Michael Valva Won't Take Witness Stand In Murder Trial: Attorney

RIVERHEAD, NY — Michael Valva will not take the stand to testify Wednesday as was initially thought possible, his attorney confirmed Tuesday.

After weeks of explosive and anguished testimony in the murder trial of ex-NYPD officer Valva, whose son Thomas, 8, froze to death in his father's garage in 2020 — it was initially thought that Valva could take the stand. Defense attorney John LoTurco, said Valva was scheduled to be Wednesday's witness, "if he chooses to testify."

On Tuesday, LoTurco told Patch the defense rested its case. There will be no proceedings Wednesday, and summations are expected to begin Thursday morning in Riverhead, he said.

Valva, along with his then-fianceé 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.

During the last day of testimony Tuesday, Newsday reported that Tony Mascia, head of security of Long Island Community Hospital, where Thomas was declared dead, said Valva was "distraught." NYPD Transit officer Kenneth Wengert also testified that Valva was crying, wailing and moaning after seeing his son's body at the morgue.

Newsday also reported that a series of texts were shown Tuesday, with Pollina accusing Valva of wanting his three boys, so he didn't have to pay child support to their mother. According to Newsday, Valva's text said: "Of course I love my kids — I’m no deadbeat dad." And Pollina countered: "You want a life with me, then give them back."

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.

Last week, 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.