Attorneys representing Floyd Galloway, the man charged with the 2016 killing of Danielle Stislicki, are demanding the complete removal of key police investigators from the homicide prosecution. In a newly filed motion submitted to Oakland County Circuit Court, the defense argues that the detectives assigned to the case were fundamentally tainted by access to privileged information that should never have been disclosed to law enforcement.
The legal request, filed by defense attorney Ellen Michaels, specifically targets Detectives Robert Gerak and Ryan Molloy alongside Sgt. Chad Double, all members of the Farmington Hills Police Department. Michaels is urging the court to prohibit these officers, as well as any other law enforcement personnel who reviewed Galloway's privileged defense materials, from further substantive involvement and to mandate that any ongoing prosecution be turned over to an entirely clean, untainted investigative unit.
At the core of the defense's argument is the contention that investigators who have digested privileged defense insights cannot simply compartmentalize that knowledge. Michaels asserts that once an investigator's analytical framework has been guided by confidential defense disclosures, establishing administrative boundaries or excising documents from case files fails to cure the constitutional contamination.
In her written motion, Michaels stressed the subtle yet profound ways prior exposure influences police judgment during active litigation. She emphasized that an investigator with knowledge of protected defense details will naturally allow that perspective to shape which leads to pursue, which witnesses deserve focus, how testimony should be developed, and what specific narratives are communicated to incoming prosecutors, thereby carrying the improper influence forward without necessarily uttering the protected details.
The murder prosecution against Galloway has been pending since 2019 and remains entangled in extensive appellate challenges and protracted disputes surrounding the suppression of illicitly obtained evidence. Galloway faces a count of first-degree murder tied to the December 2016 disappearance of Stislicki, an event that triggered widespread searches across the region.
Although Stislicki’s remains have never been located, state prosecutors allege that Galloway orchestrated the encounter by feigning mechanical issues with his vehicle to convince Stislicki to offer him a ride, subsequently murdering her. Galloway is currently serving a prison sentence of 16 to 35 years following an unrelated 2016 kidnapping conviction in Livonia.
The legal controversy tracing through the murder case stems from actions taken by former FBI agent Jim Hoppe, who administered a polygraph test on Galloway. Hoppe broke confidentiality and shared the substantive findings of that examination with Gary Mayer, who was serving as the police chief in Troy at the time.
During that exchange, Hoppe reportedly conveyed Galloway's identity as a prime suspect along with specific allegations concerning his activities on the night Stislicki vanished. Hoppe requested that his identity remain concealed and justified his breach by expressing urgency that critical physical evidence might be buried or permanently lost in an imminent snowstorm.
Following that disclosure, Mayer transferred the confidential tip to Charles Nebus, the then-chief of the Farmington Hills Police Department, who oversaw the jurisdiction handling Stislicki's missing person and murder investigation. The handoff subsequently triggered a cascading series of evidentiary actions that the defense has vigorously contested as violations of Galloway's fundamental legal protections.
The current motion represents the newest chapter in an established judicial effort to insulate the murder trial from illicitly obtained leads. In November 2024, former Oakland County Circuit Judge Phyllis McMillen issued a pivotal ruling directing the Michigan Attorney General's Office to remove the prosecutors previously handling the matter and assign an untainted prosecuting attorney who had remained unexposed to the polygraph examiner’s disclosures.
Judge McMillen stepped down from the bench upon her retirement at the close of 2024, passing the high-profile murder docket to Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren. Last month, Michaels sought to extend the reach of earlier disqualification rulings by attempting to bar the entire Michigan Attorney General's Office from handling the prosecution, though Judge Warren ultimately rejected that sweeping request.
While allowing the Attorney General’s Office to retain institutional jurisdiction over the homicide case, Judge Warren firmly reinforced the prior judicial determination that prosecutors previously exposed to the suppressed disclosures cannot remain involved at trial. Warren reaffirmed that the state must select and assign clean prosecutors who have had no exposure to the protected evidentiary record.
The defense maintains that restructuring the prosecution team alone is insufficient if the state continues to rely on detectives whose investigative methodologies were directed by privileged disclosures. According to Michaels, allowing the original detectives to remain active creates an unavoidable conduit of contamination to any incoming prosecutors who have otherwise complied with the court's firewall protocols.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office previously consented to replacing the assigned prosecuting attorneys once the ongoing evidentiary suppression disputes reach a formal conclusion. However, state officials have not yet submitted a formal response to Michaels' latest motion seeking the disqualification and replacement of the Farmington Hills investigative team.
As the Oakland County Circuit Court prepares to review the defense's demands, the proceedings underscore the enduring difficulties of prosecuting a complex homicide case while balancing constitutional safeguards, privileged communications, and the necessity of maintaining an untainted record for trial.
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