Tzionis’ attorney goes on the offence

The defence team took turn in cross examining the witness in the Strovolos double murder case on Monday, with the lawyer raising doubt whether the suspect was read his constitutional rights promptly.

(Click here for an update to the story)

The prosecution witness, Sergeant Savvas Siamoutis who said on Friday there was no pressure on the main suspect, was cross examined by defence attorney Andreas Anastasiou.

Anastasiou, who is representing Loizos Tzionis, raised questions during cross examination, raising many questions including whether or not the suspect was read his rights as well as why was certain information not registered in the entry logs.

Siamoutis said he was an experienced crime investigator and would not have made the mistake not to follow protocol.

The attorney asked the witness various questions on details, such as whether or not Tzionis told him that the female victim was wearing a nightgown and whether or not the suspect told the investigator that the she seemed to be an old lady.

The witness said he had multiple images in his mind and he was trying to recall the ones on April 27, during Tzionis’ interrogation when the attorney alleges there was a breach of protocol with no rights read to his client and no attention given to the suspect’s health endurance.

Anastasiou pressed even harder, asking about details that the witness had not written in his entry log, while Tzionis had given an 8-page long written account statement.

Siamoutis said Tzionis wrote down in his first scenario that the brothers Charalambous, Elias and Andreas, were involved and that one of them had threatened him. Tzionis, according to the investigator, also asked for police protection while the notes were interrupted due to fatigue.

The defence attorney pointed out that the written notes were not mentioned in the entry log, with the witness responding that he had relayed them in his own written deposition.

The investigator said Tzionis was read his rights promptly and that everything was explained to the suspect, adding that he was read his rights a third time when Tzionis placed himself at the crime scene during the interrogation.

But Anastasiou insisted that Tzionis was never read his rights until after the investigator had started asking questions without notifying the suspect of his constitutional rights to remain silent as well as not to incriminate himself.

Siamoutis said Tzionis had declined an attorney during the interrogation.

Anastasiou told the witness that they kept the suspect an entire day with just coffee, cigarettes, and a snack.

“He had everything, souvlaki kebab, coffee, cake,” Sioamoutis repled.

A number of detailed questions were posed to the witness throughout the hearing, with relatives of the victims often gasping in the courtroom and the prosecution team objecting to the line of questioning.

The defence attorney said he wanted to demonstrate that a number of details had not been recorded in the sergeant’s entry log on April 27.

More intense moments occurred when Anastasiou and Siamoutis could not reconcile on whether Tzionis had been read his full rights promptly, with the defence attorney coming back to the question a number of times.

Cross examination of the witness was set to continue on Tuesday.

The Strovolos double murder took place on April 18, where 60-year-old Yiorgos Hadjigeorgiou and his 59-year-old wife Dina Sergiou were savagely stabbed to death, while the only other person reportedly in the home was their teenage son. Tzionis was arrested a week later based on witness statements obtained by police.