The motion before Judge Moses
** in a state hospital.
Erik Denton, whose three young children were drowned by their mother Liliana Carrillo in a Reseda apartment in 2021, is asking a judge to force a court psychologist to release her evaluation records. A hearing is set for July 10, 2026.
** in a state hospital.
Denton’s attorneys filed the request on June 12 with Judge Jared D. Moses in Pasadena Superior Court. The motion asks the judge to order psychologist Nichole M. Vienna to produce her report and session notes from her evaluation of Carrillo’s mental state. A hearing is set for July 10, 2026.
Denton filed a civil lawsuit against the City and County of Los Angeles in April 2022. The suit alleges that Los Angeles Police Department officers were negligent. According to the complaint, officers failed to take seriously signs that Carrillo’s mental health was declining and failed to share information with county social workers.
Denton’s legal team argues that Vienna’s records are central to their case. The filings state the documents would help establish the timing and severity of Carrillo’s symptoms and whether government workers missed actionable warning signs before the deaths.
"This information is relevant to plaintiff’s claims against the city and county of Los Angeles in this case, which center upon Carrillo’s dangerous mental state and the city and county’s actions in response to reports they received regarding Carrillo’s mental state posing a danger to her children before their deaths," Denton’s attorneys wrote in their court papers, according to Behavioral Healthcare Network.
Vienna declined to comply with a May subpoena, arguing the materials contain sensitive information, according to Denton’s pleadings. Her findings, however, were already disclosed during the criminal prosecution.
Another psychiatrist, Dr. David S. Rad, examined Carrillo separately and summarized Vienna’s conclusions in his own report. According to Denton’s attorneys’ filings, Rad wrote that Vienna found Carrillo had a mental disease within the mood disorder spectrum. Rad noted that Vienna observed symptoms including:
Vienna also concluded that Carrillo was incapable of understanding that her actions were morally wrong, according to Rad’s report as cited in the civil filings.
Denton’s lawyers argue that because Vienna’s findings were already shared with the criminal court, there is nothing confidential or privileged about the records.
Carrillo killed her three children on April 10, 2021, in their Reseda apartment. The victims were:
In October 2024, a judge found Carrillo legally insane at the time of the killings, relying on reports from three court-appointed examiners. She was ordered to serve 75 years to life in a state hospital in January 2025, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
In an interview from jail following her arrest, Carrillo told Bakersfield NBC affiliate KGET-TV that she killed her children because she feared they would be abused and sexually assaulted by others.
"I drowned them," she said of her children. "I wasn’t about to hand my children off to be further abused."
When asked by the KGET reporter if she regretted her actions, Carrillo responded:
"I wish my kids were alive, yes. Do I wish that I didn’t have to do that? Yes. But I prefer them not being tortured and abused on a regular basis for the rest of their life."
Denton has pointed to that interview and other public statements as evidence that his children were in danger. His attorneys argue those on-the-record comments undercut the argument that everything Vienna wrote must remain completely confidential.
California law generally protects confidential exchanges between a patient and a psychotherapist. That privilege comes with narrow exceptions. Judges can conduct an in-camera review, a private inspection of records, to decide whether any portion is relevant and discoverable while keeping unrelated material sealed.
If the judge orders limited disclosure of Vienna’s records, Denton’s attorneys say it could bolster allegations that police and social workers failed to act before the children were killed. If the court confines access to an in-camera review, the public may never see what the files contain.
Carrillo’s attorney during the insanity hearing, Brandon Mata, could not be reached for comment on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
The July 10 hearing is set to shape the trajectory of the civil case. The outcome could also ripple into local debates over cross-reporting and mental-health follow-up in child welfare investigations across Los Angeles County.
This article was generated with AI assistance.