PORT ANGELES — Completion of a series of hearings that will lead to a ruling of whether or not a teen’s statements to police may be used against her at her second-degree murder trial is scheduled Thursday.
Lauryn Last, now 18, allegedly gave self-incriminating statements that led to a second-degree murder charge in the Dec. 31, 2008, death of her full-term infant.
Her attorneys filed a motion to exclude those statements because, the attorneys said, the then-16-year-old didn’t understand what waiving her rights meant, according to court documents.
During a series of continued hearings since November, Port Angeles police officers and expert witnesses have been called during the hearings to testify as to whether Last understood the process.
Hearing at 9 a.m.
Thursday’s hearing in Clallam County Superior Court will be at 9 a.m.
It originally was set for last Thursday but was reset. The reason for the delay was not listed in court documents.
Last was charged as an adult Jan. 2, 2009 with first-degree murder, a charge later reduced to second-degree murder.
The maximum sentence for the second-degree murder charge is 18 years and four months.
Last’s child was fathered by a 37-year-old man who is now serving time in Colorado for sexual assault of Last as a child.
Thursday should be the last day of testimony, according to the court schedule, but a ruling isn’t expected until later.
A trial date has not been set. Scheduling of a trial is pending Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams’ ruling on Last’s statements to police.
