Murder suspect fights psych evaluation
Whether confession by Brittany Pilkington can be used at trial is at issue.
A Bellefontaine mother accused of suffocating her three young sons over a 13-month period has appealed a court order that she undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Brittany Pilkington is charged with three counts of aggravated murder in Logan County Common Pleas Court in the deaths of infant Niall in July 2014, 4-year-old Gavin in April 2015 and infant Noah on Aug. 18, 2015.
At issue is whether a confession made by Pilkington can be used at her trial.
The lawyers for Pilkington asked for her confession to be thrown out based on new medical testimony that she suffers from brain damage and that alleged abuse by her husband, father of the three boys, began at a young age.
Two doctors who evaluated Pilkington say trauma and lead poisoning as a child and a borderline low IQ impaired her ability to withstand coercive interrogation from police, according to affidavits filed with the court in 2017.
Logan County Judge Mark O’Connor ordered an independent psychiatric evaluation, a decision upheld by an appeals court in May.
Pilkington’s lawyers appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing the evaluation would violate constitutional rights against self-incrimination.
Pilkington is scheduled to face a four-week-long trial starting Jan. 7, according to online court records.