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Director of Maine State Forensic Service testifies that Sharon Carrillo was susceptible to making false confession

Dr. Sarah Miller evaluated Sharon Carrillo for the prosecution, but was called Tuesday as a witness for the defense.

BELFAST, Maine — The director of the Maine State Forensic Service testified on Tuesday that she evaluated Sharon Carrillo at the request of prosecutors and found she was at a high risk of making a false confession.

Dr. Sarah Miller told defense attorneys that she met with Carrillo on three occasions for a total of about six hours and reviewed discovery information the prosecution obtained for the case.

"You independently noted that what Sharon Carrillo told detectives could have been a false confession," Carrillo's defense attorney, Chris MacLean, asked.

Miller said yes, that Carrillo's low IQ and experience with domestic violence and trauma "certainly would have impaired her judgment and behavior."

Miller said she's "very confident the risk factors are there, but I can't say it was a false confession."

Sharon Carrillo is charged with murder in the February 2018 death of her daughter.

Her husband, Julio Carrillo, pleaded guilty to murder in the case and is serving a 55-year prison sentence. 

Throughout more than a week of testimony, jurors have watched video of police interviews in which Sharon Carrillo confessed to participating in the brutal beating of her daughter, which ultimately led to her death.

RELATED: Witnesses testify Marissa Kennedy’s stepfather told them she was dead months before murder

Defense attorneys argue that Julio Carrillo acted alone and also abused Sharon. They also argue that Maine State Police detectives who interviewed Sharon Carrillo following her daughter's death coerced the confession from her. Experts testified that Sharon Carrillo has an IQ of 70 and is susceptible to influence.

Miller also acknowledged to MacLean that she read in the prosecution's discovery material that Sharon Carrillo told convicted murderer Shawna Gatto that "she participated in the sexual and physical abuse of Marissa Kennedy."

Gatto was convicted in May of the murder of four-year-old Kendall Chick in Wiscasset. She is serving a 50-year prison sentence. Gatto and Carrillo both were incarcerated at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.

Also on Tuesday, Shannon Meadows, a child protection social worker for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, testified that Maine DHHS was alerted in about May 2017 of concerns that Marissa Kennedy was missing school.

She said that prior to becoming involved in the case, previous concerns had been documented about Marissa Kennedy's school truancy, "concerns about her mimicking some of Sharon's self-harming behaviors," and general mental health concerns about the child.  There were also documented concerns about potential domestic violence in the household.

Meadows testified that Julio Carrillo called her in June to say Marissa had been self-harming, holding a knife to herself and saying she didn't want to be with the family any longer.

She said she closed the case in June 2017 after the usual 35-day investigation and referred the case to a case management agency.

To questions by prosecutor Leane Zainea on cross-examination, Meadows said that when she spoke to Sharon Carrillo on the phone and in a private meeting, she denied Julio was "in control" or abusing the family. Meadows said Sharon was able to adequately explain what she said were Marissa's issues. 


This story will be updated.

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