Shalom Aleichem Chavrei HaKollel hakedosha
We have already learnt in court procedures with Dinei Nefashos, that the guilty sentence is issued in the morning and he is immediately brought out to his execution.
So how is it possible that an accused Rotzeach, who didn't have a Gemar Din ...
How can there be a group of convicted murders standing around that the non-sentenced murderer mixed with them. If they all had a Gmar Din how have they not been executed yet?
2. Conceptually I'm having difficulty how all the dayanim and Witnesses forgot what the person looks like? How is that possible? How is it possible that they don't recognized anyone they did a Gmar Din Shel Rotzeach?
Avrahom , United States
Shalom Avrahom!
There are several approaches to answering this question and I hope at least one of them will satisfy your thirst for knowledge.
You write, "how is it possible that an accused Rotze'ach..." -- when what you are really asking is "isn't this highly improbable? If Beis Din follows the protocols, this would never occur." That is true, but life doesn't always go the way we expect. There could be a sudden hurricane or an attack by an enemy power that would force Beis Din to delay the process, so we would need to know the Halachah in such a case.
About question 2, I'm not sure. Although the witnesses certainly must confirm the identity of the accused in front of the Beis Din, I don't remember any source that says that the Dayanim have any need to personally recognize the Rotze'ach. And what if a witness dies?
However, I think that the true answer is that it is the way of the Gemara to cite examples, even far from reality, in order to bring out a specific Halachic point, even if this would [almost] never occur in reality. The classic example would be of a man who falls off of the roof and lands in just such a way to correctly have relations with his Yevamah (Bava Kama 27a). This is about as far from reality as we can go, but the example serves as an excellent illustration of the limitations of what is called an intentional act and what is not. So, too, in this case, even if the occurrence seems to be counter to Halachah and logic, it is still a legitimate vehicle to teach us the principles involved.
I hope this answers your question.
Shimon Brodie