Father: Mor Got Stiff Sentence Due to Victim's Identity

Itzik Mor, whose son Tal was sentenced to 12 years in prison for running down biker Shneur Cheshin last year, said Sunday that he believed his son was treated much more harshly than others accused of the same crime would be – because of the identity of his victim. Cheshin was the son of former High Court judge Michael Cheshin. Itzik Mor said that the media, which reported on the story extensively, helped push an unreasonably unfair sentence that is rarely if ever given by courts for similar actions.

Speaking after the trial, Petach Tikvah judge Zecharia Caspi, who rendered the sentence, said that he was not influenced at all by the media in his decision. Caspi said that the media was free to write anything it wanted about any case, and that it was the responsibility of the judge hearing the case to ensure that he was not influenced by the coverage.