Argued to have prosecutors removed for misconduct

Tue, 05/01/2018 - 7:15pm

Erica Thoms

Sharon Carrillo sits with her attorney Chris MacLean in Waldo County Superior Court. (photo by Erica Thoms)

BELFAST — Attorneys for Sharon Carrillo filed a notice of appeal in Waldo County Unified Court April 23, the same day they filed requests for copies of court transcripts from the two court hearings regarding improper conduct by state prosecutors in obtaining records against their client.

The requested transcripts include the March 27 hearing for the Motion for a Protective Order and the April 12 Motion to Disqualify hearing.

Sharon Carrillo, 33, and her husband Julio Carrillo, 51, were both arrested Feb. 26 and charged with the murder of Sharon’s 10-year-old daughter, Marissa Kennedy. Marissa had been beaten, often multiple times per day, for a span of several months before finally succumbing to her injuries Feb. 25. Her official cause of death was listed as battered child syndrome, with an autopsy showing bleeding on the brain and a lacerated liver, among other injuries.

The purpose of the request for the court transcripts is to use the information in an appeal, which requires paper transcripts of the proceeding in question, according to court documents.

Carrillo’s attorneys, Chris MacLean and Laura Shaw, both of Camden Law, had argued to have Assistant Attorneys General Donald Macomber and Leane Zainea removed from the case after they improperly procured privileged and confidential information.

Justice Robert Murray denied the request to have Macomber and Zainea removed, though he did acknowledge the records in question were improperly acquired and ordered the documents turned over to the Court.

Zainea and Macomber both used subpoenas outside of the state boundaries, where they are not legally binding, to gain copies of records for Sharon Carrillo from Maplebrook School and a Walmart Supercenter, both located in New York. Sharon Carrillo was once a student at the school and once worked at the Walmart.

Files gained included psychological evaluations and individualized school plans made to accommodate Sharon, who according to MacLean has intellectual limitations.

Since the case is ongoing, the appeal is an interlocutory appeal, meaning it is “eligible for immediate review only if [it falls] within a judicially-created exception to the final judgment rule, including one of the three, well-established exceptions the ‘death knell’ exception, the judicial economy exception, or the collateral order exception,” according to a notice of appeal filed in Waldo County Court April 18.

An interlocutory appeal refers to an appeal of a ruling made by a trial court prior to the conclusion of the respective trial.

Sharon’s lawyers argue that the appeal falls within the “death knell” exception, which allows “an immediate appeal from an interlocutory order when substantial rights of a party will be irreparably lost if review is delayed until final judgment.”

MacLean wrote that he is willing to brief the issue further to preliminarily show cause as to whether this appeal should be heard on an interlocutory basis. It notes that in the alternative, he is “willing to brief this issue as part of [Sharon’s] appellant brief and to address the issue during oral argument.”

Sharon Carrillo’s forensic mental examination is scheduled for May 4. The exam takes place at the Offices of the State Forensic Service in Augusta, and can take up to three hours to complete.

A status conference had been scheduled for both Julio and Sharon Carrillo on April 30, though the conference was continued April 25, due to the involvement of the Law Court.

According to court documents, the Court had also planned to address a pending Motion for Joinder previously filed by the State. Other matters that were to be discussed included a Motion for Forensic Evaluation of Julio Carrillo.

The notice of appeal means that in accordance with the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, no further trial action will take place “pending disposition by the Law Court.”

Both the motion for Forensic Evaluation of Julio and the Motion for Joinder were continued until further notice by Justice Murray.