Pending $9M settlement in Thomas Valva death case could be headed for trial, federal judge warns

The mother of 8-year-old Thomas Valva, who reached a $9 million settlement with Suffolk County after her son died from being forced to sleep in a freezing garage, could soon see the agreement scrapped and instead be forced to take the case to trial, a federal judge said Tuesday during a brief but contentious hearing.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan, who recently took over the case after Thomas' mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva, refused repeated requests from her lawyers to sign the required documents to finalize the settlement, issued an ultimatum from the bench in federal court in Brooklyn.

"There will be no settlement unless the plaintiff [Zubko-Valva] files an infant compromise motion," Cogan said, referring to the required motion that he said must be approved by a judge in settlements involving minors.

If Zubko-Valva doesn't sign off on the motion in 30 days, the judge said, "Then the only other option is, we're going to trial."

Cogan said the trial, which could potentially result in the county paying Zubko-Valva millions more, would begin in June.

Zubko-Valva — who had begged the previous presiding judge to expedite the payout of the settlement to prevent her and her two surviving sons from being kicked out of their Valley Stream home, which is in foreclosure — told Cogan that an infant compromise motion is not needed because 95% of the lawsuit's claims pertain to her, not her children.

"No, you're wrong! Don't tell me!" the judge shouted to Zubko-Valva, who appeared via a Zoom video link. "No, don't tell me that! You're not a lawyer! You don't know!"

Cogan, a veteran judge who also presides over high-profile criminal cases, had a low tolerance for Zubko-Valva, repeatedly and firmly telling her to stop talking during the half-hour conference.

Zubko-Valva, who parted ways with her first attorney and has publicly accused her current legal team of misconduct and unnecessarily prolonging the case, which they vehemently deny, continued to speak to the judge despite his instructions.

"You're not listening to me. You cannot speak if you have lawyers," Cogan said. "You're not listening to me!"

Zubko-Valva replied: "My lawyers do not address my requests to the court."

The judge countered: "Then get yourself new lawyers."

Zubko-Valva's attorney, Thomas Bosworth, of Philadelphia, told the judge he had "made every effort under the sun" to get his client to comply with the court's instructions, but she has refused to communicate with him and his co-counsel.

Bosworth said he is "ready, willing and able to litigate the case."

When Bosworth reminded the judge that Zubko-Valva had previously refused to sit for a deposition before the settlement was reached, Cogan replied: "If she does it again, I'll dismiss her case."

Thomas was killed on Jan. 17, 2020, by his NYPD officer father, Michael Valva, and Valva's then-fiancee, Angela Pollina, who forced the boy to sleep in an unheated garage, and starved and beat him. Thomas died from hypothermia.

Valva and Pollina were both convicted of second-degree murder and are serving sentences of 25 years to life in upstate prisons.

Thomas' death resulted in a series of reforms to Suffolk's Child Protective Services. School officials had testified at Valva and Pollina's trials that they "flooded" a CPS child abuse hotline with reports of Thomas frequently coming to school starving and bruised, but the children remained in his father's custody.

Zubko-Valva had lost custody of her children about two years before Thomas' death and had refused court-ordered supervised visits with Thomas and his brothers.

Following Thomas' death, Zubko-Valva filed a $200 million wrongful death suit against the county and seven CPS supervisors and investigators; Valva and Pollina; several attorneys and law offices involved in the placement of the children; and the East Moriches school district and administrators. The settlement was reached in 2025, but the finalization of it has hit a series of snags as Zubko-Valva has contested several issues.

Zubko-Valva rejected an earlier proposal for distribution of the settlement, which called for her to receive $2 million immediately and for trusts in the amounts of about $2 million apiece to be established for her two surviving sons, Anthony and Andrew.

The remaining $3 million would have been set aside for Zubko-Valva's attorneys. Her former attorney, Jon Norinsberg, has argued he is entitled to be paid. But Zubko-Valva has argued that neither her current attorney nor her previous one are entitled to any of the money, despite her signing agreements with each that stipulated they would be paid a portion of any settlement reached. 

Zubko-Valva, in her attempts Tuesday to get Cogan to take her side, said her lawyers had not followed her directions to subpoena the county for records.

Cogan said she could sue them for malpractice if she feels they didn't provide adequate legal representation.

"Then fire them and proceed yourself," Cogan said. "It's gonna be destined to fail."

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.