Defense: Throw out confession in robberies, newborn's death

A former Lake in the Hills woman charged in a pair of bank robberies, as well as the death of her newborn son, was too mentally ill to understand her right to remain silent when she confessed to the holdups, her defense claims in court documents filed Friday.

Lawyers for Lyndsey R. Tucker are asking a federal court to throw out incriminating statements she made about the robberies, arguing that police took advantage of her mental condition to obtain a confession.

"Ms. Tucker's demeanor and manner clearly indicated that she was confused, was easily manipulated and suffered from a mental illness," defense lawyer Lawrence Wolf Levin says in Friday's filing. "A law enforcement officer with an experience in human behavior would have recognized that Ms. Tucker was unable to understand or comprehend the rights."

Tucker, 27, faces two federal bank robbery charges alleging she held up two Lake in the Hills banks -- Bank of America, 2450 Algonquin Road; and LaSalle Bank, 240 N. Randall Road -- in February 2007 using a knife and a toy pistol.

She also faces an unrelated involuntary manslaughter charge in connection with allegations she secretly gave birth to a boy in July 2007, wrapped him in a plastic bag and stuffed him under a sink in the bathroom of her boyfriend's Hebron-area apartment. The boy, authorities said, suffocated to death because a placenta had been left over his face.

Tucker refused to speak with police investigating the boy's death.

But she did agree to an interview with Lake in the Hills investigators after her Feb. 10, 2007, arrest on the bank robbery charges and ultimately admitted to the crimes, court documents state.

But at the time, Levin states, Tucker suffered from dependent personality disorder and other mental afflictions that made it impossible to understand her rights or refuse the requests of others.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Pedersen declined comment on the defense motion Friday, but said he would be filing a formal written response opposing the request.

Tucker, who has yet to appear in McHenry County court on the manslaughter charge, remains in federal custody awaiting trial in connection with the robberies.