Slava Voynov Update 5.0 – Pre-Trial Rules on Admissable Evidence and Testimony

On Friday, May 8th the Slava Voynov Trial Saga continued.

First off a shout out to Rich Hammond of the Orange County Register for great coverage and reporting in print and via twitter during the trial and hearings.

Here’s a breakdown of the relevant facts:

Three individuals will be allowed to testify, one will not, and one is still up in the air.

Gregory Wiist – a Redondo Beach Police Officer, Ronnie Liston – a Little Company of Mary Medical Center security guard, and Lily Juantuah – a nurse can testify.

The testimony of social worker Justin Weber was ruled inadmissible by sitting Judge Eric C. Taylor.

The one individual whose testimony is up in the air?

Marta Varlamova – Slava Voynov’s wife.

Los Angeles Kings

With all the names of the players out in the open, this is starting to sound like a long, expensive, serious game of Clue.

Basically, the prosecution made the major advances.  Varlamova’s interactions with the three witnesses would be considered hearsay without her testimony available to corroborate their stories.  With the ruling that was handed down on Friday, the prosecution would be allowed to submit the witnesses testimony without infringing hearsay if Varlamova refuses to testify.

So the way it works out is if Marta Varlamova chooses not to testify, the three above mentioned individuals can testify.  If Marta chooses to testify, the other three testimonies will be inadmissible should her testimony or comments conflict with those of the other witnesses.

To help explain, part of this basis comes from the defense’s claim that Varlamova’s comments to the ‘three blind mice’ (they’re like on-ice officials); comments to the three prosecution witnesses were coerced.  Allegedly, Varlamova was refused medical attention, despite her upset (crying), and injured (bleeding) state until she told the trio what had transpired.

To get out of testifying and avoid being in contempt of court Varlamova agreed Friday to enroll in domestic-violence counseling sessions.

Pretty twisted that the alleged victim is the one that has to enroll in domestic-violence counseling.

Varlamova is scheduled to return to Judge Taylor’s court on May 27th to declare whether she will testify or not.

The prosecution also presented a tape of Varlamova sobbing and telling the above mentioned parties that she had been at a party with Slava and other Kings players, alcohol was present, the couple began arguing, and an altercation started then turned more violent upon the couples return to their Redondo Beach home.

Other parts of the tape demonstrated Varlamova speaking in English, telling Officer Gregory Wiist, “My husband hit me.”  Varlamova’s ability to speak English has been a point of contention between the two sides throughout these proceedings.

Social worker Justin Weber’s testimony was ruled inadmissible because, by his own words he used some, “arm-twisting” techniques to get answers out of Varlamova.  With that admission Judge Taylor ruled out Weber as a possible witness.

Many questions still loom in this case of alleged domestic abuse.

We’ll continue to follow this story as it unfolds.

May 21, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov (26) against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of game four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at HP Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports