Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Sheriff: Recorder forgotten during Hamm interview

Thursday, December 14, 2006

By Edith Brady-Lunny
eblunny@mchsi.com

CLINTON -- Police did not record a crucial interview with Amanda Hamm about the deaths of her three children because the statement was part of a polygraph examination, DeWitt County Sheriff Roger Massey said Thursday.

Hamm was convicted of three counts of child endangerment Tuesday by a Macon County jury but the panel did not find Hamm guilty of first degree murder. She was accused of conspiring with former boyfriend Maurice LaGrone Jr. in September 2003 to drown Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months. LaGrone was convicted of murder in April.

A key element of Hamm's defense centered on police interrogations of Hamm, including a nine hour meeting investigators had with Hamm while she was a patient at St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur on Sept. 22, 2003.

Police testified at Hamm's trial that the statement was not recorded because a tape recorder was left behind in a police vehicle in the hospital parking lot. Leaving the hospital could have disrupted the interview process, police said.

State police polygrapher Mark Murphy conducted an initial interview with Hamm before administering the test. Polygraph interviews are not recorded, said Massey.

"It was not our intention to do a big interview. The polygraph was the reason we were there," said Massey. The sheriff, Murphy and two state police detectives were at the hospital for the interview.

After the polygraph test was complete, the sheriff said Hamm indicated she wanted to continue the conversation.

"It was a very fast paced, fluid situation. We didn't want to stop and get a recording device," said the sheriff.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Steve Skelton told jurors that police lacked credibility because the hospital interview was not recoded. Jurors heard audio recordings and saw a video of other statements Hamm gave to police.

The sheriff said he regretted the decision to move forward with the hospital statement without a tape recorder.

"We wish we had had it. It was to our benefit to have it recorded," said Massey.

The explanation for the recording device was not offered during the trial, said Massey, because information and results of polygraph tests are not admissible in court.

"We had to skate around the polygraph issue because we didn't want anyone to talk about it," said Massey.

Skelton dismissed Massey's post trial explanation for not recording the interview.

"It's just grasping at straws, a case of revisionist history again," said Skelton.

The sheriff said the jury verdict closes his long involvement with the Hamm and LaGrone cases. "We've turned the page," said the four term sheriff.

Massey also said he is not satisfied that the jury or the public has heard the full story of what happened on the boat ramp more than three years ago.

"I don't think we will ever know the truth because unfortunately I don't think we've ever heard that," said Massey.

Trial costs

The Hamm and LaGrone cases have cost DeWitt County taxpayers more than $166,000 so far, according to recent figures from DeWitt County officials.

The state Capital Litigation Trust Fund has paid an additional $1.7 million for the two cases. The fund that assists counties with legal costs for capital murder cases paid $1.1 million for LaGrone's defense, $310,000 for Hamm's defense and $253,000 for the prosecution in both cases, according to state records.

Hamm and LaGrone were both eligible for the death penalty but the state took the death penalty off the table for Hamm after the LaGrone jury rejected death for him.

The county is anticipating several hefty legal bills connected to Hamm's trial, including final bills from Skelton and Special Prosecutor Roger Simpson and defense experts.

DeWitt County Board administrative assistant DeeDee Rentmeister said the county's budget for public defender fees was doubled to $15,000 and jury expenses were doubled to $35,000 to cover some of the trial costs. The remaining fees will be taken from the county's contingency fund, said Rentmeister.

The cost of the Hamm and LaGrone trials drew criticism from the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

"It is now crystal clear that neither case against Maurice LaGrone Jr. or Amanda Hamm warranted the death penalty. It is also clear that taxpayer dollars were squandered in seeking the death penalty in what were not capital cases.

It is the Coalition's hope that the community can now come together and begin to heal the pain and suffering caused by the tragic deaths of the three Hamm children," said the coalition statement.