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Defense In Slender Man Case Say Adult Charges Unwarranted

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Attorneys for one of two Wisconsin girls charged in adult court with trying to kill a friend to please a fictional horror character will argue her case belongs in juvenile court.

Lawyers for the 13-year-old girl will argue in court Tuesday that the law requiring adult charges for attempted first-degree intentional homicide is unconstitutional. That girl and a 12-year-old friend are accused of stabbing Payton Leutner in a Waukesha park last May to please Slender Man, a character they believed could kill them or their families. The 12-year-old victim survived 19 stab wounds.

State law requires children as young as 10 to be charged as adults for certain serious crimes. The defendants can try to have their cases moved to juvenile court where a sentence would not be as severe.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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