Did Leilani Simon invoke her right to remain silent? Attorneys argue points during hearing
At a hearing held on Tuesday in Chatham County Superior Court, defense attorneys for Leilani Simon and prosecutors argued over whether statements made by Simon during the police investigation into the death of her 20-month-old son, Quinton Simon, should be considered voluntary and introduced during the jury trial.
Prosecutor Tim Dean direct-examined a Chatham County Police Department (CCPD) officer about the multiple times Simon spoke to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and CCPD investigators at the Savannah FBI office.
The three-hour-long motion hearing is the latest in the case against Leilani Simon, a saga that has stretched on since a Chatham County grand jury indicted her in mid-December 2022.
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Did Leilani Simon invoke her right to remain silent?
Dean left the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office to work as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Georgia in November 2023, but recently entered his appearance in this case. During the hearing, Dean argued that Simon voluntarily made the statements to FBI and CCPD officers.
Dean also introduced 32 videos at the hearing, many of which were statements made by Simon to officers about the disappearance of her son in early October 2022.
During one interrogation at the Savannah FBI office, a male investigator asked Simon, "What happened to Quinton? How did Quinton die? Why did you put him in the dumpster? You're lying. It's an accident. Something happened. You just got to help me understand. Accidents happen."
"Who killed Quinton?" asked the investigator.
"I don't know," replied Simon.
"You killed him," said the investigator, before Simon invoked her rights and left the interrogation room.
“Even if the invocation did have legal effect, there’s evidence before the court that the defendant re-initiated communication with the investigative team,” argued Dean. “If she didn’t want to answer questions on a future date, don’t do it. She chose each and every time to make voluntary statements.”
Simon’s defense attorney Robert Persse said that there were four times between October and November 2022 when Simon invoked her right to an attorney or to remain silent. Persse argued that, despite the invocations, the FBI and CCPD officers kept reaching out to Simon to interrogate her and, ultimately, arrest her.
“Once that right was invoked, the police were forbidden to contact her, to come in, to give updates, to get her to talk,” argued Persse, citing Edwards v. Arizona.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge Tammy Stokes said she would take the matters under advisement and issue an order at a later date.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Hearing held in Simon case to determine admissibility of statements to police
