With intense moments of confrontation between Konstantinos Kazantzis, the defense attorney for the first defendant—the father of 14-year-old Stylianos Konstantinos— and the child’s kindergarten teacher during the 2009–2010 school year, the trial regarding the circumstances of the 14-year-old’s death continued on Friday before the Nicosia District Court.

“I relayed what they had told me”

The cross-examination focused primarily on the credibility of the witness’s testimony, with the defense attorney repeatedly attempting to demonstrate that many of her statements were based on information from third parties rather than on personal knowledge.

The kindergarten teacher stated that when Stylianos was first referred to an educational psychologist in 2009, she knew only that “incidents had occurred in the family,” without having personal knowledge of specific events or whether the child was present.

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“Stylianos himself hadn’t told me he was present. It was simply that my colleagues had mentioned to me that he was present during incidents involving threats,” she said.

Regarding information the school had received about complaints filed with the police, the witness repeated several times that she did not know what had actually happened.

“I can’t know exactly what happened. I’m just relaying what I was told,” she said, and when her defense attorney pointed out that the defense’s position is that no complaint was ever filed with the police, she replied: “I can’t know what really happened.”

Clash Over Personal Assessments

There was also a heated exchange regarding her assessments of the child’s behavior.

The witness argued that Stylianos exhibited difficulties that could not be attributed solely to a lack of attention, stating that “there is a difference between a lively child and a child who exhibits additional difficulties.”

When her defense attorney pointed out that she could not know exactly what those difficulties were, she agreed, but later attributed the child’s behavior to the fact that he was emotionally overwhelmed and did not know how to express what he was experiencing.

This statement sparked one of the most intense moments of the proceedings.

READ ALSO: “If Stylianos had been removed from his parents’ care, he would most likely still be alive today”

“But we’re not here for you to express such opinions. You insist on expressing an opinion about the child,” the defense attorney told her.

“I stand by my position,” replied the witness.

The Reference to the Knife and the Court’s Intervention

At another point in the proceedings, the defense attorney challenged her account of an incident in which Stylianos had brought a knife to school, pointing out to her that, according to her own description, she had let the child hold the knife while she attended to the other children.

The witness explained that at that time she was welcoming the students into the classroom and that she eventually managed to take the knife away without any danger.

When the questioning expanded to hypothetical scenarios involving objects in the classroom that could cause injury, the representative of the prosecution filed an objection, which the Presiding Judge accepted, ruling that this line of questioning was not relevant to the issues at hand.

Furthermore, there was also a dispute regarding the witness’s statements about domestic violence.

The kindergarten teacher admitted that she had no personal knowledge of any such incident, stating that the information came from third parties and from expressions Stylianos used when he became angry.

Her defense attorney pointed out that she could not know whether the child had heard these expressions at home or anywhere else.

“I can’t know for certain where he heard them. That’s just the impression I formed,” she replied.

“You have your own position, and I have mine.”

The proceedings reached a climax when the defense argued that what Stylianos had told the witness about his mother “does not correspond to reality.”

“That’s your position,” replied the kindergarten teacher.

When the defense attorney insisted that these statements were not true, the witness stated:

“Based on what I knew, the information I had, and what had been reported, I have no reason to believe they were false.”

“So you disagree,” the defense attorney told her.

“Of course. You have your position, and I have mine,” the witness concluded.

The proceedings will continue on Monday at 11:00 a.m. with the cross-examination of the witness by the attorney for the second defendant, Stylianos’s mother.

The case, which is being heard before the Nicosia District Court, concerns the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of 14-year-old Stylianos Konstantinou, with the Court examining potential liability both within the family and on the part of government agencies.

The proceedings focus, among other things, on whether there were instances of abuse or neglect within the family, whether the mother was aware of such incidents and failed to report them, as well as whether the relevant Social Welfare Services officials adequately assessed and handled the information before them.

Source: CNA