Date: 5/29/2009
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that claims the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled this week the case brought by the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation can move forward with discovery.
A federal law sets the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray.
Crabb says the nation’s largest group of atheists and agnostics faces a heavy burden in proving the tradition violates the separation of church and state. But she says it should have an opportunity to do so.
The Obama administration and National Day of Prayer Task Force filed motions to dismiss the case, but Crabb rejected them as premature.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Wisconsin prayer death trial goes to jury
Date: 5/22/2009 4:18 PM
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A jury has begun deliberating in the trial of a mother who prayed instead of seeking medical help for her dying daughter.
Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad said Friday in her closing argument that 41-year-old Leilani Neumann let her 11-year-old daughter Madeline die of untreated diabetes as a test of faith.
Neumann has been charged with second-degree reckless homicide in Madeline’s March 2008 death at the family’s rural Weston home.
Defense attorney Gene Linehan says the Neumanns are good Christians who tried to save their daughter and didn’t know she was that ill.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A jury has begun deliberating in the trial of a mother who prayed instead of seeking medical help for her dying daughter.
Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad said Friday in her closing argument that 41-year-old Leilani Neumann let her 11-year-old daughter Madeline die of untreated diabetes as a test of faith.
Neumann has been charged with second-degree reckless homicide in Madeline’s March 2008 death at the family’s rural Weston home.
Defense attorney Gene Linehan says the Neumanns are good Christians who tried to save their daughter and didn’t know she was that ill.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Witness says Wis. mother thought illness was sin
Date: 5/19/2009 11:39 PM
ROBERT IMRIE
Associated Press Writer
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A mother accused of rejecting medical treatment and relying on prayer as her 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes believed people got sick because they sinned, a former friend said Tuesday at the woman’s homicide trial.
Althea Wormgoor and her husband described praying with Leilani Neumann and her family in Madeline Neumann’s last hours, a scene that turned to chaos and tearful pleas to heaven when the girl stopped breathing.
Leilani Neumann also attributed sickness to demons, Wormgoor testified. She said that when one of her sons got sick, Neumann thought his vomiting was to rid his body of demons.
“That was a little much,” Wormgoor testified.
Neumann, 41, has been charged with second-degree reckless homicide in Madeline’s March 23, 2008, death at the family’s rural Weston home.
Prosecutors contend a reasonable parent would have known something was gravely wrong with Madeline, who had become so weak she couldn’t walk or talk. They say Neumann recklessly killed her daughter by praying instead of rushing her to a doctor.
The mother has said the family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God. The defense has said Neumann and her husband, who is awaiting trial, didn’t know how sick their daughter was until it was too late.
Wormgoor told the jury that Neumann didn’t believe in doctors or medicine.
“Basically, you pray and do nothing but pray,” she said. Wormgoor added, however, that Neumann once asked her for an aspirin to treat a headache.
Wormgoor, who has four children, testified that her family moved from California to Wisconsin in January 2008 to start a second coffee business with the Neumanns and participate in their weekly Bible studies. The Neumanns also had lived in California, and the families had known each other for years.
But Wormgoor said that by March 2008, she and her husband had realized they disagreed with the Neumanns about the business and faith healing.
Wormgoor said she would not have let one of her daughters get as sick as Madeline without getting medical help.
Wormgoor said she and her family went to the Neumanns’ home the day Madeline died. Leilani Neumann had urged them to come, saying Madeline was on the floor, not talking, eating or drinking, she said.
The Wormgoors prayed with the Neumanns. Leilani Neumann raised her hands in the air, calling her daughter’s illness a test of faith and a chance for God to show his power, Wormgoor said.
“‘Oh Lord, you can heal diabetes. You can heal cancer,'” Wormgoor said Neumann prayed. “‘I am praying that God is going to bring her back from this and make her 10 times better.'”
After about five minutes of prayer, Leilani Neumann indicated her daughter appeared better than the previous night, her breathing stronger, Wormgoor said.
Suddenly, Madeline’s mouth “twitched,” she said.
“To me, it looked like she was gasping for air,” Wormgoor said. “It was a twitch that scared me. You are telling me, is she getting better? But right then I am not seeing it. I panicked.”
Wormgoor rushed to call 911, but her husband got to a phone first and made the call.
