Wisconsin girl in Slenderman case to ask court for change of plea - media
MILWAUKEE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - One of the two Wisconsin girls accused of attacking a classmate to please a fictional character named Slenderman is expected on Friday to ask a court to change her plea to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, local media reported.
Anissa Weier, along with Morgan Geyser, have been in custody since they were charged with attempted first-degree homicide in the May 2014 stabbing attack in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee. All three girls were 12 years old at the time of the stabbing. Weier and Geyser are now 14.
Weier is expected to ask a Waukesha County Circuit Court on Friday to change her plea from not guilty to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Geyser's plea was changed to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect last month, online court records showed.
The girls would likely be treated at mental health hospital if they are found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
A Wisconsin appeals court ruled in July that the teenagers should be tried as adults after their attorneys attempted to get the case moved to juvenile court. They can appeal that decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Weier and Geyser could each be sentenced to up to 65 years in prison if convicted as adults. They could be held until the age of 25 if convicted as juveniles.
Wisconsin law requires cases to begin in adult court if they involve juvenile suspects at least 10 years old who are charged with first-degree attempted intentional homicide.
The girls' lawyers had argued that the girls were mentally ill when they stabbed their classmate. A judge ruled Weier and Geyser both were competent to stand trial. Health experts testified that Geyser suffers from schizophrenia, but has refused to take medication. Weier was diagnosed with a delusional disorder that made her believe in Slenderman.
Prosecutors have said the girls lured the classmate into the woods and stabbed her 19 times to impress Slenderman, a fictional supernatural Internet character depicted in stories as stalking and tormenting humans, especially children. The stabbing occurred after a sleepover and was planned for months.
The victim was found crawling out of the woods by a bicyclist. She spent six days in the hospital and returned to school last fall. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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