Judge Denies Request To Drop Valva's Murder Charge; Prosecution Rests

LONG ISLAND, NY — The prosecution rested its case Thursday in the trial of ex-NYPD officer Michael Valva, whose son Thomas, 8 froze to death in his father's garage in 2020 — and the defense then asked Judge William Condon that the murder charge be dismissed.

According to attorney John LoTurco, at the conclusion of the prosecution's case, the defense argued that the murder count should be dismissed, based upon the "insufficient presentment of evidence related to that charge. We submitted that the prosecution's evidence failed to establish that Michael Valva demonstrated a depraved indifference towards Thomas' life as shown by his efforts to save Thomas' life, once he realized he was in true medical distress, as well as his obvious parental concern throughout Thomas' life, despite the conceded clear evidence of child maltreatment."

He added: "We expected Judge Condon to deny our motion at this stage of the proceedings, but we preserved our client's future remedies if needed, and we will go forward with our defense, including final summations to the jury at the end of the trial."

Before resting her case, Assistant District Attorney Kerriann Kelly turned to Valva and said, "You failed as a parent," according to a witness in the courtroom.

Also, the defense brought Dr. Melina Khwaja, to the stand.

Valva, along with his then-fiancee Angela Pollina, who will have a separate trial, were arrested Jan. 24, 2020, and charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, each faces 25 years to life in prison. Both have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed without bail.

Prosecutors have said Thomas and his brother, who had autism, were forced to sleep in the frigid garage as temperature outside plummeted to 19 degrees. When he died, Thomas' body temperature was 76.1 degrees, 20 degrees lower than it should have been, prosecutors added.

On Wednesday, Dr. Michael Caplan, who was Suffolk's chief medical examiner on Jan. 17, 2020, the day Thomas died, discussed the deadly hypothermia that he said was the cause of Thomas' death.

During opening arguments, Assistant District Attorney Laura Newcomb told the jury that Thomas, who had autism and incontinence issues, had an accident and soiled himself, she said. Valva, she said, "began screaming, 'Stop pooping. I should make you eat this ---t.'"

Then Valva took Thomas outside into the cold and hosed him down with icy water from the spigot, she said. Thomas began falling head-first onto the concrete. "What did this father do?" she asked, pointing at Valva. "Did he try to help him? No. He began yelling, 'F--- you, moron, walk!'"

And later, he said of Thomas, "He's cold. Boo f------ hoo," Newcomb said.

Thomas died a few hours later of hypothermia, according to the Suffolk County Medical Office' determination.

Looking back to September 2017, when Valva and Pollina moved in to 11 Bittersweet Lane in Center Moriches, with both Thomas and his brother autistic and finding it difficult to communicate, the boys were "punished if they didn't use their words," given no food, she said.

The boys were starving at school, eating crumbs from the floor and half-eaten food from the trash, Newcomb said. In a year, his brother had lost 20 pounds and Thomas gained only 1 pound, she said.

Also, although both boys had been toilet trained when they began living with Valva and Pollina in 2017, by 2018, they were back in Pull-Ups. Due to their accidents, they were forced to sleep on the floor, on wee wee pads meant for training dogs, Newcomb said.

"When that didn't work, they were forced into the backyard, alone in a tent, while the rest of the family slept upstairs in their warm beds," she said.

The boys were next "exiled to the two-car garage with the unwanted items. A life-size Halloween werewolf. A Christmas tree. No heat. No insulation. By the time of Thomas' death, the boys were living out of the garage."

There was also physical abuse, Newcomb said. The boys were slapped and punched; teachers reported red marks, scrapes and bruises, and their soiled clothes reeked of urine, she said.The jury will see proof, Newcomb said, because 11 Bittersweet Lane had a Nest video recording system that saved information to the Cloud.

"You can see the abuse they endured" at the hands of their father, Newcomb said.

And, she added, there are the texts. Newcomb read one that said the boys, if they refused to listen, would be put out in the snow.

Or another: "I will beat them until they bleed," Newcomb read.
And, texted Valva: "When I get home I'm going to f------ handcuff him," Newcomb said.

Defense attorneys, however, maintained that Pollina was the dominant person in the relationship, whose "trigger" was the boys' incontinence that sparked her anger. They said Valva was in financial trouble, and had nowhere to go with his boys, if he left the house where he lived with her.

Witnesses, including teachers at Thomas' school, have sobbed on the stand as they recounted seeing Thomas and his brother starving, cold, with bruises and scratches, and eating crumbs from the floor.

Proceedings will continue Friday in Riverhead. Summation is expected next week, attorneys said.