DA: Delay 'Slenderman' Hearing, Discuss Competency
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Waukesha County prosecutors are asking that next week's preliminary hearing be postponed for one of the two 12-year-old girls accused of stabbing and nearly killing a classmate to please the fictional horror character Slenderman.
Assistant prosecutor Ted Szczupakiewicz filed the request Wednesday. He was responding to a public defender's assertion that a forensic psychologist found his client mentally unfit for trial.
The public defender, Joseph Smith Jr., still wants next week's hearing held as scheduled. He hopes to have the girl's case heard in juvenile court, and worries that if she's found unfit in adult court she might not receive services appropriate for her age.
But Szczupakiewicz says the hearing should be postponed in favor of hearings to discuss the issue of the girl's competency.
There's no immediate indication of when the judge will issue a ruling.
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
