Daniel Baker’s videotaped statement to police, in which he allegedly says that he beat his girlfriend’s mother to death with a baseball bat, will be allowed at his trial, a Lake County Circuit Court Judge ruled today.
Baker’s defense attorneys had sought to bar the statements he made to interrogators about the Vernon Hills slaying after he was arrested days later in Glacier County, Mont. Baker, 24, of Deerfield, is charged in the death of Marina Aksman, on April 1, 2010.
Chief Judge Fred Foreman said that, despite the defense’s assertion that Baker’s Miranda rights were not scrupulously honored, Baker was indeed properly warned of his rights multiple times and that he could refuse to answer questions without an attorney present.
The defense also argued that police in Montana did not allow Baker to make or receive a phone call for more than 24 hours while he was being held and later questioned by members of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force.
“Regardless of any alleged improprieties (by Montana police), it is clear on the video recording that he never actually was refused any request for phone calls because none were posed to them,” Foreman said.
Additionally, the defense said that the interrogators took advantage of the defendant’s mental state.
“He has been found fit to stand trial,” Foreman said. “There is no proof that he was insane. He is of above average intelligence and was in college at the time.”
In ruling against the defense motion, Foreman said that there was no physical abuse during the interrogation, that the defendant had been given multiple breaks to use the bathroom and had been given food and water.
“The atmosphere could be described as informal and relaxed,” he said. “There is no basis for which the court could conclude his will was overcome.”
Baker’s physical appearance is different at every court hearing. At the last, he had a long beard and mustache and long, unkempt hair. He appeared in court today clean shaven, with short, cropped hair.
The case will now move to the courtroom of Lake County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Shanes, since Foreman has been elected chief judge. It’s next due in court on June 29.
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