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Pilkington is charged with aggravated murder in connection with the deaths of her sons — infant Niall in July 2014, 4-year-old Gavin in April 2015 and infant Noah on Aug. 18, 2015. If convicted she could face the death penalty.
Judge Mark O'Connor previously ruled the recording of the nine-hour police interrogation, including the alleged confession, could be shown during trial.
But Pilkington’s defense team filed a motion in July asking again for it to be thrown out based on new medical testimony that she allegedly suffers from brain damage and that alleged abuse by her now husband began when she was as young as 9 years old.
Two doctors who evaluated Pilkington say trauma and lead poisoning as a child, and a borderline low IQ, impaired the now 25-year-old’s ability to withstand coercive interrogation from police, according to affidavits filed with the court.
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The prosecution filed a response to that motion claiming the doctors shouldn’t be allowed to give their opinion on whether they think Pilkington was truthful in her confession or not.
“The opinions offered by these experts amount to nothing more than human lie detector tests in the guise of clinical evaluations,” the prosecutor’s response says.
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The judge ruled Aug. 21 that their affidavits are new evidence and it must be considered.
“The court has to decide the voluntariness of the defendant’s statements,” the judgment entry says. “In doing so, the court must consider the totality of the circumstances, which include the age, intelligence and education of the defendant.”
The judge ruled that the court must reopen the motion to suppress in light of new evidence, but having another hearing on the matter doesn’t mean the doctors’ affidavits will end up being admissible in court.
“Whether or not the proposed evidence is ultimately admitted is something to be determined at the hearing,” the judgment says.
O’Connor also ordered a mental health evaluation by the court to be done before the re-opened suppression hearing takes place. The next status conference on that evaluation is scheduled for Sept. 14.
Pilkington's trial has been pushed back multiple times. There is no current date set for it to begin.
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