Notice of appeal filed after 40-year commitment in Slenderman stabbing case
WAUKESHA — One of two Wisconsin girls who pleaded guilty to stabbing a classmate 19 times and leaving her for dead to please a fictional character called Slenderman when they were 12 years old is appealing her case.
Morgan Geyser's attorney, Matthew Pinix, filed a notice of appeal, but declined to outline the basis for the appeal Monday, Oct. 8. If Geyser wins the appeal, it could change the sentence or the conviction.
"There are things unique about it that are unlike other cases, and so in that regard, it is something that is different from the cases we normally see. Depending upon the issues that are raised, it's an available option, if something went to the heart of the conviction that could definitely be part of it" said Pinix.
Morgan Geyser
Anissa Weier
Geyser and co-defendant Anissa Weier, both now 16, were committed to mental health institutions for stabbing Payton Leutner at a Waukesha park in 2014. Leutner managed to crawl out of the wooded park and a passing bicyclist found her. The girls were 12 years old at the time.
Geyser pleaded guilty but not guilty due to mental disease/defect to attempted first-degree intentional homicide, as party to a crime last year in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison. Geyser, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was committed to the maximum sentence of 40 years in the institution.
Payton Leutner
Weier pleaded guilty but not guilty due to mental disease/defect to attempted second degree intentional homicide, as party to a crime, use of a dangerous weapon, and was committed for 25 years.
If Geyser were to win the appeal, it's likely the attorney general would challenge it further.
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"Ms. Geyser, like every other person who goes through the criminal justice system, has an absolute constitutional right to see that the proceedings by which she was convicted and committed were done in accordance with her legal rights," said Pinix.