WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — Lake County prosecutors are attempting to prevent a new trial for a day care worker convicted of the murder of a child in 2009.
Officials responded last week to Melissa Calusinski’s request for a new trial by saying her lawyers are trying to retread evidence heard at her first trial.
The Chicago Tribune reports that alleged “new” X-rays are simply brightened versions of ones used in the trial that resulted in the 29-year-old Calusinski’s 31-year prison sentence.
Calusinski’s attorneys filed a motion last summer claiming that new evidence shows 16-month-old Benjamin Kingan died from pre-existing head injuries. Prosecutors alleged Calusinski slammed the child to the floor at a Lincolnshire day care center.
Calusinski claims she was coerced into confessing to the Deerfield toddler’s death.
