Andrew L. Urban
In the dead of night, shortly after 4am on Sunday March 17, 2024, 28 year old lawyer Mitch East is found dead, with critical head and chest injuries, lying in the middle of Fletcher St in the Sydney suburb of Tamarama. Zisi Kokotatsios, 63, is Uber-driving his ex-girlfriend’s car on the same street around the same time.
Zisi was alleged to have been illegally using his mobile phone while driving to collect a passenger, police alleged, unaware of the body lying in the road. At the bail hearing, the defence noted he continued picking up passengers after the crash because he was allegedly unaware of the collision, but no specifics about the intended passenger are in the court reporting.
From the news reporting at the time of the incident, there was no clear explanation given for why Mitch East was lying in the road. Police and the court were reported saying that he was already on the road when the vehicle hit him, but it was not known why he was in that position and no specific reasons (such as an activity or cause) were established publicly in those early reports.
It is unclear whether it was the investigation that lacked rigour or the reporting.
The late Mitch East with his girlfriend (photo Instagram/Daily Mail)
The young lawyer, who was a former Harvard Law School student, is understood to have been dropped off by another Uber just moments before he was allegedly struck and left for dead.
About four hours after the alleged incident, Kokotatsios posted a photo on social media of himself and his partner Imelda at a shopping centre.
Zisi, who was the managing director of First Impression Property Group, walked into Granville Police Station just after 11am on the Friday after the Sunday night accident, to reclaim his car, according a report on Nine News. Until then, police didn’t know who was the driver, another bizarre element of this case.
He was arrested and charged with four offences, including negligent driving occasioning death, driving while using a mobile phone, failing to stop and assist a person and dangerous driving.
His tearful ex-girlfriend, Imelda, told Nine News she was shocked and asked rhetorically, “Why did you put him in jail?”
He pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death and failing to stop and assist after a vehicle impact causing death, with additional charges including negligent driving occasioning death and illegal mobile phone use while driving.
The late Zisi Kokotatsios (photo supplied)
According to his LinkedIn profile, Kokotatsios has worked in an array of industries – from hospitality to engineering. He worked as a Qantas engineer between 1989 and 2014, but within that time he also appeared to run his own businesses as a mortgage broker and sold monitoring systems for goods in transit.
Kokotatsios spent a night in a cell on remand before returning to his Bankstown home on Saturday, where he relied on the charity of his neighbours, after his family abandoned him.
Zisi had his arraignment on Friday November 14, and on Tuesday November 18 they were going to set the trial date, but, Zisi was found dead on Sunday November 16. His housemate hadn’t seen him all day Saturday, so, he went to check up on him on the Sunday and found him dead. So, his official date of death was the Sunday, but, it’s possible he died on Saturday. Either way he was dead within 1-2 days after his arraignment. Zisi died in legal limbo, still untried, assumed innocent but smeared by circumstance.
Zisi was diabetic and it seems he purposely wasn’t taking his diabetes pills. Apparently, he was sleeping in to 1 and 2 pm regularly and the ex-partner had been calling him regularly to check whether he was taking his diabetes tablets, and Zisi would tell her he wasn’t.
So, while we don’t know what happened the weekend he died, one source thinks that he felt alone, abandoned by family, depressed and he might have decided not to take his diabetes pills so that he would end his life.
It seems also that the reason he was sleeping in and was share housing is because he wasn’t able to work anymore. For a start the SUV that he was using to work as an Uber driver had been taken away as forensic evidence and it wasn’t released until 22 months later, well after his death.
My sources say that Zisi always insisted that he didn’t know he had hit a person. He said that if he had known he would have stopped. Could Mitch have been dead before he was hit by the SUV Zisi was driving – if indeed it was what happened?
The media had no doubts, The Daily Mail reporting that Mitch was “killed” by Zisi (not “allegedly killed”). Perhaps their certainty was unjustified?
According to numerous media reports Mitch East was lying down on the road ALREADY when allegedly hit by Zisi’s car. And, yet that vital piece of information is mentioned only in passing in most articles, when surely it should be emphasised as a key detail.
This makes it not your usual hit and run scenario, where someone is walking across a road. Even in that scenario the victim might have been difficult to see, but, a person lying down in the dark of night? That would be much harder to see.
And, surely this has to be a far rarer circumstance than your average hit and run scenario?
So, is there even any studies done to say the likelihood of person lying down on a road being visible to a driver who is driving in the dark?
