ABSTRACT: A REPORTER AT LARGE about the trial of Mazoltuv Borukhova and Mikhail Mallayev for the murder of Borukhova’s estranged husband, Daniel Malakov. The trial took place at the Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens during the early months of 2009. Writer describes the three primary attorneys in the case: Stephen Scaring, who represented Borukhova; Michael Siff, Mallayev’s court-appointed lawyer; and Brad Leventhal, the lead prosecutor. The judge in the case, Robert Hanophy, is known as Hang ’em Hanophy. According to a 2005 article by a reporter named Bob Port, Hanophy “is widely believed to have imprisoned more murderers than any sitting judge in the United States.” Tells about the opening statements made by the lawyers. Both defendants and the victim were members of the Bukharan Jewish community in the Forest Hills section of Queens. Gives examples of the malleability of trial evidence. A sentence from a recording of a conversation in Russian and Bukhori between Borukhova and Mallayev was interpreted differently by the prosecution and the defense. Tells about the other journalists who covered the trial: William Gorta, of the New York Post, Nicole Bode, of the Daily News, Anne Barnard, of the Times, and Ivan Pereira, of the Forest Hills Ledger. Tells about an earlier decision by State Supreme Court Judge Sidney Strauss who ruled that Malakov’s four-year-old daughter, Michelle, who had spent all her life with her mother, had to go and live with her father. Borukhova and Malakov’s dispute over Michelle gave Leventhal the motive for the crime. The prosecution argued that Borukhova hired Mallayev to kill Malakov in revenge. Scaring’s competing narrative portrayed Borukhova not as an avenging murderess, but as a beleaguered working mom. Describes the murder of Malakov at the Annandale Playground in Queens. Tells about the contentious jury-selection process, the use of sidebars during the trial, and the frequently long waits for the trial’s proceedings to begin in the mornings. Relates the testimony of witnesses, including William Bieniek, a fingerprint expert, Igor Davidson, a psychologist, and David Schnall, the law guardian who had been assigned to look after the best interests of Michelle. Gives a detailed account of Borukhova’s appearance on the witness stand at the end of the trial. Writer describes her own involvement in the trial: she telephoned Scaring to report a lengthy monologue Schnall had delivered to her over the phone. Tells about the Judge’s decision to accelerate the scheduling of the summations, giving Scaring and Siff only one night to prepare, while Leventhal had a weekend to prepare. The jury found both defendants guilty. Writer speaks with two jurors, who describe their impressions of Borukhova. Writer visits Malakov’s family in Forest Hills and interviews several of them. Tells about the sentencing hearing at which both defendants were given the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
The thing that kept calling out to me throughout this piece was that the justice system is a human-run system, susceptible to all sorts of errors, biases, hubris, and whims. And the way to navigate it seems to be a combination of ingratiating performance and a lot of luck.
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