The issue of competency has been decided for both of the suspects in the Waukesha Slender Man stabbing case and, as a result, the proceedings for the two young girls are now moving forward.
Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, the co-defendants who are charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for their roles in the stabbing of their former classmate to please a fictitious online horror character named Slender Man, have both been found competent to proceed by a Waukesha County judge.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled in February for the suspects, who both appeared in person for separate competency hearings on Thursday, Dec. 18, at the Waukesha County Courthouse.
Weier's hearing last week was more than three hours long as three doctors who evaluated her over the course of the last six months spoke and disputed her competency. Geyser's hearing ended abruptly after Geyser's attorney decided not to object to the court-ordered doctor's ruling that his client is competent.
Geyser's condition
At a hearing in November, Cotton had said he was going to contest that doctor's ruling. But he now accepted the determination after he revealed state psychiatrist Kenneth Casimir has diagnosed Geyser with schizophrenia.
"There was a doctor's conclusion that she was competent and I don't see a compelling reason to challenge it at this point," Cotton said after the hearing.
And unlike Weier, who returned to the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center in West Bend, Geyser, at the request of her attorney, was allowed to return to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh, where she will continue to receive treatment for her diagnosed condition.
Geyser, who was in street clothes wearing a Batman T-shirt at the Dec. 18 hearing, has been at the mental health facility since she was ruled incompetent in August.
Cotton made the request, he said, because he was afraid if Geyser returned to the secure West Bend facility, she could regress in terms of her competency.
"At Winnebago, it's an environment that is better for a child diagnosed with a mental illness," Cotton said.
Cotton said while at the mental health facility Geyser sees social workers multiple times a week, gets treatment from doctors, does schoolwork and sees her parents, which Cotton said has been vital for his 12-year-old client.
"She has been able to visit with her mom and dad," Cotton said. "She's been able to interact with them and hug them. Physical contact is important for someone this young."
Weier's competency
Earlier in the day, Weier's competency was the focal point.
At the beginning of Weier's hearing, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren asked Weier if she was competent. She told Bohren "I consider myself incompetent, sir." It was the first time Weier has spoken during one of her hearings.
The hearing was taking place after doctors previously came to different conclusions on her competency, which is largely based on whether a client understands the court proceedings and can assist in their own defense.
Weier's attorneys — Maura McMahon and Joseph Smith Jr. — were contesting a court-appointed doctor's ruling, who said Weier was competent. The two doctors they hired said Weier, 13, was incompetent. All three spoke during the Dec. 18 hearing and all said communicating with Weier was not an issue.
By contrast, the reviews of two different doctors concerning Geyser in their previous interactions with her suggested she was struggling with her competency. They said Geyser told them she communicates telepathically with fictional characters such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort. The psychiatrists added Geyser didn't understand the severity of the situation she is in.
Unlike Geyser, the doctors said Weier understands the charges against her. Forensic psychiatrist Robert Rawski, hired by the court, said he met with Weier on Oct. 8 and found her "extremely intelligent" and "close to superior intelligence for her age."
"I find it hard to believe with her intelligence that she would be considered incompetent," said Rawski, who said he has done about 1,700 competency evaluations in his career.
Questioning expertise
However, McMahon and Smith contested Rawski's lack of experience in giving competency evaluations to children. They suggested the doctors they hired had more visits with her and noted Weier's lack of development.
Psychologist Michael Caldwell, hired by the public defense team, said Weier has the mental capacity to understand factual information but her rational decision making was "marginal" and she couldn't make decisions on "complex issues to assist in her own defense," such as the meaning of a plea bargain.
Caldwell also said Weier told him that if she had the opportunity to, she would have talked to an attorney first after being arrested, something she and Geyser didn't do.
Anthony Jurek, another psychologist hired by the public defense team, said Weier "is eager to please and lovely to work with, but has to get better of what goes on in the courtroom."
But Assistant District Attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz argued that Weier does have an understanding of the court proceedings.
From the judge's seat, Bohren ultimately agreed with the state and added the defendant's young age and lack of maturity aren't enough to say someone is incompetent.
"I'm satisfied that the issues of age and maturity do not override her competency," Bohren said. "She's competent to make the decisions that have to be made."
Bohren agreed to McMahon's request to allow Weier to be transferred to the Waukesha County Detention Center on the days she meets with her attorneys.
Geyser, along with Weier, plotted for months to kill their former Horning Middle School classmate, Payton Leutner, the morning after a sleepover at Geyser's house on May 31, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint says the girls lured Leutner into the woods and stabbed her 19 times. Leutner, who has survived the attack, managed to crawl out of the woods, where she was found by a passing bicyclist.
The girls told police they committed the crime to prove themselves worthy of Slender Man, a character they learned about through the Creepypasta Wiki website.
The ultimate goal, both girls' attorneys say, is to have the case moved to the juvenile court system, where the penalty is significantly less severe. A hearing where the attorneys would ask for a reverse waiver would be held after the preliminary hearing.