CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The jury has unanimously agreed to a guilty verdict in the trial of Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of Madalina Cojocari.
Madalina was 11 years old when she was last seen getting off a school bus in November 2022 before going missing.
After more than a year and a half, she is still missing. Palmiter is only charged with failing to report the disappearance of his stepdaughter. He was sentenced to 30 months of supervised probation. As part of that probation, Palmiter will need to try to pay his defense attorney back the more than $30,000 it cost to defend him.
Palmiter took the stand on Wednesday and Thursday. The lead detective and Palmiter's brothers, Paul and Matthew, also testified Thursday.
On Friday, both the state and the defense gave their closing arguments. But after about 15 minutes of deliberation, the jury signaled they had a unanimous guilty verdict of not reporting a child's disappearance to law enforcement.
Live streaming of the trial was not permitted. WCNC Charlotte had a reporter in the courtroom. What follows below is a blog of updates from inside the courtroom:
1:30 p.m.
The state said Palmiter is only eligible for probation but argued for the maximum probation period. The judge determined Palmiter had no mitigating factors, so he was sentenced to no less than 6 months and not more than 17 months. However, he has already served 244 days in jail -- which is equivalent to more than 8 months -- while waiting for this trial, so that prison time was suspended. Palmiter was sentenced to 30 months of supervised probation. As part of that probation, Palmiter will need to try to pay his defense attorney back the more than $30,000 it cost to defend him.
1:15 p.m.
The jury reached a unanimous verdict of guilty to failing to report a child's disappearance to law enforcement. They moved immediately to sentencing. It's a felony, but Palmiter has no prior convictions.
1 p.m.
The jury announces they have a verdict.
12:31 p.m.
The state: If the defendant was hoping, thinking or guessing about Madalina's whereabouts that is not knowing. For 23 days, let’s take two days of 21 days, that is where he laid his head.
Madalina is not coming home from her last day of school, looking forward to long walks, bike rides. She is not getting off that school bus today.
It is up to you to determine if he failed to act.
The state is finished with its closing statements.
12:30 p.m.
The state says kids can’t protect themselves. 11-year-old girls can’t decide they are in danger and call the police. The law is in place for a reason.
12:27 p.m.
The state says thinking someone is safe is not a defense even if you don’t agree with the law. Thinking is not knowing. The law does not require that Diana tell Palmiter that Madalina is missing.
12:24 p.m.
The state says Palmiter talked about not having a say and being in not in control of anything school-related for Madalina, though he spoke about a book Madalina had calling it violent and he had concerns about what she was learning at school.
The state brings up how much Palmiter says Madalina jumped on the bed so much it drove him crazy, but then he comes back from Michigan and never hears her doing this same thing.
Palmiter said in his own words he never knew where Madalina was, and he never saw her when he came back from Michigan and he says he didn’t realize she was missing until a week after he came back.
12:22 p.m.
The state says Palmiter admitted he knew Diana was lying when she said Madalina was in the bathroom, saying he figured it out bc the lights were off. He says just because Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty does not mean Palmiter is off the hook.
12:15 p.m.
The state shares clips with the jury showing Palmiter speaking with police. In the video, he says he didn't notice anything immediately when he came back from a trip to Michigan, and just thought Madalina was in her room.
Police asked in the clip if there were any statements about hiding Madalina, and Palmiter said he asked Diana Cojocari where Madalina was, but said he never got a straight answer.
The state prosecutor says Palmiter told police he didn't realize Madalina was gone until a week after he came back. Palmiter also didn't respond when the school was reaching out about Madalina's location, the state says, and searched Google for "truancy court" on Dec. 10.
12 p.m.
In the state's closing argument, the state prosecutor argues all that is required is that Palmiter did not know Madalina's location.
11:55 a.m.
The state prosecutor argues Palmiter said in his own words he acted like her father and treated her like his daughter, noting Palmiter's brother testified Madalina was Palmiter's daughter. He said Palmiter was the emergency contact, and was the only one authorized to pick her up from school besides Diana Cojocari.
The state prosecutor refers to Palmiter filing a visa when Madalina was 4, saying he could financially take care of her.
He says the court wouldn't be having this conversation if Palmiter supervised her the way he should have.
11:50 a.m.
The state prosecutor argues the burden of proof applies only to the element of the charge, not to other factors like if Diana Cojocari went to the mountains.
He says if the 12 people on the jury can agree that from Nov. 23 to Dec. 15, Palmiter did not know his stepdaughter's location and had not had contact with her over for over 24 hours, then they should find him guilty.
"He's the only father she ever had," the state prosecutor said.
11:40 a.m.
Court resumes, with the state beginning its closing statement.
The state prosecutor argued that Madalina did not get to choose who her parents, or parent figures, were -- but that Palmiter chose Madalina and promised to protect her, but "for 23 days" failed to do so.
He said there are two elements for the jury to consider: If Palmiter is someone who provides supervision for a child under 16, and if he failed to report her disappearance.
11:25 a.m.
Brandon Roseman, Palmiter's defense attorney, ends his closing statement by telling the jury he believes the burden of proof is beyond reasonable doubt, with evidence supporting Palmiter's testimony. He says if the jury thinks he might be guilty, but has any doubt, they have to find him not guilty.
"In his case, the evidence shows that he really did not know, and at a bare minimum, they sure as crap didn't prove that he did," Roseman said.
Roseman says Palmiter should not be held responsible for Diana Cojocari's actions.
"He's an innocent man, and assumptions like this are how innocent people go to jail," Roseman said.
