UPDATE, July 7, 2010: Court upholds confinement for Wisconsin cheerleader mom
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What would possess a 33-year-old woman to steal her daughter's identity, pose as a high school student, and join the cheerleading squad?
Someone would have to be insane to try to pull off a stunt like that.
Wendy Brown agrees.
Wannabe cheerleader Wendy Brown, the mother who enrolled in Ashwaubenon High School as her 15-year-old daughter, entered an insanity plea yesterday.
From the Green Bay Press-Gazette:
The Ashwaubenon woman who used her 15-year-old daughter’s identity to enroll in high school and try out for the cheerleading squad pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Friday.
Wendy Brown, 33, made a brief appearance in Brown County Circuit Court to answer charges of identity theft from the high school caper and theft and forgery charges from an unrelated case, where she is accused of collecting money for an apartment she didn’t have authority to rent.
State Assistant Public Defender William Fitzgerald offered the not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect plea along with a standard not guilty plea. If convicted on all pending charges, Brown faces up to 12 ¾ years in prison.
Fitzgerald asked the court to appoint Dr. Ralph Baker, a psychiatrist from Oshkosh, for the mental health evaluation. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Sue Bischel agreed to appoint Baker as long as his costs were in line with the mental health professionals normally appointed by the county.
A new court date was not set Friday. Fitzgerald asked that Brown’s cases be held open until the evaluation is complete.
...Should the case go to trial on the two-prong plea, a jury would first need to find that Brown was guilty of the charged crimes. If they find her guilty, they would then hear evidence about her mental health and decide whether she should be held responsible for the crimes.
Anyone who would do what Brown allegedly did has to have some mental health issues.
But are those issues so severe that she should not be held accountable for her actions?
