiscuity of Rafael/Yotam Ronen
Neglect and not murder
Three months after the accident, the prosecutor's office informed the Adana family and attorney Roni Aloni Sadovnik who was accompanying them that the findings of the investigation revealed that the driver of the vehicle was Carol Fassler and that her daughter Heidi was not at the scene at all and the reason she was arrested first is because the vehicle was registered in her name.
In addition, they will inform them Shafsler will be prosecuted subject to a hearing for the offense of carelessness after an injury, although it was decided to close the case with regard to responsibility for the accident itself, since according to the prosecutor's office the findings of the investigation revealed that it was unavoidable.
The family members did not understand how the driver's daughter was released, after the police stated at the time of her arrest that she was suspected of tampering with evidence. The law enforcement authorities responded that at first the suspicion arose because the two talked to each other on the phone about their intention to repair the vehicle. But later, it became clear that in the conversation Carol did not tell Heidi that she had hurt a child and they did not discuss hiding evidence. The
family members were not satisfied with the confusing answers given to them, they were outraged and decided to start a public struggle with legal and public relations support, under the title "Justice for Raphael".
According to the prosecutor's office, the findings of the investigation revealed that the accident itself was unavoidable.
Raphael Adana/Courtesy of the family
The "Justice for Raphael" protest arises
The story of Adana's death became a public campaign with a high media profile and widespread distribution on social networks.
The allegations that arose within it were that the prosecutor's office and the police did not manage the investigation file as required, since it was an investigation into the death of a child of Ethiopian origin.
It was also claimed that Heidi Fessler, the daughter of the Carroll driver, was indeed in the car and tried to tamper with evidence, but finally managed to escape an indictment.
At the same time, Heidi Fassler received threats on her life, unknown persons even came to the dental clinic where she works in Moshav Nitsani Oz, sabotaged the place and slaughtered it.
At the end of August, the Adana family and thousands of demonstrators who came to support them held protests at the Azrieli intersection in Tel Aviv.
During the demonstrations, many protesters broke through the police barriers and blocked traffic on the Ayalon road.
The demonstrations also saw incidents of violence, including the throwing of stones at vehicles and the throwing of Molotov cocktails at local police forces.
The police in response made arrests using force and threw stun grenades to disperse the demonstrations.
A particularly serious incident was recorded when a police officer was stabbed by a protester near Derech Menachem Begin in one of the protest events.
The police called on the demonstrators: "to stop the displays of violence, obey the policemen's instructions and turn the deputies away."
Rafael's family called on the protesters to calm down: "We ask our brothers and friends to show restraint. The pain is enormous and at the same time, we do not want escalation but solutions and justice for Rafael. The last thing we need is for them to try to portray our community as violent and problematic. Don't let them lead a community Peace be upon these places. We will bring justice to Rafael through peaceful means and proper demonstrations."
The Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, also commented on his Twitter account about the loss of control over the demonstration, and wrote: "Demonstrations are a sacred right in a democratic country, but we will not change the agenda in the face of any type of violence. Stabbing a police officer is crossing a red line. I wish the policeman a speedy recovery the wounded, and calls on all citizens of Israel to respect the law and the members of the security forces."
Claims were made that the prosecutor's office and the police did not manage the investigation file as required, since it is an investigation into the death of a child of Ethiopian origin.
"Justice for Raphael" protest/Flash 90, Avshalom Sassooni
The findings of the investigation are revealed
The findings of the investigation into the death of Raphael Adana revealed in Walla!
They brought up that there is a cell phone tracking which, according to the prosecution, proves the non-involvement of the daughter Heidi who was not in the car.
It also emerged that an eyewitness testified that he only saw an elderly woman who was in the car alone.
Carol, who was driving the car, claimed in her investigation that she did not know that she had hit the child and caused his death, but thought it was probably an accident with a motorcyclist.
After she continued driving without stopping and checking whether she hit a person, the driver picked up the phone to her daughter and reported to her that she had an accident.
Despite her version not being rejected, the prosecutor's office decided to charge her with the offense of negligence after injury, since even if she did not know she had injured a person, she has the responsibility to stop and verify this without quickly fleeing the scene.
The investigation also revealed that the daughter replied to her mother in a phone call that the vehicle would be repaired at the garage later, but when the police arrived at their home, the vehicle was not repaired and remained with the damage from the accident undisturbed.
In the footage from the vehicle's security camera, a blurry image of one woman can be seen inside.
Later, the attorney's office unusually published a table of "facts versus claims" regarding the accident and its investigation.
The prosecutor's office presents Rafael's family with the investigation materials
due to the family's many claims and anger. At the end of August, an unusual meeting was held between representatives of the Central District Prosecutor's Office and the members of the Adana family and attorney Roni Aloni Sedovnik who accompanies them, at the prosecutor's office in Beit Hadar Dafna in Tel Aviv. During the meeting For the first time, the Adena family was shown records from cameras in the area of the accident, even though at the time, the videos were still investigative materials before the filing of charges.
A week before, members of the Adena family met with the commander of the Central District, Superintendent Avi Biton. According to the family, the district commander said that as Apparently there was a mistake in the press release issued by the police after the accident, which stated that two suspects were arrested on suspicion of involvement and attempting to tamper with evidence by repairing the vehicle in the garage.
The meetings did not satisfy the Adana family, who were left confused. Naor, Rafael's uncle, said in conclusion: "Policemen took cameras that see the whole arena in them.
