When Amalia Tabata-Pereira stands trial in the abduction of a 2-month-old girl, prosecutors will be able to point to statements she made to law enforcement officers after surrendering the baby.
Tabata-Pereira's attorneys asked a judge to throw out the statements, contained in a 35-minute recorded conversation. They claimed deputies ignored her request for a lawyer.
But Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Daniel H. Sleet rejected the claim in a recent ruling.
Tabata-Pereira remains in jail on $750,000 bail, charged with kidnapping, interference with parental custody and impersonating a public officer. A trial date has not been set; a status conference is scheduled for April 13.
An Amber Alert was issued when the child, Sandra Cruz-Francisco, was taken from her mother, Rosa Sirilo-Francisco, at the Plant City Health Department on March 23. Deputies said Tabata-Pereira posed as an immigration official offering to help the child's parents avoid deportation.
Tabata-Pereira, the wife of a minor-league baseball player, turned herself and the baby in to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office the next day.
When interviewed by a Plant City detective and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent, Tabata-Pereira asked whether "she was being accused of this ... because the baby was given to me."
She later provided a detailed story about adopting a baby from a person referred to her by a large Mexican lady she met at Walmart.
Sleet noted that the recording showed investigators told Tabata-Pereira they had to advise her of her rights before talking to her and that she would have to waive those rights. They repeated that she had the right to a lawyer at any time.
When asked whether she wanted to speak to them, she told investigators, "Yeah," and nodded in the affirmative.
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