Thu, 02/28/2019 - 16:34

Erica Thoms

Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber (pictured following a court appearance last year) and Leane Zainea are prosecuting the case against Sharon and Julio Carrillo. (file photo by Erica Thoms)

BELFAST — State prosecutors assigned to the case of the State v. Sharon and Julio Carrillo have filed several motions with Waldo County Unified Court after Sharon Carrillo’s attorneys filed paperwork alleging that their client has intellectual limitations and was a victim of Julio Carrillo rather than a co-conspirator.

Sharon and Julio Carrillo stand accused of depraved indifference murder in the Feb. 25, 2018 death of Marissa Kennedy, Sharon Carrillo’s then 10-year-old daughter. Kennedy reportedly died after months of sustained abuse at the hands of both Carrillos.

State prosecutors have requested that the Court order Sharon Carrillo’s attorneys, Christopher MacLean and Laura Shaw, both of Camden Law, to produce, “the underlying data her experts relied upon in forming their opinions and conclusions…,” according to a Motion For Production of Underlying Data Relied Upon By Defense Experts, which was signed by Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea Feb. 14.

The document notes that a deadline for the case was set on Oct. 9, which stated that the defendants had until Feb. 9 to designate trial experts and supply expert reports. Attorneys for Sharon Carrillo turned in their designation of experts and expert reports to the State the afternoon of Feb. 8.

After receiving the State’s initial request to produce the documents, Sharon Carrillo’s counsel responded the next day, asking for the state to either cite the rule that would require the information to be turned over or to request an order from the court, according to the motion, which includes relevant Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure.

The document further states that an adviser noted that the court has discretion over whether disclosure is required before trial.

Attorneys for the state wrote that prior disclosure would allow them to determine whether there may be an objection to the defendant’s presentation of her experts at trial and avoid “lengthy voir dire examinations of defendant’s experts at trial.”

A list of the data being requested is given for each expert expected to be called by Sharon Carrillo’s counsel. Items include medical, social, and school records for both Sharon Carrillo and Marissa Kennedy, interview notes, a forensic report, and various evaluations, among others.

Also filed by the State is a Motion for Further Forensic Evaluation, which was also signed by Zainea Feb. 14.

Zainea requests that the Court order Sharon Carrillo be further examined to determine her cognitive abilities, “with reference to issues of the voluntariness of her statements to law enforcement and her ability to voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waive her Miranda rights.”

The document further specifies a request that an “inpatient neuropsychological examination be undertaken by the State Forensic Service.”

The motion was filed after attorneys for Sharon Carrillo submitted a Motion to Suppress.

In the Motion for Further Forensic Evaluation, Zainea references the Motion to Suppress, arguing that the State be allowed to use their own expert to examine Sharon Carrillo at the State Forensic Service.

“Because the Defendant has put her cognitive abilities directly into issue, the State would respectfully request that the Defendant be examined by a neuropsychologist at the State Forensic Services,” the Motion reads in part. The motion was granted by Justice Robert Murray Feb. 15, over the objection of Sharon Carrillo’s attorneys.

The order for mental examination states that: “the defendant be examined by the State Forensic Service for evaluation of the defendant’s mental condition with respect to the following issues: Examination to be conducted to determine [Sharon Carrillo’s] cognitive abilities with reference to issues of voluntariness of her statements to law enforcement officers and her ability to voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waive her Miranda rights. Such examination is to be conducted by a neuropsychologist.”

The order was issued Feb. 19.

A Motion to Continue was the third motion signed by Zainea Feb. 14, which requests the Court continue the hearings on the Motion in Limine and Motion to Sever, which are currently scheduled for April 4. Zainea will be in a different homicide trial taking place in Penobscot County starting March 25, which is expected to last two weeks.

A Motion in Limine filed by Zainea Feb. 4 was granted by Justice Murray Feb. 12, which had requested records from two schools Marissa Kennedy had attended.

Subpoenas for any and all school records for Marissa Kennedy were issued Feb. 14, to Searsport Elementary and Fairmount School in Bangor, with a deadline of April 4.

Kennedy reportedly missed 70 days or more during the 2017-2018 school year, with her death taking place in late February.

A Motion for Discovery filed by the State was also granted by Justice Murray.

In the Motion, filed in July, attorneys for the State requested that they be provided relevant documents 60 days before a testimonial hearing and 90 days prior to the first day of trial.

Some of the documents requested include the name and address of any expert witness “whom the defendant intends to call in any proceeding, a copy of any report of statement of an experiment, including reports or results of physical or mental examinations of scientific tests, experiments, or comparisons….”

At this time the trial of Julio and Sharon Carrillo is scheduled to begin in August.