MARK AND ELLEN NEWMAN with Ariel at his high-school graduation a few months before his death.. (photo credit: Courtesy)
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The High Court of Justice has twisted the arm of the state prosecution into reopening a closed probe into the 2014 death of an American hiker in order to take new testimony from one of the witnesses on the hike.
The Jerusalem Post confirmed the development on Monday following an as yet unreported hearing before the High Court on Monday.
The negligent homicide investigation related to the unexplained death of Ariel Newman, 18, a student from Great Neck, New York, during a hike in the Judean Desert on September 10, 2014. It centered on former officials at the now-defunct Mechinat Yeud program for Diaspora youth.
Previously, following exclusive reports in the Post, Deputy Chief Prosecutor for Criminal Affairs Shlomo (Mumi) Lemberger had ordered police to reopen their investigation twice to address new evidence brought forward in those reports.
However, Lemberger still stuck to the same final decision to close the case in December, leading the hiker’s family to file a petition to the High Court.
The High Court on Sunday seemed ready to accept any final decision reached by the prosecution after they reviewed the most recent evidence.
The development was still dramatic as investigations are rarely reopened one time, let alone three times, once the original prosecutor on the case has closed it for insufficient evidence.
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The latest development relates to new evidence from co-hiker, Mayer Horowitz.
The prior times the case was reopened related to coverage by the Post revealing that the police had failed to interview two other key witnesses, some of whose incriminating testimony was also first revealed in the Post.
However, in December, the prosecution then cross-examined one of the key defendants regarding the two witnesses’ statements and still closed the case, leaving only Horowitz to stand on for new unreviewed evidence that could be used to reopen the case yet again.
Regarding Newman’s death, the student’s parents, Mark and Ellen Newman, obtained a medical report that cited the cause of death as exertional heat stroke and dehydration.
Newman family lawyer Amos Fried was buoyed by the High Court’s intervention and the possibility that new life might be breathed into the case.
At the start, police and prosecutors were slow to open an in-depth investigation and only did so after Fried intervened and met with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.
In the first round of investigation, police and prosecutors closed the case without making any effort to interview two key witnesses and without fully confronting the main suspect and tour guide with the witnesses’ incriminating testimony.
Following the Post reports, the main suspect was confronted with the additional allegations, but now Horowitz’s new evidence could potentially lead to a new round of questioning suspects, including administrators and other educators potentially involved in the incident.
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