By Aaron Miller-
A Michigan Court Of Appeal is to decide whether a past attack by criminal Floyd Galloway on a Hines Park runner may be used against him in a murder case he is being tried for.
Defence attorney Ellen Michaels and the state’s Assistant Attorney General Scott Shimkus stated their positions Wednesday during a 20-minute hearing conducted via zoom.
Galloway, a 33-year-old state prison inmate from Berkley,(pictured) is accused of murdering Danielle Stislicki, whose body has never been found. Stislicki’s DNA was found in Galloway’s bedroom
The 28-year-old Farmington Hills woman was last reported seen with Galloway on Dec. 2, 2016. She became a missing person, prompting a search through Hines Park.
It follows details shared by a medical examiner shared details about what happens when a person is strangled and asphyxiated and how that could explain Stislicki’s death and the lack of blood found in Galloway’s home. Michaels plans to protest this strangulation hypothesis as well.
Galloway was sentenced about a year later to up to 35 years behind bars because of a Sept. 4, 2016, unrelated Hines Park assault he pleaded guilty to. Now, prosecutors want to use the crime he committed in the park, as a pointer to his guilt in the murder case in hand.
Michaels argued that Hines Park evidence would be wrongly used to paint Galloway as “a bad guy” with evil intent.
“The petitioner is trying to use their speculation of what happened in this case to argue why these prior acts should be allowed in,” she said. “They don’t know what happened. What we know is that Danielle Stislicki is missing.
“They are trying to bootstrap their version of events by allowing this prior incident into evidence. It is speculation that when they drove off together there was evil intent. There is no evidence to that.
County prosecutors never filed charges against Galloway in connection with Stislicki’s death. State prosecutors did not officially charge him with Stislicki’s murder until March 2019.
Shimkus argued Wednesday that evidence gathered in the Hines Park investigation should be used in Galloway’s trial because it implies motive and intent while ruling out death by accident or mistake.
“The People must prove intent to kill along with premeditation and deliberation,” Shimkus said. “The evidence on the attack (at Hines Park) goes certainly towards motive because it shows why Mr. Galloway wanted to get Danielle to his house and what he intended to do with her while she was there.”
The deliberating panel consisted of judges Mark Cavanagh, Kathleen Jansen and Douglas Shapiro. Shapiro interrupted Shimkus, wanting the “things that match up” between the cases.
Shimkus petitioned for the following connections:
Both crimes happened during Galloway’s work hours on days when he called in to report that he wouldn’t be in and needed someone to cover for him. Shimkus proposed that, in each case, Galloway created a “manufactured opportunity” that he then used as a false alibi.
Galloway selected locations for his attacks. In September 2016, he picked the park. Months later, he picked Stislicki’s place of work, the MetLife offices in Southfield. In both situations, he moved the women to places of further isolation — toward water at Hines Park and toward his home with Stislicki.
“He faked car trouble to get her to take him home that (Dec. 2, 2016) day even though we know from his car moving later on that he wasn’t actually experiencing any car trouble,” Shimkus said.
Galloway apparently choked the Hines Park runner. Testimony during a preliminary examination indicated Stislicki and Galloway knew each other because he once worked as a MetLife building security guard.
“The other very strong parallel in this case is the appearance of the two victims,” said Shimkus, adding that both female victims were Caucasian, petite, dark-haired and wore glasses. “They look similar. The jurors should have more information, not less.”
Shimkus wants the panel to overturn Oakland County Circuit Judge Phyllis McMillen’s opinion that the similarities should not be used for trial.
Jansen challenged the possible use of the similar evidence and how jurors would judge it to determine if Galloway murdered Stislicki.
“You have about the best evidence that you could have: that someone actually saw the defendant in the victim’s car,” Jansen said. “That’s pretty irrefutable evidence I would suggest.”
Many supporters of Danielle Stislicki, who advertised the missing young woman’s plight, showed up to the 47th District Court with information painted on the windows of their vehicles.
Image:hometimelife.com