PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In December 2006, Rada was found stabbed to death in a bathroom stall at the Nofei Golan School in Katzrin on the Golan Heights. Zadarov, the school custodian, was arrested less than a week later and was found guilty of 13-year-old Rada’s murder in September 2010. The amended indictment continues to allege that Zadorov slit Rada’s throat in the bathroom. The case captivated the Israeli media and public – a tragic small-town murder that from the beginning was dogged by rumors, including that local teenagers had killed Rada and that the town or teachers had covered this up finding an easy fall guy in Zadarov, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union."
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STORY: "Prosecution reindicts Zadorov despite release to house arrest," by NewsDay24, published on September 5, 2021.
GIST: "The state prosecution on Sunday filed an amended indictment against Roman Zadorov as part of a retrial of his conviction for the 2006 murder of eighth-grader Tair Rada.
An amended indictment was far from a foregone conclusion following signals from both the Nazareth District Court and even the Supreme Court that the judicial branch would rather see the case dropped.
In late August, the Supreme Court endorsed the earlier ruling of the Nazareth District Court to release Zadorov to house arrest after some 15 years in prison, on the basis of the new evidence that led to the retrial.
The new evidence relates to possible DNA evidence in the bathroom area where Rada was killed that cannot be connected to Zadorov, as well as other details which challenge the narrative of the prosecution that led to the original conviction.
Despite the rebuke by the Supreme Court at the detention stage – if the court believed Zadorov was still guilty it would probably view him as too dangerous to be released to house arrest – the prosecution has doubled down and indicated it will go the distance.
The prosecution could still obtain a conviction at retrial as it has gathered additional evidence to rebut the new evidence raised by the defense that the court has not fully seen.
More specifically, the prosecution said its amended indictment takes into account various changes in the criminal law since 2006 and includes new witnesses.
One key witness will be Olga Karvetzneko, the woman the Channel 12 television program Uvda has presented as a possible alternate killer of Rada, to replace Zadorov.
The prosecution will bring her as a witness to try to disprove this theory so that only Zadorov remains as Rada’s potential killer.
In 2016, the Supreme Court rejected one of Zadarov’s multiple appeals after ordering a retrial.
However, already in 2016, Justice Yoram Danziger dissented from the conviction, and others expressed skepticism about the state prosecution’s case.
In December 2006, Rada was found stabbed to death in a bathroom stall at the Nofei Golan School in Katzrin on the Golan Heights.
Zadarov, the school custodian, was arrested less than a week later and was found guilty of 13-year-old Rada’s murder in September 2010.
The amended indictment continues to allege that Zadorov slit Rada’s throat in the bathroom.
The case captivated the Israeli media and public – a tragic small-town murder that from the beginning was dogged by rumors, including that local teenagers had killed Rada and that the town or teachers had covered this up finding an easy fall guy in Zadarov, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.newsday24.com/israel/prosecution-reindicts-zadorov-despite-release-to-house-arrest/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; -----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
