The public defender of accused indifference murderer Sharon Carrillo, 33, has said he intends to file for a significant reduction in his client’s current $500,000 cash bail, citing a number of factors, including marital violence.

Attorney Chris MacLean, of Camden, said during a telephone interview March 9 that he intends to file for the reduction in the coming weeks after he has had a chance to gather relevant information and prepare a presentation.

Sharon Carrillo was arrested with her husband Julio Carrillo, 51, Feb. 26, following the death of the woman’s 10-year-old daughter Marissa Kennedy. According to an affidavit, Marissa was subjected to multiple daily beatings, every day over the course of several months before she ultimately succumbed to her injuries Feb. 25.

MacLean said he plans to watch both video-recorded interrogations prior to requesting a bail hearing.

While court documents show that both Sharon and Julio Carrillo admitted to the sustained beatings and other brutal acts during their separate interviews the day of Marissa’s death, MacLean said he believes that a different picture will emerge than the one painted by the previous statements made by both Carrillos.

“I think the picture that is starting to emerge is really different from what’s in that affidavit,” he said.

One of MacLean’s assertions is that Sharon Carrillo suffered significant domestic violence at the hands of Julio during their marriage, with him referencing a Portland Press Herald interview with Julio Carrillo’s first wife March 7, who reportedly called him a “dangerous man,” and said he beat her throughout their marriage.

Instead of being an equal participant in the horrific abuse of her daughter, MacLean said Sharon may have also been suffering at the hands of her husband.

Julio Carrillo’s lawyer, Steven Peterson, denied his client was ever violent toward Sharon Carrillo in a phone interview March 15, saying that although he was charged with domestic violence in Kentucky in 2000, he went through an anger management program and believed the case had been expunged.  

MacLean said Sharon Carrillo’s lack of any criminal history will be a contributing factor in his request for a bail reduction, as will concern over her safety.

It has been reported that Sharon Carrillo is currently pregnant, a fact confirmed by Steven Peterson March 15.  

According to MacLean, Sharon is of a limited intellectual capacity, which has made her current predicament even more difficult for her to handle. 

“Sharon is someone with a limited intellectual capacity and she was also herself a victim of serious domestic violence in the home at the hands of Julio,” he said. 

“You can only imagine what it’s like to be involved in something like this, especially if you’re a person with limited intellectual means, never having spent a day in jail in your life, never having been charged with a crime in your life,” he said of Sharon Carrillo’s situation.

One thing still to be determined is where Sharon would go should her bail be reduced enough for her family to secure her release, something MacLean said they’re currently working on.

A conference is scheduled in Waldo County Superior Court March 16, at 1 p.m. which Julio Carrillo’s lawyer Steven Peterson said during a phone interview will likely focus on forensic mental examinations the state may request to be completed. 

A forensic mental examination is used to help determine an individual’s mental responsibility for criminal conduct and can be requested by the respective defendant or by the State.

The examinations, which are performed by the State Forensic Service, can be requested for a number of reasons, including determining a defendant’s competency to proceed and determining whether insanity or another abnormal condition of the mind exists, among others, as specified by Maine Criminal Court Procedure.

Once ordered by the Court, forensic mental examinations must take place within 21 days.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com