Proceedings For Danielle Stislicki's Alleged-Murderer Pushed to 2021 Due To COVID-19 Concerns
CBS Detroit - Danielle Stislicki went missing in December of 2016. After an exhaustive search, her body still hasn't been found. However, according to the Detroit News, police said they found enough evidence to charge Floyd Galloway Jr. with her homicide. When he was arraigned in the 47th District Court at a September 2019 preliminary hearing.
Stislicki who worked at the Metlife building in Southfield was seen by a co-worker, who testified back then that he saw her and Galloway in the passenger seat of her car leaving the parking lot. Galloway was a security guard and a convicted sex offender. Police think that he somehow got her to his Berkley home. Danielle's mother testified back then that she was acquainted with Galloway, but was not interested in him romantically.
After the preliminary trial, District Court Judge James Brady ruled there was enough evidence to proceed to trial. This ruling came after Oakland County Medical Examiner Dr. Ljubisa J. Dragovic testified that he came to the conclusion Stislicki died of asphyxiation, even though her body was never found. Basing his opinion on police reports and "common sense" according to MLive.
On Monday, Hometown Life reported that Circuit Court Judge Phyllis McMillen told attorneys in the Stislicki case that she cannot manage the case until she hears back from the Michigan Court of Appeals. As it is reviewing the prosecution and defense of Galloway. Over a Zoom session McMillen said, "Technically, I have no authority at this point to do anything with the case. Is that correct?" The attorneys agreed and Mcmillen replied, "We should not be rescheduling anything until after the first of the year."
So for now they have scheduled a January 14, 2021 hearing, which according to Hometown Life will be followed by more motions and proceedings. Circuit Court judge McMillen said that they are delayed in how they can proceed because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, "...because we can only do one jury selection per day for the whole courthouse,". Mcmillen then said, "It's the only way we can do social distancing with the jury office set up the way we have it. We can only do one trial per floor for the duration of the trial.".
According to Mcmillen, there are three courtrooms to a floor, and for a trial to happen one room has to be used for the jury, one for public viewing, and one for the trial itself. Tied with a backlog of cases involving juveniles, custody, abuse, and neglect getting higher priority, the court's docket is tied up.
The other factor in holding Galloway's trial is the amount of COVID-19 cases. Oakland County Health Division could close the court down if there is a rise in COVID cases. As hometown Life reported, "If they tell us 'you're shut down,' we're shut down," Judge Mcmillan said. "The good news is that we are proceeding and the health department is pretty confident that the procedures we've put in place will safeguard everybody."
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