BELFAST, Maine (AP) A judge has rejected a request by defense attorneys to prove prosecutors handling the case of a Maine mother accused of beating her 10-year-old daughter to death with her husband’s help.

Justice Robert Murray wasted little time in ruling against the request, which Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber called “shameless posturing.”

The attorneys said Thursday that prosecutors used an illegal subpoena to get confidential records from Sharon Carrillo’s former school and employer in New York. The judge previously ruled the subpoenas were not properly issued and prosecutors needed to turn in any documents they received.

Sharon and Julio Carrillo have pleaded not guilty to charges related to the death of Marissa Kennedy.

The state medical examiner’s office says the child was a victim of battered child syndrome.