Case Study: Juvenile Court Case

In May 2014, a twelve year old girl was stabbed nineteen times by her two “friends” Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier. They attempted to please a fictional internet character called Slender Man by their deed. The two assailants left the victim for dead in the woods where they had pretended they would play hide and seek. The victim managed to crawl to a bike trail that was nearby where a bicyclist saw her and called for help. Meanwhile, Morgan and Anissa fled the scene and began walking to an area in which they believed the Slender Man mansion would be located. The police caught up with the two girls and took them into custody. While in custody they explained the entire plot, which had been premeditated for several months before acting upon it. The victim survived and returned to school, however, Morgan and Anissa were to remain in juvenile detention center until the courts decide what to do with
In the state of Wisconsin, crimes of attempted first-degree intentional homicide are supposed to be tried in adult court which has a sentence of sixty-five years, but the lawyers are attempting to get the case moved to juvenile court instead which could be a sentence of only three years for each before being released. While being detained the judged ordered two different doctors to evaluate the girls to see if they had any mental illness. Morgan was then diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia but Anissa was deemed sane, however, both girls were deemed competent to stand trial. As of today, the courts have remained firm on their decision to try the girls in adult court. There are so many ways in which this case defies normal odds and that is why it brings mixed emotions on how to handle the situation. It is because of the outlandish circumstances surrounding the case, media outlets frame the case