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A rideshare driver has been released on bail after he was accused of killing a young lawyer in a terror attack allegedly sparked by police who allege the accused man was illegally using his phone at the time of the crash.
Zisi Kokotatsios, 63, appeared in Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday to make an application for bail after spending the night in custody.
Police allege he was illegally using his phone while driving along Fletcher St in the eastern Sydney suburb of Tamarama about 10am. 04.00 on 17 March on the way to pick up a carpool customer.
Zisi Kokotatsios (pictured) has been released on bail after being charged over a hit-and-run death
On Saturday, the police prosecutor said surveillance footage had captured the moment Mr Kokotatsios allegedly hit Mitch East and his car was ‘lifted up’.
“An audible impact sound was captured on CCTV near the scene and the vehicle was seen slowing down significantly before fleeing,” he said.
‘There is no doubt that the driver of the vehicle knew he had hit something.’
Despite the best efforts of the paramedics, Mr. East was pronounced dead at the scene.
The court heard that the 28-year-old lawyer had been lying in the street at the time of impact.
Police allege Mr Kokotatsios had been distracted because he was using his mobile phone while driving so he did not see Mr East on the road.
“The accused did the wrong thing and because of that someone has died,” the police prosecutor said.
He claimed the driver did not stop to check or help the injured man, but instead continued to drive.
“If he had stopped and looked, he would have seen a person lying there dying,” the prosecutor said.
Mitch East (pictured with his girlfriend, Natasha Dunsbee-Brown), 28, was found with critical head and chest injuries by a passer-by in Fletcher Street, in Tamarama, just after 8pm.
He noted that the 63-year-old had been charged with using his mobile phone while driving last December, which he claimed showed a pattern of disregard for road safety.
However, Kokotatsios’ lawyer Mohamad Sakr argued that police ‘lack substantial evidence’ to prove his client illegally used his mobile phone, which was kept in a permitted holster.
He rejected the prosecutor’s claim that the case against his client was “compelling”, claiming there were a number of problems” and “clear concerns” with the prosecution’s case.
“It is accepted that Mr Kokotatsios hit something,” he said.
“We don’t know … that it was actually my client who killed this young man.”
Sakr questioned whether police had viable evidence that Kokotatsios’ actions “actually caused the death”.
He said the alleged victim had posed a risk to himself by lying on the ground and claimed his client would have stopped to render aid if he had known he had hit someone.
Officers are pictured processing the crime scene in Tamarama on Sunday following the alleged hit-and-run
The court heard that the driver sometimes relies on glasses when driving.
The judge agreed there were “difficulties” with the prosecution’s case related to the cause of Mr East’s death and “what (Mr Kokotatsios) was doing when he was driving”.
“That was all for another day,” he said.
He granted the rideshare driver bail under strict conditions, which require him to report to the police once a week and not to go near any international point of departure.
The 63-year-old will return to court in May.
He faces charges of failing to stop and render assistance following vehicle impact causing death, dangerous driving causing death – dangerous driving, careless driving (occasional death) and driver using mobile phone when not permitted.