The trial of Elor Azariya - the soldier who shot a wounded terrorist in Hevron - will continue today with testimony from an expert witness. The witness is one of Israel’s leading forensic pathologists, Professor Yehuda Hiss, former Chief Pathologist at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine, who wrote a report two weeks ago about his findings and will testify today.
Hiss is expected to testify that Azariya’s bullets did not cause the death of the terrorist, but, rather, he died of lack of oxygen to his brain and heart. According to Hiss, Azariya’s bullets, found in the head of deceased, hit only after death.
In his statement, Hiss wrote that “based upon the evidence and the conclusions drawn by Professor Dov Shimon, it is likely that the man’s death was caused by a blockage to the airway which was caused by two bullets in his right lung [these bullets were fired by other soldiers in the process of neutralizing the terrorist]. The bullets in his head [fired by Azariya], most likely, were fired after death.”
Azariya's defense has thus far been concerned with showing that the soldier had legitimate concerns about the terrorist still posing a threat. The testimony from this witness will challenge the idea that Azariya actually killed the terrorist at all.
It is unclear whether this can have an effect upon the judgment of Azariya's guilt or innocence, as the accusation against the soldier focuses on the firing of his weapon itself. The revelation that the terrorist wasn't killed by Azariya's bullets may only serve to change the wording of the charges.