Cigarette torture defendant wants statements banned from court
One of four defendants charged with kidnapping and torturing a teen in Elgin in 2016 wants her statements to police banned from court.
Megan A. Lino, 21, of Carpentersville, and three others face felony charges of home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping causing great bodily harm and other charges stemming from the allegations.
They are accused of kidnapping the 18-year-old Belvidere woman from party on the 500 block of Levine Court in Elgin the night of Feb. 26, 2016, holding her overnight, forcing her to strip naked and using cigarettes to burn a tattoo on her shoulder, according to authorities.
The tattoo matched one had by her ex-boyfriend, Luis Palomar, according to a police affidavit used to secure a search warrant of a home on the 300 block of Raymond Street in Elgin. The Belvidere woman was found the next morning, after police responded to a call that woman was being held against her will.
Lino's defense attorney is arguing that statements she made to police were not given voluntarily because investigators continued to question her after she asked for a lawyer.
"She was incapable and unable to appreciate and understand the full meaning of her Miranda Rights and any statement was therefore not the free and natural choice of the accused and was not made voluntarily, knowingly or intelligently," defense attorney Timothy Mahoney wrote in a motion asking a court to bar Lino's statements from trial.
The motion did not detail what Lino told police.
Police arrested Lino, Ruby Gomez, 22, and Kassandra Delgado, 22, both of Elgin, weeks after the kidnapping. Palomar, 19, of Lake in the Hills, described by authorities as the mastermind behind the abduction, was captured in Mexico in mid-March 2016.
Lino's move to suppress statements she made to police is the first significant court development since the arrests. A judge will hear the motion Feb. 23.
Palomar is due in court Wednesday. Delgado and Gomez are due in court on Jan. 31 and March 1, respectively.
If convicted of the most severe charge, each faces a punishment of six to 30 years in prison with no possibility of probation.