Police testify Elgin kidnapping, torture suspect was read her rights
A suspect in the 2016 kidnapping and cigarette torture of a teen in Elgin was read her Miranda rights before being questioned by police, two officers testified Wednesday.
Megan A. Lino, 22, of Carpentersville is the fifth and final defendant in the case from late February 2016. She faces charges of kidnapping, home invasion, aggravated battery and other felonies.
Lino was in court this week trying to have statements she made to police barred from trial.
She and three others were charged with forcing their way into a home on the 500 block of Levine Court, kidnapping a teenage girl and taking her to a residence on the 300 block of Raymond Street. There, the victim was stripped and beaten, and lit cigarettes were used to burn a shoulder tattoo that matched her ex-boyfriend's tattoo, according to authorities and court records.
Alleged ringleader Luis Palomar, 20, of Lake in the Hills, pleaded guilty earlier this year and was sentenced to 16½ years in prison. Three others also have pleaded guilty.
Lino faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Defense attorney William Gibbs argues that during more than two hours of police questioning, Lino asked to talk to her attorney and that her statements were not given voluntarily.
However, two Elgin police officers testified Wednesday that Lino was read her rights and initialed and signed a form stating she understood them before being questioned Feb. 27, 2016, at the police station.
Detective Anthony Rigano testified that Lino was arrested outside a home on the 300 block of Raymond Street the morning of Feb. 27, 2016, after police got a call of a woman being beaten and held against her will. Lino was taken to a holding cell and questioned about 5:40 p.m., Rigano testified.
"She mentioned she had had her rights read to her before and she understood," he said.
The video recording of Lino's interrogation was not played in court. Judge James Hallock will watch it in his chambers before Lino's attorney and prosecutors argue the matter Sept. 28.