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WILKES-BARRE — Her conviction recently voided after multiple failed appeals, Helen Lucy Galli is now seeking to get out of prison.

Galli, 84, of Wyoming, had her 2013 conviction on assault and reckless endangerment charges vacated last week by Luzerne County Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III. She was sentenced to 5½ to 12 years in state prison after she was found guilty of poisoning her son’s girlfriend with antifreeze.

Galli, who had lost previous appeals of her sentence in 2014 and 2015, is currently jailed at State Correctional Institution Muncy and is in poor health, attorney Al Flora Jr. wrote in motion for bail filed Monday in Luzerne County Court.

“Galli now has the same right to bail as before verdict as permitted by law,” Flora wrote.

The motion does not specify a bail amount.

Flora did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday morning, but said last week that Pierantoni’s ruling could mean one of three things: prosecutors could try her again within 120 days, they could appeal to Pennsylvania Superior Court, or they could drop the charges entirely.

Galli allegedly laced a glass of Juicy Juice with antifreeze and told her son, Victor Galli, to give it to his girlfriend, Dawn Simyan, according to prosecutors.

In an appeal hearing June 1 before Pierantoni, Flora argued Galli’s then-attorney, Joseph Sklarosky Sr., failed to object to hearsay evidence that established a link between Galli and the laced drink, including her son’s alleged comments to Simyan that Galli said it would make her “feel better.”

Sklarosky said his theory was Simyan poisoned herself to get Victor Galli’s attention. His intention in letting the evidence in, he argued, was for Galli to then testify, impressing upon the jury that she was not a “mean, old, vindictive woman,” as he alleged she was portrayed by prosecutors.

Galli, however, refused to testify against his advice, he said.

Despite suffering severe medical issues, including kidney failure, Simyan survived and took the stand, testifying that her boyfriend handed her the drink and said, “My mother said, ‘Drink this. It will make you feel better.’”

Helen Galli leaves the Luzerne County Courthouse at the end of her testimony in her 2013 trial on charges she poisoned her son’s girlfriend with antifreeze. Galli, 83, recently had her conviction vacated by a county judge.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_galli-2.jpg.optimal.jpgHelen Galli leaves the Luzerne County Courthouse at the end of her testimony in her 2013 trial on charges she poisoned her son’s girlfriend with antifreeze. Galli, 83, recently had her conviction vacated by a county judge. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

By Joe Dolinsky

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Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL