Lawyer for Morgan Geyser requests competency evaluation, status hearing set

WAUKESHA (WITI/AP) -- A court commissioner ordered a competency evaluation on Wednesday, June 11th for one of two 12-year-old girls accused of stabbing a classmate 19 times in a quest to please a fictional character they read about online.

Attorney Anthony Cotton requested the competency hearing for his client, Morgan Geyser, in court Wednesday.

Cotton says he can't give details about why he questions the girl's competency but has an obligation to raise the issue if he sees signs that spur a question. A state-appointed doctor will evaluate his client.

The results of the competency hearing will be sealed, but a judge will use the results to determine where the case goes from here.

Anissa Weier's attorney, Joseph Smith, says he is not raising competency as an issue right now but could later.

He says now he is seeking information from prosecutors to help prepare for a preliminary hearing.

Smith also apologized to the family of the stabbing victim on behalf of the families of the accused girls.

Both attorneys reiterated the need to move their cases to juvenile court. But no action was taken on that matter. The attorneys simply noted they would be making motions in the near future.

"Anybody can see that when you represent an 11-year-old who just turned 12, the adult court system may not be the best place for them," Geyser's attorney, Anthony Cotton said.

The judge hearing the case scheduled another status hearing for July 2nd at 8:30 a.m.

When the families of the suspects left the court, Geyser's father left in tears and said nothing. Weier's father simply said, "No comment."

Geyser and Weier each face one count of attempted first degree intentional homicide as party to a crime — and each faces 60 years in prison.

The girls are currently being held at the juvenile detention center in West Bend.

They are charged as adults.

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