Finding Madalina: Stepfather Palmiter’s trial set to start after delay over new evidence
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A criminal trial is scheduled Tuesday for the stepfather of the missing Cornelius girl following a delay over new evidence presented by the prosecution.
The trial was delayed again on Tuesday morning due to a busy Superior Court schedule. A clerk inside the courtroom told QCN that another trial had to wrap up before Christopher Palmiter’s could start. Palmiter’s defense attorney Bandon Roseman filed a motion to continue the trial due to what they state is new evidence the state turned over to them just a few days before being set to go to trial. Roseman said the state turned over a recorded conversation between a cousin and Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari.
Diana is Palmiter’s wife, and during this conversation, she asks for a cousin’s help in getting her and Madalina out of the country. She allegedly states to the cousin that Palmiter did not know of her plans and that she was not afraid of him, but rather was afraid of an unknown third party.
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The defense also said the state provided new evidence that Diana was sending large sums of money out of the country, which the defense argued was pertinent to the case despite the state saying it was not. The defense is arguing the money details are relevant and could prove that Palmiter did not know Madalina was missing. Palmiter is only charged with failure to report a missing child. Queen City News will be in the courtroom when the trial begins.
Diana Cojocari released from jail
On Monday, Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty to charges of failing to report a missing child to law enforcement. She was released from jail on Tuesday afternoon, May 21.
Diana Cojocari has been jailed since December 2022. In a Mecklenburg County court hearing Monday, she was sentenced to time served for the over 500 days she was incarcerated.
The judge said she had already served what would have been the maximum sentence for the failure to report charge.
Last fall, Madalina’s grandmother Rodica made some explosive comments outside a courtroom accusing Palmiter of trafficking her granddaughter.
Madalina Cojocari remains missing to this day. She would now be 13 years old.
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