PORT ANGELES — At least three years will have elapsed between the Dec. 30, 2008, death of Lauryn Last’s newborn boy and Last’s trial on a charge of murdering the infant.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams on Thursday set March 12 for Last’s second-degree murder trial, a day after he ruled her statement to police — in which in one version, she said she had let the infant die — was admissible at her trial.
Williams said in his ruling Wednesday that during Last’s interrogation, an officer lied to her, saying there was evidence against her when there wasn’t.
Williams said the deception was “an interrogation technique” and that police did not coerce the Port Angeles resident into confessing.
In court Thursday on her 19th birthday, Last, dressed in a print blouse and with her hair in a bun, spoke softly as she agreed to the March 12 trial date.
Williams set aside eight days for the trial.
County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg said Wednesday that it would have been difficult to proceed with a trial without Williams’ ruling on Last’s statement to police.
Williams also set 1:30 p.m. Sept. 30 for Troberg and defense lawyer John Hayden of Clallam-Jefferson Public Defenders to file motions and for Williams to review the status of the case.
In agreeing to a trial date more than six months away, Troberg told Williams that Hayden had said there were “scientific issues” Hayden wanted to raise.
“There are a whole passel of issues to raise,” Hayden responded.
Hayden was unavailable to comment Thursday about the court hearing.
“My thought is, let’s get this thing on the road toward a resolution,” Troberg said in an interview.
“If we have some additional motions or briefs, we need to get on with it.”
Last remained on her own recognizance Thursday and left the courtroom with three adults.
Troberg said Last is living with family members.
Last was 16 when county Prosecutor Deb Kelly charged her with first-degree murder, a charge Kelly later reduced to second-degree murder.
Last’s pregnancy was the result of a sexual assault on her that occurred when she was 15 and living in Colorado, according to court records.
A Colorado man who was 37 at the time is serving time in Colorado for the assault.
Williams ruled Wednesday that Last was not coerced Jan. 2, 2009, into making incriminating statements three days after her baby had died.
Hayden had argued Last’s mental state, marked by the results of sexual and physical abuse from age 5, made her incapable of waiving her Miranda rights to counsel and to remain silent.
The prosecution said she was able to make an informed decision.
Last gives several versions of the birth and death of her son, according to a 52-page transcript of her statement.
Port Angeles police interviews were conducted separately by Port Angeles Detective Jesse Winfield and Detective Sgt. Steve Coyle.
Last had smoked marijuana and taken methadone the day of the interviews, which were conducted early in the evening, Williams said in his ruling.
During the first two of three interviews with police, she said she had tried to revive the infant with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Between the second and third interview, Coyle said there was a “stalemate” in the interrogation, prompting Coyle to speak to Last “for three or four minutes,” Williams said.
Coyle’s questioning of Last was not recorded, Troberg said Thursday.
Coyle told her the evidence pointed to her guilt and that up to that point in the interrogation, “she was not being truthful,” Williams said.
“[Coyle] asked her some questions and got some answers which were responsive and more inculpatory,” Williams said.
After she talked to Coyle, Last said in the third interview that she intentionally let the infant die in the toilet, according to the transcript of the confession.
“Although Sgt. Coyle had told Ms. Last that he knew that the evidence would not support her story, at the time, he did not know that that was the case and had therefore lied to her as an interrogation technique,” Williams said.
Last subsequently indicated her self-incriminating statements “were made simply to have the interviews over with” and that “she finally just told the officers what they wanted,” Williams said.
“However, the question before the court is whether or not the answers she gave were the result of having her will overborne by police coercion,” the judge said.
Williams ruled there was no coercion involved.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
