Pilkington is charged with aggravated murder for killing her three sons — infant Niall in July 2014, 4-year-old Gavin in April 2015 and infant Noah on Aug. 18, 2015.
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The evaluations were conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Madden, a neuropsychologist who previously taught at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, and Dr. Howard Fradkin, a psychologist who specializes in trauma.
In the evaluations, the experts said Pilkington could not have given credible answers to police when she was interrogated because she has a low IQ and could not understand what was going on.
Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart responded to the motion and said in a court filing that the experts should not be permitted.
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“The opinions offered by these experts amount to nothing more than human lie detector tests in the guise of clinical evaluations,” the response says. “Both experts want to opine that during portions of Brittany’s interview, she was telling the truth and during other parts she was lying.”
The prosecutors go on to say that other defendants would not be allowed to use the defense experts and neither should Pilkington.
“Capital defendants are not entitled to special treatment regarding evidentiary or procedural rules,” the response said. “The defense experts should not be permitted to give an opinion on when they think Brittany was telling the truth to law enforcement and when she was lying to them.”
This is not the first time the defense has tried to stop the comments from being used in court. Her defense lawyers previously filed a motion to suppress her statements made to police following Noah’s death, in which she confessed to smothering each of the boys, according to police. They argued that confession was coerced, but Logan County Common Pleas Judge Mark O’Connor denied the motion.
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Pilkington’s lawyers have asked now that their motion to suppress be re-opened because the results of the new evaluations weren’t available until after the court’s November denial of their first request.
If convicted, Pilkington could face the death penalty.
Her trial has been pushed back multiple times, and the next hearings on motions are now scheduled for Aug. 21 and 22.
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