ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP – The first part of a DVD containing a police interview with Cathleen Koch was played in court Wednesday. Parts of the DVD that were played featured Koch, a mother accused in the beating of her daughter, answering questions from St. Charles police officials.
Koch, 29, faces charges of aggravated battery to a child, six counts of obstructing justice and six counts of endangering the life of a child, stemming from an incident that happened Oct. 27, 2010, at the Super 8 at 1520 E. Main St. in St. Charles. Koch's boyfriend, James C. Cooper, was charged with aggravated battery to a child and could face up to 30 years in prison.
The case was in court Wednesday on a motion filed by Koch's attorney, Liz Lovig, seeking to suppress the statements Koch made to police before she was charged. According to the motion, Koch was in custody of St. Charles police officials immediately after they arrived following a 911 call she made. The motion also states that police had considered her a suspect without advising her of her Miranda rights. The motion seeks to suppress comments made to St. Charles police and grant Koch "any and all additional relief, which this honorable court deems just and equitable under the circumstances."
The motion also stated that Koch was assured by police that she was not in trouble and that she was not a suspect. It stated that she was not free to leave as police drove her first to Delnor Hospital, then to the police station to obtain an order to search Koch's car and then to Central DuPage Hospital, where her daughter eventually was taken for life-saving treatment. The injuries suffered by Koch's daughter, Molly, now 2 years old, were severe, and when Cathleen Koch made the 911 call, she said her daughter was unresponsive.
On Wednesday, St. Charles Police Officer Joanne Pawlak testified that Koch was free to go at any time during the questioning, that Koch had spoken voluntarily while she was in Pawlak's squad car and that Koch said that police could search her car.
"I wasn't asking any questions," Pawlak said. "She was volunteering information."
Assistant State's Attorney Joe Cullen introduced the DVD of the police interview conducted at Central DuPage Hospital – over Lovig's objections – in which Koch was questioned by Pawlak and Detective Drew Lamela. In it, the officials questioned Koch over why the story of how Molly suffered her injuries had changed and how her original story that Molly had been hurt in a fall did not seem consistent with the injuries she had suffered.
Koch is accused of telling authorities that she was alone with the child when she called 911, though she knew that Cooper was present in the room with her at the time of the call. Also, she is accused of first telling an officer the girl was injured during an accidental fall, and that she did not know Cooper's last name.
When Lamela asked her why she didn't tell officials that Cooper was there at the time of the 911 call, she said she was very scared.
In part of the motion filed by Lovig, it said that officers were "swearing and yelling" during the interviews at Central DuPage Hospital. In the DVD, the officers were heard to use some profanity in their questioning.
Kane County Circuit Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon stopped the playing of the DVD at noon. It will be picked up at 11 a.m. today in Sheldon's courtroom. The testimony then will be picked up again on Tuesday as Sheldon pushed for the case to proceed with urgency.
"It's very difficult for the court when these cases go off over weeks and months," Sheldon said, urging those involved to "do all that we can to work our way through four or five hours of tape."