I want to see with my own eyes what happened - that is my demand." On the other hand, the prosecutor's office claimed that the cameras only recorded the area of the accident, and not the injury itself.
Simcha Adana claimed in an interview with Walla! that they were not presented with any evidence that determined who ran over her son. "There is no Evidence that shows who is the predator.
We don't believe because there is no conclusive evidence as to who committed the crime," she said. "At the meeting with the prosecutor's office, we saw a perforated file, unclear photos.
You don't see anything.
No one knows.
There are eyewitnesses who contacted me following the protest who saw everything that happened and were not called to testify.
We were told that there was a mistake here, a mistake there.
I don't need to come and investigate, I need them to find the truth.
I am sick of it".
The attorney's office unusually published a table of "facts versus claims" regarding the accident and its investigation.
"Justice for Raphael" protest/Flash 90, Avshalom Sassooni
An indictment is filed against Carol Fessler
About half a year after the accident and after a hearing was held for the driver, the Central District Attorney's Office filed an indictment against Carol Fassler for the crime of negligence, after she left the scene of the accident, and on the other hand, she was not charged with crimes related to the child's death as they demanded, among other things, in the public protest.
The prosecution also asked the court to disqualify Fassler's driver's license until the end of the legal proceedings.
According to the indictment, submitted through lawyer Sagi Segev, on May 6 of this year, Fasler was driving a car on Ben Gurion Boulevard in Netanya.
At that time, Tamir Tsgai crossed the road, not at a crosswalk, together with his two grandsons.
The three got on the immobility and as soon as they started to descend from the immobility the accused hit the child.
The driver continued driving without stopping to assess the results of the accident, and without calling the rescue forces.
As a result of the accident, Rafael was seriously injured, and his death was pronounced after several days in the hospital.
His grandfather, who was holding him, suffered a fractured palm.
On behalf of the Adana family, it was stated at the time: "In the days when we are all taking part in the war effort to defend the homeland, we received with astonishment the news about the filing of an indictment, which we saw in light of the circumstances and the intensity of the incident. After a long struggle and while trying to protect the country, we can only regret that it was decided to come against who who murdered our son Rafael"
"We only have to regret that it was decided to face the person who murdered our son Rafael."
Raphael's family/photo editing, Yotam Ronan
verdict
At a hearing in the Central District Traffic Court in Petah Tikva last month, Fasler admitted to the facts of the indictment and was convicted of neglecting Rafael Adana.
Simcha Adana, Rafael's mother, collapsed during a discussion.
After the vice president of the court, Judge Tal Perry, had already given the verdict, Fesler's defense attorney, attorney Matan Koenig, claimed that she admitted to the facts of the indictment but not to the offense attributed to her of neglect. In fact, attorney Koenig claimed that the prosecution made a mistake when they claimed that the facts The event legally reveals the abandonment clause.
Attorney Sagi Segev from the Central District Attorney's Office, who was surprised by this, responded and pointed out that Pessler admitted the facts of the indictment and as long as she has pleaded not guilty to the crime attributed to her, the trial process can continue and the evidence can be presented. As attributed to him in the indictment, he is aware of what is written in the indictment."
Simcha Adana, Rafael's mother collapsed during the discussion.
Simcha Adna/Niv Aaronson
The story is not over yet
Judge Perry, on his own initiative, scheduled another hearing in Fessler's case in which he will reexamine the same claim made by Fessler's defense.
Judge Perry wrote in a notice given to both parties: "After further review of the minutes of the hearing and especially in relation to the arguments of the defense after the verdict was given, I found a place to schedule a hearing in which the issue raised by the defendant's attorney will be discussed."
At the end of the hearing, Judge Perry decided to allocate a few days for the defense to admit to the crime of neglect as well - or completely go back on its admission.
The judge stated that if Fesler retracts her confession, he intends to overturn her conviction and open an evidentiary proceeding.
"I convicted her and I'm not satisfied with that," said Judge Perry at the beginning of the trial.
"I have to sleep at night with my conviction. There is no doubt that all the scandalous behavior that took place here did no honor to anyone. I left the hearing and after that I thought that I had convicted a person who did not understand what I had convicted him of. This is a conviction that I cannot sleep with as a judge."
At the end of the hearing, the judge turned to Simcha Adana, Rafael's mother, and said, "I was not convinced that this confession was proper."
The mother responded: "And are you at peace with the fact that there is a family here that does not accept the truth? Are you at peace with the fact that there is a mother here who cannot mourn her son? You are at peace with whether she confesses or not."
After the hearing, a riot broke out, after Fassler was taken out of the courtroom and the security guards of the court guard separated her from the Adana family, who were asked to stay inside the courtroom.
Simcha Adna shared at the end of the hearing: "The judge actually doesn't want to judge her for what she confessed to. It's not her recanting, but the judge because he 'doesn't sleep well at night,' because he decided that she didn't do it because apparently, in his view, she is not aware and In the line of sanity".
"The judge says he doesn't sleep well at night, but, the fact that a family was neglected and my baby died, with that he probably does sleep well at night. I'm speechless, I don't know how this whole system works. I might have to take the law into my own hands. Probably that you can murder and nothing will happen to you if you are connected."
More on the same topic:
car accidents
Tramples
The Ethiopian community
Israel Police
the prosecutor's office
Court