Illinois Supreme Court weighs admissibility of ‘reenactment’ in murder
case
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[January 10, 2024]
By ANDREW ADAMS
Capitol News Illinois
aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com
In October 2019, Jessica Logan’s 19-month old son died.
Less than two weeks later, police and an investigator from the state’s
Department of Child and Family Services met Logan at her Decatur home
and gave her a “toddler size mannequin” before telling her to reenact
finding the lifeless body of her son in his bed.
The video of that reenactment – which Logan’s lawyers maintain she was
coerced into performing – was then used as a key piece of evidence in
Logan’s 2021 conviction on first-degree murder charges. Logan was later
sentenced to 33 years in prison.
Now, Logan is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to step in and grant her
a new trial. She claims the use of that reenactment video violated her
constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Without that evidence, Logan’s attorney argued to the high court on
Tuesday, the case might have been decided differently.
“The state was telling the jury, ‘You... can convict on inadmissible
evidence alone,’” Illinois Assistant Appellate Defender Gilbert Lenz
said in court. “It’s hard to imagine a more prejudicial evidentiary
error.”
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/10/images/ads/current/eaton_lda_LUAL_2023.png)
In addition to arguing on constitutional grounds, Lenz told the court
that the video’s inclusion in Logan’s trial was unfair because Logan was
never read her Miranda rights – a warning that anything she said could
be used in court and that she had the right to a lawyer.
If the court agrees the reenactment video was inadmissible at trial,
Lenz claims other key pieces of evidence would also be tainted as “fruit
of the poisonous tree.”
This would include the testimony from Dr. Scott Denton, a forensic
pathologist who told the jury that Logan’s son’s “only possible cause of
death was smothering,” according to court filings.
But Denton made that claim after viewing the reenactment video,
something Lenz argued should have disqualified it as evidence in the
case. This would limit Denton’s testimony only to what he knew before
viewing the video.
“At a fair trial, at a new trial, [Denton] would tell the jury ‘At the
autopsy I did not know how this child died. It was asphyxiation but I
don’t know whether it was a homicide, I don’t know whether it was an
accident,’” Lenz argued. “The implications for the state’s ability to
prove its case when the doctor testifies to that in a murder case are
obvious.”
On the other side, the state focused on what constitutes coercion,
arguing that the reenactment did not qualify as investigators improperly
taking Logan into custody.
Much of this came down to what was meant – and understood – when a DCFS
investigator told Logan “we need to do a reenactment.”
Assistant Attorney General Josh Schneider, who argued the case on behalf
of the state, said the word “need” did not stop Logan from refusing to
participate.
While the justices betrayed little as to how they would rule in the
case, they did question Schneider about the nature of the reenactment,
probing to find the limits on what constitutes an involuntary action.
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![](../images/011024PIX/news_a41.jpg)
The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving
constitutional rights on Tuesday. (Capitol News Illinois photo by
Andrew Campbell)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/10/images/ads/current/peasleymemorials_lda_2022.png)
“Knowing that she had another child in the home and whatever DCFS
decided would impact whether she got to keep that child, wouldn’t and
couldn't she have reasonably understood that to mean that ‘I have to
participate in this?’” asked Justice Joy Cunningham.
Justice P. Scott Neville also prodded this, asking about the nature of
being alone with a state investigator and two police officers at the
scene of the alleged crime.
“You don’t think that might be considered coercive by someone who’s
never been involved in the criminal justice system?” Neville asked.
While Schneider pushed back on those questions, he also argued that in
order for a situation to count as “custody” for the sake of a Miranda
warning, someone must have their movement restricted and be in a
coercive atmosphere.
“No one ever told her she wasn’t free to leave, no one ever physically
restrained her, no one ever displayed a weapon or a use of force, no one
ever invoked their authority to tell her that she had to stay,”
Schneider told the court. “She never indicated she wanted to leave. And
at the end, she in fact did leave without any obstruction from law
enforcement.”
In addition to arguing that the evidence was admissible, Schneider said
that the lower courts did not make a mistake that would warrant a
retrial.
“Here there was ample evidence – really, overwhelming evidence – that
the defendant was guilty of the homicide in this case,” Schneider said.
He cited a financial motive – a $25,000 life insurance policy and
Logan’s financial issues – and circumstantial evidence of Logan Googling
“how do you suffocate” prior to her son’s death.
The justices will now consider the case, although there is no set
timeline on when they might issue a final opinion.
While the high court could take the case in several directions, Logan’s
legal team requested a new trial. The state has asked that the
conviction – and the existing evidence – be allowed to stand.
In addition to the legal issues surrounding the reenactment video,
Logan’s case garnered national attention for the state’s use of a
controversial forensic method called 911 call analysis – where so-called
experts analyze the guilt of a 911 caller based on what they said and
how they said it.
In late 2022, ProPublica published an investigation into the use of that
method in this case, calling it “junk science” and noting that the
detective in Logan’s case used the fact that Logan – through tears –
said “I need my baby” instead of directly asking for help as evidence of
her guilt.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/10/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
The non-profit news organization reports that in the time since its
initial investigation, North Carolina’s Office of Indigent Defense
Services as well as groups like Fair and Just Prosecutors and the
Innocence Project have all raised concerns about the practice.
Editor’s Note: Capitol News Illinois is a partner
with ProPublica and shares reporting resources. ProPublica did not
contribute to this story.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
news service covering state government. It is distributed to
hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded
primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R.
McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the
Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial
Association. |