BELFAST — The judge at Thursday’s hearing on whether to suppress statements made to police by the Troy mother accused of killing her infant son has requested written briefs on the arguments.
Miranda Hopkins, 32, was indicted in February on a charge of manslaughter in the death of her 7-week-old son, Jaxson Hopkins. Her defense attorneys, Christopher K. MacLean and Laura P. Shaw, are seeking to suppress statements that Hopkins made during interviews with police.
The attorneys argue in their motions to Judge Robert Murray that none of Hopkins’ statements can be considered voluntary based on the way police handled the interviews, including questioning Hopkins for 12 hours at one time and not allowing her to call family members.
The motions say the statements made Jan. 12-15 were the product of interrogation techniques that violated due-process rights, or “were otherwise obtained in violation of defendant’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment protections contained in the federal Constitution and similar protections contained in the Constitution of the state of Maine.”
The Fifth Amendment protects a person from being compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in a criminal case. The Sixth Amendment allows an accused person the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.
One defense motion calls for suppressing statements in 10 instances, including the initial 911 call on Jan. 12, comments made to a Waldo County deputy, an interrogation with Maine State Police and a final interrogation on Jan. 15.
Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, the prosecutor, said it is the policy of the Attorney General’s Office not to comment on pending cases.
On Wednesday, Shaw filed a motion on behalf of Hopkins to have the results of a polygraph examination introduced as evidence that her client did not commit the crime. According to the filing, Hopkins willingly submitted to the examination and said she did not inflict the injuries on her son. The polygraph results, Shaw argued, indicated there was more than a 99 percent certainty that Hopkins was telling the truth.
In January, Hopkins called 911 from her trailer home in Troy, saying her infant son was unresponsive. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the baby’s death is listed as blunt force trauma that included cuts and bruises on the head and skull, rib fractures and bleeding on the surface of the brain.
Hopkins originally was charged with knowing or depraved indifference murder, punishable by 25 years to life in prison. She was indicted by a Waldo County grand jury in February on a lesser charge of manslaughter, pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.
Hopkins allegedly told authorities she woke up and found her baby cold, white and “beat to hell.” Hopkins lived with Jaxson and two other sons, ages 6 and 8, who both have autism, she told police. She told authorities it was possible the older boy crawled into bed and crushed or suffocated the baby.
Hopkins allegedly also told police she must have “blacked out” and was “so drunk that she did not remember,” saying she had drunk whiskey and ingested the antihistamine drug Benadryl, according to a police affidavit filed with the court. She was arrested Jan. 13, the day after her son died.
She contended in court documents that one or both of her other sons might have killed their infant brother, possibly by crushing the child while rolling over in bed.
Colin Ellis can be contacted at 861-9253 or at:
cellis@centralmaine.com
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