The judge's decision will be appealed. Watch video
NEW BRUNSWICK -- A judge on Wednesday said he would not permit at trial a statement Michelle Lodzinski gave to the FBI in the wake of a kidnapping hoax that represented a bizarre turn in the investigation into her son's death.
Lodzinski said that she was forcibly taken by FBI agents to Detroit in 1994, three years after the disappearance of her 5-year-old son, Timmy Wiltsey. But she later admitted that it was a hoax, and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Last year, Lodzinski was indicted on a murder charge in Timmy's death.
Prosecutors vowed to appeal Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves' decision to bar her statement to the FBI in the wake of the hoax.
"It really has to do with her credibility," said Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Christie Bevacqua.
Lodzinski, formerly of South Amboy, went so far as to print up fake business cards for an FBI agent, which prosecutors argued showed a consciousness of guilt.
But Nieves said that allowing evidence about the hoax would have a prejudicial effect.
The judge also said that the state could not call to the witness stand an expert in cases where mothers kill their sons. It could lead the jury to jump to questions about why Lodzinski killed Timmy, rather than the real question at hand -- whether she did so at all, Nieves ruled.
http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/11/michelle_lodzinski_timmy_wiltsey_manner_of_death.html
In a victory for prosecutors, Nieves also dismissed Lodzinski's efforts to have the case thrown out because of due process violations, and will also permit several statements at trial. Some of those statements, and the fact that they contradict other ones Lodzinski gave, are crucial to the state's case as they attempt to prove that she killed her son, then lied to cover it up.
Among the stories that Lodzinski told investigators was that her son was taken at knifepoint from a carnival in Sayreville. Timmy's remains were found a year after he was reported missing in a wooded area near the Raritan Center.
Nieves will also allow a medical examiner's testimony that Timmy died as the result of a homicide. The medical examiner did an independent review of the evidence, but did not rely on a deceased medical examiner's own report from the time, Nieves ruled.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.