Angela Pollina's murder trial in Thomas Valva's death expected to begin Wednesday with jury selection

Angela Pollina has been portrayed in court as the evil stepmother, the force behind 8-year-old Thomas Valva’s banishment to a freezing garage, where he laid on a slab of concrete in the hours before he died from hypothermia more than three years ago.

At her upcoming trial, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday with jury selection at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, Pollina’s attorney, Matthew Tuohy, said he’s not going to run away from some of the more unflattering facts about his client.

But he said it is indisputable that the 45-year-old mother of three daughters didn’t spray Thomas with cold water outside the house during subfreezing temperatures, or place him in a bath afterward — actions that experts have previously testified likely led to Thomas’ death.

“She's been vilified and comes off as really not nice in a lot of ways, but she didn’t do the act and a jury can’t convict her of something just because they don’t like her,” said her Huntington-based attorney.

During the trial, jurors will likely hear and see much of the same evidence that was used last year to convict her ex-fiance, former NYPD Officer Michael Valva, of murder in his son Thomas’ death: the videos from the Center Moriches home surveillance system showing Thomas and his older brother, Anthony, sleeping uncovered on the floor of the garage, the text messages in which Pollina rages about Valva’s sons and the testimony from a plumber who said he watched Pollina throw one of the boys down the stairs, while screaming and swearing.

But Tuohy, in his planned presentation to the jury, said he will focus on the events of Jan. 17, 2020 — the day that Thomas died — in an attempt to demonstrate that his client played no role in the child's death.

“I'm not going to try to justify things that happened or things that were texted or said,” said Tuohy. “I’m going to hone in on the act. You don't get convicted because you're not a nice person or didn’t handle things the best way.”

Tuohy said Michael Valva, who’s currently serving his sentence of 25 years to life in an upstate prison about 20 miles south of the Canadian border, is solely responsible for killing Thomas — despite the prosecution’s allegation that the then-engaged pair “acted in concert” to cause his death.

“The father, on his own, put the boy in a bath and he passed away,” said Tuohy. “It's terribly tragic. But the father was in control from the beginning to the end. She just happened to be there.”

The district attorney’s office has declined to comment, with a spokeswoman saying it doesn’t comment on pending trials.

Prosecutors object vigorously to the assertion that Pollina was merely a witness. Pollina is charged with second-degree murder in Thomas’ death and with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child in the alleged abuse of both Thomas and his older brother, Anthony. Pollina, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, has been held without bail since her arrest about a week after Thomas died.

Prosecutors have alleged that Valva and Pollina forced Thomas and Anthony, both on the autism spectrum, to sleep in the garage while the temperature was 19 degrees as punishment for bathroom accidents. The boys were fully potty trained before they went to live with their father and Pollina and only had issues because Pollina denied them access to the bathroom while their father worked long shifts as a NYPD transit police officer, prosecutors have said.

Jon Norinsberg, the attorney for Justyna Zubko-Valva — Thomas' mother — who is suing Suffolk County and Child Protective Services for $200 million for failing to protect her sons, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Thomas and Anthony’s teachers testified during Michael Valva’s trial that the boys often complained about being cold and came to school complaining of hunger. One teacher said Thomas told her he wasn’t fed breakfast because he didn’t “use my words” or verbally greet Pollina or call her “mommy.”

In text messages between Pollina and Valva displayed for the jury during Valva’s trial, Pollina complained about the boys to Valva. When Valva pushed back against the boys sleeping in the garage, Pollina told him to move out if he didn’t like it, testimony in the trial showed.

In a Feb. 25, 2019 text shown to the Valva jury, Pollina wrote to her then-fiance: “If you’re not going to have it any more than you could take him and you could leave. Not a problem. I’m not having him in this house anymore. …. You’re using his autism as an excuse.”

She added: “You baby him.”

Valva was in charge of parenting his children, while she concentrated on her three daughters, Tuohy said. She wanted the relationship with Valva to work, he said.

“Could she have been kinder? 100%,” he said.

At his sentencing, Michael Valva wept and told the court he was sorry.

“I’m regretful, ashamed, heartbroken and grief-stricken, standing here before you, having contributed to the death of my son Thomas," Valva read from a prepared statement. "I loved Thomas with all my heart as I still love Anthony and Andrew. Never in my worst nightmare would I have imagined being responsible for Thomas’ death. My sons mean everything to me. I wanted them to grow up in a loving and happy family."

For his part, Tuohy said the jury selection process will be important and his goal is to find “open-minded” people who are well-educated and understand that “things happen” in complicated family situations.

“People with emotional intelligence who are fair, people who are going to follow the law,” Tuohy said of his ideal jury.

Tuohy demurred when asked about who he might call as witnesses as he seeks to rebuff the prosecution, although he said Pollina will definitely take the stand, saying she will “100%” testify in her own defense — somewhat of a rarity for murder defendants.

One person who says he plans to watch the trial is Gino Cali, the father of one of Pollina’s three daughters. He has custody of their 11-year-old daughter.

Cali, 48, a carpenter who lives in Amityville, said he had talks with the prosecution and the defense about possibly testifying during Valva’s trial, but he ultimately wasn’t asked by either side. This time, he’s planning on being an almost daily spectator at the trial on the 4th floor of the Riverhead courthouse, he said.

Whatever happens at the end of the trial, Cali says one fact won't change.

"At the end of the day, it doesn’t bring Thomas back,” Cali said.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.