Evidence Tampering Alleged in Chevron Shooter Case

Military prosecutors vigorously pressed their case against Sgt. Elor Azaria, the so-called Chevron shooter, on Wednesday, asserting that key evidence had been tampered with to the defendant’s advantage, The Times of Israel reported.

During the first day of testimony in the trial, new video footage adduced by the prosecution appeared to show an ambulance driver at the scene moving a knife closer to the body of the terrorist lying on the ground after the fact, suggesting an attempt to falsely bolster the IDF soldier’s claim of self-defense.

Azaria faces charges of manslaughter for shooting a Palestinian terrorist shortly following an attack in which he had been neutralized by other soldiers. Defense attorneys argued that the defendant feared the Palestinian man, who had already attacked two soldiers, would reach for the knife and use it again.

“There’s a claim that the terrorist moved his hand in the direction of the knife that was near his hand — we will show that this claim is a false one,” chief prosecutor Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman told the Jaffa Military Court on Wednesday. He used the video to prove his contention that before Azaria fired the fatal shot the knife was out of reach, and only afterwards moved closer.

In addition, Weissman said, there was “no point in time in the visual footage” in which Azaria appeared threatened or “worried about the existence of a threat.” All of the footage was reportedly checked at a police lab to ensure that it had not been edited or altered.