Nicosia Court to rule on admissibility of statements in teenage suicide case
Nicosia District Court was called upon to decide whether statements attributed to 14-year-old Styliano Konstantinou can be accepted as evidence in the criminal trial into his death by suicide.
Nicosia Court to rule on admissibility of statements in teenage suicide case
Nicosia District Court was asked on Wednesday to decide whether statements attributed to 14-year-old Styliano Konstantinou can be accepted as evidence in the criminal trial into his death by suicide.
The issue that arose concerns the admissibility of evidence based on hearsay testimony. The disagreement emerged following the completion of cross-examination of criminal investigator Andreas Andreou and at the start of testimony by Konstantina Papacharistodoulou, who was Styliano's nursery school teacher during the 2008–2009 school year.
The case concerns Styliano's suicide in September 2019. The court is investigating whether responsibility lies both within the family and in state services. The proceedings have focused on incidents of abuse or neglect within the family, on whether the child's mother knew of incidents and did not report them, and on whether officials of the Social Welfare Services adequately assessed and handled the information available to them.
After answering preliminary questions, the witness was called by prosecutor Eleni Konstantinou to submit her testimony in writing as evidence.
Whilst the defence had no objection to the testimony as a whole, it challenged the admissibility of specific passages that contained references made by Styliano himself.
The defence counsel argued that these references constitute hearsay testimony, since they originate from a person who has since died and cannot be presented to court for cross-examination. They submitted that, if the remainder of the testimony is accepted, the specific passages should be removed.
Following the completion of defence submissions, the court gave the prosecution time to present its arguments, which are expected to be based on both Cypriot case law and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.
The prosecution's address is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m., whilst Thursday's hearing has been cancelled.
Source: Cyprus Mail
Source: Cyprus Mail