Appeals court upholds suppression of bank card evidence in Danielle Stislicki case

Prosecutors who appealed an Oakland County decide’s ruling final 12 months that withheld proof from the financial institution card of Danielle Stislicki’s suspected killer not too long ago misplaced their bid.

In an unpublished Jan. 9 opinion, an Appeals Court docket panel dominated that Floyd Galloway Jr.’s buy of a brand new comforter shortly after Stislicki disappeared greater than 9 years in the past can’t be introduced at his trial in Oakland County Circuit Court docket — scheduled for Feb. 2.

Galloway, 38, is charged with first-degree homicide within the dying of Stislicki, who went lacking after leaving work on December 2, 2016. Galloway, a former safety guard who knew her from their job at MetLIfe in Southfield, was reportedly the final individual seen with Stislicki, who was 28 years outdated on the time.

The case has been embroiled in authorized wrangling lately, most notably over a number of items of proof from Galloway’s leaked polygraph, which have been deemed inadmissible for trial. The most recent COA ruling is tied to Galloway’s assertion — in line with the polygraph as reported in court docket filings and testimony at hearings — that Stislicki’s physique was wrapped in a beige and brown comforter. Financial institution card information present Galloway purchased a comforter at Mattress Tub & Past two days after Stislicki went lacking, allegedly as a alternative.

An Oakland County medical expert decided that Stislicki, of Farmington Hills, was a murder sufferer, killed by some type of power, corresponding to strangulation or different methodology of asphyxiation. Her physique has not been discovered.

The appeals court docket judges agreed with legal professional Ellen Michaels that Galloway’s Fourth Modification protections towards unreasonable search and seizure have been violated when investigators obtained his TCF financial institution card info exhibiting the acquisition; his pockets, which was seized when Galloway’s dwelling in Berkley was searched, was not listed within the search warrant. The judges additionally stated investigators used privileged attorney-client info from the leaked polygraph to determine Galloway’s financial institution.

The January 9 COA opinion states partly: “We can not conclude that Galloway’s TCF checking account and his transaction at Mattress Tub & Past would have been inevitably found, independently of any constitutional violation… The plaintiff has introduced no proof to assist the conclusion that legislation enforcement would have inevitably found Galloway’s monetary information at TCF Financial institution, which might have led to proof of the Mattress Tub & Past transaction… The plaintiff as an alternative depends on speculative assertions, that are inadequate to fulfill the burden of the prosecutor.”

Galloway is serving a 16- to 35-year jail sentence for the kidnapping, assault and battery of a lady in Wayne County’s Hines Park three months earlier than Stislicki disappeared.