MAY NOT BE UNIQUE, BUT IS CERTAINLY UNUSUAL

by Bob Walsh

Murder trials are unfortunately a dime a dozen. The murder trial against Michael Slager, 42, of Ohio, accused of murdering his girlfriend Judy Malinowski, 33, in 2015 by burning her to death is kind of unusual in that the victim was the principle witness against him.

Ms. Malinowski survived the attack on her for two years, eventually passing due to her injuries. (In days gone by the death had to occur in not more than one year and one day after the attack to be considered to be caused by the event. Changes in medicine have extended that time in many jurisdictions.)

Last week a judge ruled that the deathbed testimonial Malinowski gave, which was given from her bed in a hospital five months before her death, was in fact valid. The testimony was video taped. Approximately 2/3 of the elapsed time of the tape was cross examination by Slager's attorney so the video tape testimony could not reasonably be considered to be one-sided.

Dying declarations are not that uncommon but actual testimony in cases like this is much more common in fiction than in reality. According to the AP there is no documented precedent reasonably close to this. I have no doubt the defendant will appeal. With a bit of luck that appeal will be unsuccessful. Even courts that love criminals are not fond of burning people to death. It's considered tacky.