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Slava Voynov, who tore an Achilles’ tendon, has trial delayed until July

Slava Voynov, who is suspended indefinitely with pay, had his trial on a felony domestic violence charge delayed.

Slava Voynov, who is suspended indefinitely with pay, had his trial on a felony domestic violence charge delayed.

(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
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Slava Voynov’s trial on a felony domestic violence charge was delayed again Wednesday, and the suspended Kings defenseman might be away from the ice even longer.

Voynov ruptured his right Achilles’ tendon last week and had surgery to repair it, according to Kings Assistant General Manager Rob Blake. He didn’t know how the injury occurred.

“It wasn’t at the rink,” Blake said.

Voynov arrived at Los Angeles Superior Court in Torrance with crutches and a bulky white cast on his lower right leg. He watched attorneys spar over whether his wife would testify in the case. The dispute led Judge Eric C. Taylor to postpone the trial to July 6.

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Michael Walsh, an attorney representing Marta Varlamova, told the court that she wouldn’t testify.

“She does not wish to explain or justify the reasons for it,” Walsh said.

Varlamova, who told Redondo Beach Police officers that Voynov kicked and choked her, then pushed her into a flat-screen TV during an alleged incident last October, appeared in court for the first time since her husband’s arrest.

Attorneys for Voynov and Varlamova previously called the situation an accident.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Dunnick dismissed Walsh’s argument. He planned to call Varlamova to testify Wednesday in the hearing for several motions filed in the case.

“She has no right to refuse to testify,” Dunnick said.

One of the motions seeks to exclude the statements Varlamova made to police and staff at Providence Little Company of Mary Center in Torrance, where she sought treatment for a 1.2-inch cut above her left eye opened by the collision with the TV.

After a lengthy conference with attorneys, Taylor changed the trial date. That allowed the parties more time to respond to a motion Walsh filed Wednesday regarding Varlamova testifying.

“This motion impacts all the other significant motions we’re going to hear,” Taylor said.

This is the third time that Voynov’s trial, first scheduled for March, then April, has been delayed.

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Neither Voynov or Varlamova spoke to reporters as they departed.

Voynov has been suspended indefinitely with pay by the NHL since his arrest. If found guilty, he could face up to nine years in state prison.

Times staff writer Lisa Dillman contributed to this report.

nathan.fenno@latimes.com

Twitter: @nathanfenno

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