Ball Cap

Judge: No early Hamm testimony

0 Comments | Pantagraph; Bloomington, Ill., Oct 14, 2005 | by Edith Brady-Lunny

CLINTON — Amanda Hamm’s account of how her three children drowned and how hard prosecutors can push her for that information will have to wait until her former boyfriend’s murder trial.

Hamm, 29, and Maurice LaGrone Jr., 30, each face nine counts of first-degree murder in the September 2003 deaths of Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months. The children drowned when Hamm’s car sank into Clinton Lake, but Hamm and LaGrone, who were present, say it was an accident.

LaGrone’s trial will begin in February in McLean County.

Lawyers for the prosecution and Hamm and LaGrone were in court Thursday to argue two motions concerning Hamm’s testimony. DeWitt County Circuit Judge Stephen Peters denied both motions, saying he will wait until the trial begins before making decisions on Hamm’s testimony.

One was a defense request for Hamm’s testimony in advance of LaGrone’s trial, and another was the prosecution’s request to treat Hamm as a hostile witness. Calling Hamm a hostile witness could allow prosecutors to question Hamm in a more aggressive manner and force more information from her.

Special prosecutor Roger Simpson argued against the defense request for Hamm’s testimony.

“There is not a dress rehearsal where she will know what the questions are,” said Simpson.

If she exercises her constitutional right against self- incrimination, prosecutors will offer her immunity in exchange for her testimon, Simpson said. That means nothing she says at LaGrone’s trial could be used at her’s.

In arguing the hostile-witness motion, Simpson said the state cannot vouch for Hamm’s veracity as witness.

“She’s given multiple versions of what happened Sept. 2, 2003. She either has difficulty recording things in her mind and relating them back to law enforcement and friends or she’s a pathological liar,” said Simpson.

The fact that Hamm is facing the death penalty makes her a hostile witness, said the prosecutor.

“I can’t imagine any party who would be more hostile
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