A defense lawyer is set to receive psychological records from the Lake County Jail for a co-defendant in a Hammond home invasion case.
Garrett Whittenburg, 41, of Chicago, remains charged as an accomplice in a Nov. 13, 2021, Hammond home invasion where a mother and her daughter, 12, were blindfolded and sexually assaulted.
His co-defendant Valentine Torrez, the woman’s relative, got 33 years in a split verdict in May.
Whittenburg’s lawyer Aaron Koonce wants to use the records to challenge two psychologists who recently found him mentally competent.
Whittenburg told Judge Natalie Bokota Thursday he didn’t want Koonce to have them. Koonce said it could be granted whether he agreed to it or not.
Another hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.
Initially, when the case emerged, Torrez claimed he was a victim and happened to be at the house when Whittenburg walked in.
In the picture that later emerged, authorities alleged Torrez planned the assault with Whittenburg as a pretext to assault the woman and steal her credit cards.
Whittenburg had previously signed a now-defunct plea deal in May 2023, which required him to testify at Torrez’s trial. However, he stopped cooperating fully with prosecutors at least since March when he refused to testify in a pre-trial deposition for Torrez’s case.
