Nicole Finn's attorney moves to block evidence from trial

LINH TA   | The Des Moines Register

The attorneys for Nicole Finn, a mother accused in the starvation death of her 16-year-old daughter Natalie Finn, has filed a motion to block four pieces of evidence during her trial. 

Nicole Finn has pleaded not guilty to several felony charges, including murder, for allegedly abusing Natalie Finn and two teenage siblings, all of whom were adopted. Her lawyers have said the mother will use a defense of diminished mental capacity.

Evidence the defense is requesting be excluded include:

• Life insurance policies on Natalie Finn and her two siblings
• Evidence that Natalie Finn was hit with a bat by a relative
• References that her siblings resembled "concentration camp prisoners"
• Testimony that Nicole Finn made distasteful comments about Natalie Finn's death when she was picking up medical records

The document was filed on Tuesday. The state has also filed a resistance to the motion.

Numerous people, including school officials and neighbors, reported they believed Natalie Finn was being abused before she was pulled out of public school last year and died of emaciation from denial of critical care.

She was wearing an adult diaper and lying on the linoleum floor of her bare bedroom when police and medics discovered her, according to court documents. Nicole Finn did try to revive her daughter and instructed her son to call 911, Thomas Augustine, Nicole Finn's attorney said.

The trial of Natalie's father, Joseph Finn II, was continued until Jan. 8. The 46-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, neglect, abandonment and child endangerment.

His attorney, Jim Cook, said last month that Joseph Finn doesn’t anticipate using any “special” defenses, instead contending that the father didn't live in Nicole Finn’s home after the two divorced and “wasn’t around the kids that often."

Nicole Finn's trial is planned to start Nov. 27.