Prosecutors 'confession' can be used in shaken baby case

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WOODSTOCK - Details on how a Huntley day-care provider said she hurt a two-month-old baby can be used at her trial, after a judge ruled Monday that police properly obtained her confession.

Attorneys for Eva Walton, 34, had denied those statements amounted to a confession, alleging Walton believed they were notes to be used for a polygraph examination in May 2005. The U.S. Secret Service agent handling the lie-detector test canceled it after he said Walton confessed during a pre-exam interview.

Judge Joseph Condon ruled that those tactics did not overcome Walton’s free will. He also said in his four-page written order that Walton’s fear of losing her son should not have compelled her to implicate herself.

“The defendant understood that were she to be charged with the offense she may lose her son,” Condon wrote. “Her incentive would prompt her to avoid implicating herself.”

Walton, of 11565 Centennial Ave. in Huntley, was charged with aggravated battery for allegedly causing several rib fractures and a burnt tongue, among other injuries, while the baby was in her care. If convicted, Walton faces up to 30 years in prison.

Her trial is scheduled to start Jan. 5.

town: Huntley