The court enters a brief recess after the statement.
11:15 a.m.
Roseman says Diana Cojocari was manipulating Palmiter by taking away items in their home then putting them back.
Roseman says Diana Cojocari sent a message to the school on Dec. 2 saying Madalina was sick, then left Flonase around the house so Palmiter would believe Madalina was sick and in her room. Roseman says Palmiter tried to take slices of pizza to Madalina, but Diana Cojocari removed one of the slices and said she would take it to Madalina herself.
Roseman argues that there would be no reason for Palmiter to believe Madalina is not in her room.
"He loves Madalina," Roseman said.
Roseman says Diana Cojocari is the one who reported Madalina missing because she was the only person that knew Madalina was missing.
Palmiter appeared to be crying during this portion of the closing arguments, and was seen grabbing a tissue and wiping his eye.
10:56 a.m.
Roseman says there is nothing to support that Palmiter was involved in a conspiracy to hide Madalina. He says Diana Cojocari "indoctrinated" him into the whole system and forced him to participate in rituals at their home.
"Diana did not trust him. He felt like an outsider,'" Roseman said. "That is what he believed. The same plan he was involved in before, but now he is no longer involved."
Palmiter believed Diana was moving out, so Palmiter took photos of the bins in his house. He had no reason to believe Madalina was not in her care, Roseman says.
10:52 a.m.
Diana did not allow Palmiter to handle matters as simple as walking Madalina through the neighborhood, Roseman says. He says school administrators didn't know who he was because Diana was the one who took care of her daughter's education. Palmiter read truancy emails sent by the school but didn't understand, so he attempted to approach Diana, Roseman says.
"Diana tells him she will handle it," he said. "Diana lies to him all the time. Right from the front, when they met on a website, she lied about her age."
He says homeschooling was brought up several times because Diana was concerned about what her daughter was learning in school. Roseman says Palmiter wanted to help but was excluded from the circle of trust.
10:50 a.m.
Roseman continues to tell the jury that Palmiter was confused about what was happening. He says Diana repeatedly referred to Madalina like she was around the house. He says Diana was aggressive and belittled him in a secret recording. He then says Diana was paranoid, accusing her husband of calling the police when she went hiking on Dec. 5.
"She references her intuition and that this was Chris' time to protect their family," Roseman said, referring to the plan to get Madalina to Michigan. "But he did try, he spoke to his family, gave her cash. But when Diana got there, she got paranoid and it didn't work out."
He says this led to Chris being removed from the "circle of trust" with Diana. Roseman then shows Western Union receipts of Diana sending money to Moldova.
"How is Mr. Palmiter supposed to know what she is doing or the extent of her actions?" Roseman said.
He then says Diana's actions show she had no intention of sticking around, pointing to the $8,000 and passports investigators found in her purse.
"Does it look like she is staying in town?" Roseman asks. "It looks like she is not going to be around long."
10:27 a.m.
"You have to put yourself in Chris' shoes," Roseman said to the jury.
He continues, saying Diana set him up with secret recordings and included Madalina's name in the conversation. Roseman says Diana was gaslighting her husband into believing Madalina was with her, including trips to the mountains.
"He knows he loves Madalina," Roseman said. "He knows Diana would not hurt Madalina, so what would he think? He would think that Madalina is in the care of her mother."
10:18 a.m.
Roseman says Palmiter's memory is "horrible," telling the jury he has to take pictures of everything with his phone to remember. Roseman says Palmier's phone is proof he's telling the truth about what happened.
"The sad thing about this whole case is Maddie's still missing and we're having to argue about this situation and it makes us look like we're indifferent to Maddie being gone but we're not," Roseman said. "He didn't have anything to do with Diana's plan."
Roseman also mentions the picture Palmiter took of Diana's note that said "gone for two days."
10:11 a.m.
Roseman tells the jury that Diana Cojocari planned to hide Madalina "months and months" before Palmiter realized she was gone. He claims Diana had a lot of concerns and fears.
"You heard the state say Palmiter was her father," Roseman said. "Yes, Palmiter wanted to be her father. He loved her, and he wants her back. He just doesn't know where she is. Diana never told him."
Roseman reiterates the couple didn't have "normal" communication, telling the jury that Diana "wore the pants in the house" and controlled what the family did, alleging she was abusive of Palmiter during their relationship.
10:05 a.m.
Closing arguments begin with Palmiter's defense addressing the jury. Palmiter's defense says the "main thing" in the case is finding Madalina.
"Finding Maddie takes precedence over everything, but this case isn't about that. This case is about whether Christopher Palmiter knew she was missing. That's what he's charged with. He said he really didn't know," Palmiter's attorney says.
9:30 a.m.
The trial reconvenes at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.
Thursday, the judge mentioned there is enough evidence for the jury to come to a verdict.
RELATED FROM LAST WEEK: Diana Cojocari pleads guilty to not reporting daughter missing, while Christopher Palmiter's defense argues the state withheld key evidence
Background information on the case
Cojocari was last seen getting off a school bus in Cornelius in November 2022. Palmiter pleaded not guilty to failing to report Madalina missing and has been out of jail since his release in August 2023. Palmiter is the husband of Diana Cojocari, Madalina's mother, who was released from jail in May 2024 after pleading guilty to failing to report the girl's disappearance.
A total of 12 jurors and two alternates were selected. The 12-member jury is made up of 11 men and one woman. The two alternates are women.
Contact Destiny Richards at drichards5@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.