The public defender for a St. Paul Park woman charged with child abuse said in court Monday she would seek to suppress several statements her client gave to authorities while being questioned.
"I will be filing a motion challenging the voluntariness of statements she gave to law enforcement," public defender Jennifer Nelson said of her client, Katrice Mae Lund, 32.
Lund made numerous statements about how her 2½ -year-old received numerous bruises and other injuries, according to the complaint. Mostly she blamed the injuries on a man she was living with at the time.
She is charged with Malicious Punishment of a Child and Child Neglect/Endangerment. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in jail and/or a $10,000 fine upon conviction.
She is alleged to have said the bruises would heal, but admitted despite the fact she thought the man was abusing the toddler, Lund kept leaving the child alone with him.
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The man gave authorities a statement denying he abused the child, and blamed Lund.
"If she was older, I'd smack her," the man allegedly told authorities about Lund's comments toward the child.
The man then allegedly told the mother "that she was just a baby and Katrice responded, 'she's not a baby. She knows what she's doing, she's calculating,'" according to the criminal complaint.
The hearing was set for Dec. 20 in Hubbard County District Court.
