Angela Pollina Will Take Stand Tuesday In Valva Murder Trial: Lawyer

LONG ISLAND, NY — Angela Pollina — former fiancée of Michael Valva, an ex-NYPD officer convicted of murder in the death of his 8-year-old son Thomas, who died of hypothermia after being forced to sleep in his father's frigid garage — is slated to take the stand in her own defense Tuesday.

Matthew Tuohy, Pollina's defense attorney, told Patch that Pollina will take the stand after the prosecution rests its case. He said she will be the only witness he calls to the stand.

After the prosecution cross-examines Pollina, closing arguments will follow and then, the jury will deliberate.

Tuohy maintains Pollina's innocence, as he has from the start of the proceedings. "So far, the evidence is emotionally driven, but the facts show clearly she is not guilty of a murder and that it's Valva that acted alone in killing his son."

Tuohy added: "He did it. He committed the acts. And she tried to help the boy."

Valva and Pollina were arrested Jan. 24, 2020, and charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Each faced 25 years to life in prison, and both pleaded not guilty.

Jurors convicted Valva of second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child in Thomas' death. The boy froze to death in the Center Moriches garage. His father was sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars.

Opening arguments were heard last week. Since then, teachers and the principal from East Moriches Elementary School have offered emotional testimony, as they did in Valva's trial, describing the boys, who came to school bruised, soaked in urine, starving, and always cold. Detectives and others who responded to the home have also testified.

Pollina is "100 percent going to take the stand," Tuohy said last week. "She's going to own up to what she didn't do — commit the crime."

It was Valva who washed Thomas with water from an icy spigot in 19-degree weather, Tuohy said. Pollina wasn't the only person there; the housekeeper was also present, he said. And Pollina brought towels to help, he said.

Tuohy added, on Monday: "She's going to walk on the murder charge because Michael Valva committed all three stages of the acts. Despite bad prior acts, behavior, and treatment of the boys, she had no part in his death. In fact, when the boy was in distress she tried to help him in all three stages, in contrast with someone that acts with depraved indifference."

On Monday, Suffolk Police Sgt. Norberto Flores testified about text messages and videos sent from Pollina to Valva that showed Thomas desperately trying to stay warm by wrapping a towel from the laundry in the garage around himself months before he died, according to Newsday.

"He is not coming into this house,” Pollina said, according to the Newsday post.

During Valva's trial, one witness, a plumber, said he saw Pollina throw a child down the stairs. There was also evidence shown of texts reflecting Pollina's frustration with the incontinence of Thomas and his older brother and her stating that she did not want them in the house. Valva's defense team painted an image of Valva as a man stressed over finances, who had nowhere to go with his boys if he had to leave the home he shared with Pollina.

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

Thomas' mother Justyna Zubko-Valva pleaded for help on her Twitter page before her son died. In 2020, Zubko-Valva filed a $200 million wrongful death suit.

Zubko-Valva has not responded to requests for comment.

In June, a judge ruled that portions of the $200 million lawsuit filed by Zubko-Valva after Thomas died can move forward, a judge ruled.