Christopher Gregor's lawyer said he would testify last week before a transcript emerged that allegedly showed the defendant coaching his mother ahead of her testimony in court. Carolyn Gregor had been expected to take the stand last week.
Will the New Jersey father accused of abusing, and then murdering his 6-year-old son, testify in his defense?
Last week, attorney Mario Gallucci told Court TV that his client Christopher Gregor would be taking the stand at his murder trial in Ocean County. He is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and first-degree murder in the death of his son Corey Micciolo.
Corey died alone in a hospital room on April 2, 2021. His death came just hours after a judge rejected his mother Bre Micciolo's motion for emergency custody of her son, who had been injured after his father allegedly forced him to run on a treadmill less than two weeks before his death, authorities said. The treadmill incident led to the endangerment charge.
Gallucci shared the news that Gregor would testify last week before a transcript emerged that allegedly showed the defendant coaching his mother ahead of her testimony in court. Carolyn Gregor had been expected to take the stand in her son's defense last week. Two weeks earlier, she appeared before the judge once jurors had been dismissed for the day to determine what parts of her testimony would be admissible in the case.
That all changed, however, when Ocean County prosecutor Jamie Schron informed the court of new evidence in the case obtained over the previous weekend.
"The state came into possession of a recording of a phone call between the defendant and his mother that took place I believe last Friday, subsequent to the testimony of Carolyn and David Gregor," Schron said. In that call, "the defendant was coaching his mother with regard to her testimony," Schron said. She then informed the judge that "subject to any rulings from the court," she would be asking questions about this call during the cross-examination of both Gregor and his mother.
Gallucci then addressed the court and said that after receiving a recording and transcript of the call, the prosecutor's statement about the discussion between mother and son was "very accurate." He then told the court that the "conversation does make me not want to call Mrs. Gregor as a witness in the trial."
The prosecution made it clear that if either Gregor or his mother took the stand, they would be questioned about the transcript of the jail phone call. As such, it remains unclear if Gallucci is still committed to calling his client to testify in his defense.
The prosecution rested its case on Wednesday and jurors were excused until Friday, when the defense is expected to call its first witness.
That witness will be forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, the former medical examiner for New York City, who is expected to testify that Corey died from an infection. The prosecution used their final witness to prepare for that testimony, calling Dr. Anat Feingold, who testified that none of the three doctors who saw Corey in the 24 hours before his death found any evidence of an infection.
The medical examiner said that an autopsy determined that Corey's cause of death was blunt force injuries, including blunt force trauma with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis.
The defense disputes the findings of this autopsy report and said in their opening statement that Corey died of pneumonia. It is a defense that Gregor's lawyer first shared with Inside Edition Digital over a year ago.
"Corey Micciolo died from complications from pneumonia. Our expert and even the Ocean County Medical Examiner agreed on this early diagnosis, while it is a tragedy it is not a homicide," Gallucci told Inside Edition Digital. "My client completely denies all the allegations and is looking forward to a trial in a courtroom and not a trial by social media, as the Micciolos have been so diligently attempting to do.”
Gregor is currently being held without bond at the Ocean County Jail.
He entered a plea of not guilty to both charges and denies ever hitting or abusing his son. When asked about his son's bruises, he allegedly told Bre that Corey needed to be “tougher," text messages reviewed by Inside Edition Digital show.
Gregor faces life in prison if convicted in what some are now calling the treadmill abuse murder trial.