Furthermore, some of the news photos appear to indicate that there is a curve in that road, near the point where the victim was found. So, if Zisi was driving around a curved road, this would make it much more difficult, and perhaps even impossible, for him to see a body lying just beyond the curve. Indeed, as the expression goes, “You can’t see around corners.”
And, what was the weather like that night, was it raining or dry? That would be another factor that would affect conditions.
I hope that Zisi’s lawyer weighs in on all this and gives us some answers.
Furthermore, why is no one asking the obvious question – why was Mitch East allegedly lying on the road to begin with? Presumably there was an autopsy, so, what were the results? Numerous possibilities abound, for instance, did Mitch trip on something, or have a medical episode, or, was he drunk, or drugged up? If Mitch was passed out on the road due to intoxication could that be considered contributory negligence? I think that the media have not asked these questions as they probably didn’t want to “victim blame,” but the reality is the media did not extend the same deference to Zisi, whose misfortune appears to be that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time – driving along, in the dark, on a road that a man just happened to be lying on.
I thank Andrew as being one of the few journalists who has delved into this case further and questioned some of the key issues involved, such as whether Zisi even hit and killed the victim, rather than the usual media bias which often presents the case largely from a prosecution’s viewpoint.
I also thank Adele Lang, the only other journalIst I’ve seen who didn’t adopt the prosecution’s prejudice. Indeed she wrote what I perceive to be a balanced article, exploring both side’s arguments. But, most importantly she led her own article with the vital point that the victim was allegedly already lying on the road prior to being hit.
Whether or not Zisi was in any way negligent that night I do not know, and, sadly, we never will know now. But, I do believe that even the best of drivers would find it hard to avoid hitting a body in such circumstances.
So, here is my concern with this case, if a driver can be charged in such a bizarre and challenging set of circumstances, than that leaves a precedent where any of us could find ourselves in such an impossible situation.
A most tragically sad set of circumstances two men needlessly died. What was the causes
Media and it appears policing set out to besmirch and convict one party. What were the actual facts. not those purportedly discovered by the foregoing unreliable sources.
Yes, valid questions. I guess the police don’t want to open their files and the media won’t push it…in case they end up with egg on face …
What a tragic case, no winners
Wow, how tragic for all. I’m going to assume his family abandoned him due to the publicity of the allegations. For me, that is probably the saddest part about it. The media had made up their mind, and consequently seems to have been taken as gospel by the family, and they acted by leaving him high and dry. I’d love to know why, especially if as it appears, family were so dear to Zisi. Without knowing the dynamics or cultural background I find it unbelievable that family would proactively cut ties before having anything tested in court or otherwise. Was it fear of shame or ridicule? Guilt by association? Even if he was convicted or it was established he was driving the vehicle that hit the lawyer, where is the forgiveness and loyalty? Unconditional parental bond? So extreme.
This story becons more investigating, Andrew. Thanks for bringing it to our attention here. It really does highlight the reality of the world where random people come to grief in fleeting interactions.
Hi Joshua, His family didn’t abandon him, the person who wrote this was only right about the fact that the media tried to post things one sided. This so called ex girlfriend didn’t even attend his funeral, and his beloved family took care of everything they could. The person who wrote this article did not even attempt to reach out to his family or children for that matter.
The article is based on media reports and sources with connection to Zisi’s ex-girlfriend. I have been provided with photos of the ex Girlfriend placing flowers at Zisi’s grave.
His Ex girlfriend was going to attend the viewing (at the funeral home) the day before the funeral and was told it was for family only – she was also told the same about the funeral and that it’s for family only so please do not attend. She was the main/only one supporting him financially as there were no real family ties and he had no source of income. Her own car was impounded until after his death rendering it useless while she was still paying registration and insurance costs and any other ongoing expenses.
There were family politics and dynamics at play before the incident and it probably got worse with the unfolding situation. His Ex girlfriend was visiting his gravesite a week later and was visibly distressed as you would expect given her connection to him.
It was already mentioned in a previous comment that this was ultimately just a loss for both sides, and that should have been the final word when the press eventually worked out he was already dead nearly 2 months before they even noticed. So congratulations to the press for their investigative reporting – Sensationalism always sells. Of course doesn’t end there because as usual the mainstream media had already chosen the narrative and continues to run with it – “Zisi dies and escapes justice” – you would think at the very least his own incidental death was punishment enough.
Andrew is the only one with the integrity to investigate it both objectively and subjectively in an effort to find out what actually happened from start to finish.
Thanks again to you Andrew for your interest in the matter.