Malinovskaya to be retried for 2nd time

After two mistrials in the hearings of murder suspect Irina Malinovskaya, prosecutors are preparing for round three.

The prosecution will try Malinovskaya for a third time this April, Delaware Attorney General spokeswoman Janice Fitzsimons said.

Malinovskaya, a Wharton undergraduate, is charged with the murder of Irina Zlotnikov, a graduate student at Temple University.

Zlotnikov was dating Robert Bondar at the time of her death in Dec. 2004. The discovery that Malinovskaya had previously dated Bondar led to her investigation and subsequent arrest.

Malinovskaya's first trial ended last February with a hung jury, 11-1 in favor of acquittal. A second trial in October ended with another hung jury, this time in a dead heat, at 6-6.

State prosecutor Victoria Wetherell says she feels confident that she will achieve a conviction this time around.

"If [the case is] presented to the jury without any problems, then there should be a conviction," Wetherell said.

She added that the prosecution has "strong evidence" of Malinovskaya's guilt.

Although Wetherell could not confirm the presence of any new evidence for Malinovskaya's third trial, she did not rule out that new facts might be introduced.

"There are some additional things we're looking into," she said.

Malinovskaya will be represented in court by criminal defense attorneys Eugene Maurer -- who served as a lawyer for Malinovskaya during the previous two trials - and Joseph Hurley, Wetherell said.

Neither Maurer nor Hurley was available for comment.

Wetherell added that she is not presently concerned with the defense's chances at earning acquittal.

"I don't know what evidence they could bring forward that would make it a stronger case for them," she said.

Difficulty earning a conviction in Malinovskaya's first two trials, she added, might have been a result of juror assumptions about gender.

"Part of the problem is that the defendant is a woman," she said. "It's difficult for some jurors to believe that a woman acted in such a violent act."

Should the prosecution fail to reach a guilty verdict and another mistrial result, Wetherell said, she did not know if another trial would be pursued.

"We're hoping that [the verdict is] a conviction and that that decision doesn't have to be made," she said.

Neither side has discussed a plea agreement, according to Wetherell. However, she said that she is not opposed to the idea.

"Certainly, if the defense approached us about plea negotiations, we would be willing to discuss them," she said.

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