Randall Wormgoor testified that he had urged Neumann’s husband, Dale, to take Madeline to a hospital.
“I said, ‘Dale, if that was my daughter, I would be taking her to a doctor,” Randall Wormgoor said. “He said at some point, ‘Don’t you think it has crossed my mind.'”
Randall Wormgoor said he tried to reason with Dale Neumann, saying God worked through doctors just as the Neumanns worked through their coffee business to try to do their ministry. But then chaos broke out as word spread that Madeline was not breathing.
As the girl was being rushed to an ambulance, the mother remarked that all she needed was fluids, attendant Jason Russ testified.
Dr. Ivan Sador, a diabetes expert at Marshfield Clinic who examined medical records and police reports, said Madeline would have had high blood sugar levels for two months and organ damage three or four days before she died.
“Absolutely noticeable” symptoms of serious trouble became evident 24 hours before she died, and the girl became “very, very uncomfortable,” the doctor said.
Still, Madeline’s life could have been saved “very late into the day of her death” with the proper treatment, the doctor said.
If convicted, Leilani Neumann faces up to 25 years in prison. Dale Neumann also has been charged with second-degree reckless homicide. His trial is set for July.
Testimony in Leilani Neumann’s trial was to resume Wednesday.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
ROBERT IMRIE
Associated Press Writer
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A mother accused of rejecting medical treatment and relying on prayer as her 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes believed people got sick because they sinned, a former friend said Tuesday at the woman’s homicide trial.
Althea Wormgoor and her husband described praying with Leilani Neumann and her family in Madeline Neumann’s last hours, a scene that turned to chaos and tearful pleas to heaven when the girl stopped breathing.
Leilani Neumann also attributed sickness to demons, Wormgoor testified. She said that when one of her sons got sick, Neumann thought his vomiting was to rid his body of demons.
“That was a little much,” Wormgoor testified.
Neumann, 41, has been charged with second-degree reckless homicide in Madeline’s March 23, 2008, death at the family’s rural Weston home.
Prosecutors contend a reasonable parent would have known something was gravely wrong with Madeline, who had become so weak she couldn’t walk or talk. They say Neumann recklessly killed her daughter by praying instead of rushing her to a doctor.
The mother has said the family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God. The defense has said Neumann and her husband, who is awaiting trial, didn’t know how sick their daughter was until it was too late.
Wormgoor told the jury that Neumann didn’t believe in doctors or medicine.
“Basically, you pray and do nothing but pray,” she said. Wormgoor added, however, that Neumann once asked her for an aspirin to treat a headache.
Wormgoor, who has four children, testified that her family moved from California to Wisconsin in January 2008 to start a second coffee business with the Neumanns and participate in their weekly Bible studies. The Neumanns also had lived in California, and the families had known each other for years.
But Wormgoor said that by March 2008, she and her husband had realized they disagreed with the Neumanns about the business and faith healing.
Wormgoor said she would not have let one of her daughters get as sick as Madeline without getting medical help.
Wormgoor said she and her family went to the Neumanns’ home the day Madeline died. Leilani Neumann had urged them to come, saying Madeline was on the floor, not talking, eating or drinking, she said.
The Wormgoors prayed with the Neumanns. Leilani Neumann raised her hands in the air, calling her daughter’s illness a test of faith and a chance for God to show his power, Wormgoor said.
“‘Oh Lord, you can heal diabetes. You can heal cancer,'” Wormgoor said Neumann prayed. “‘I am praying that God is going to bring her back from this and make her 10 times better.'”
After about five minutes of prayer, Leilani Neumann indicated her daughter appeared better than the previous night, her breathing stronger, Wormgoor said.
Suddenly, Madeline’s mouth “twitched,” she said.
“To me, it looked like she was gasping for air,” Wormgoor said. “It was a twitch that scared me. You are telling me, is she getting better? But right then I am not seeing it. I panicked.”
Wormgoor rushed to call 911, but her husband got to a phone first and made the call.
Randall Wormgoor testified that he had urged Neumann’s husband, Dale, to take Madeline to a hospital.
“I said, ‘Dale, if that was my daughter, I would be taking her to a doctor,” Randall Wormgoor said. “He said at some point, ‘Don’t you think it has crossed my mind.'”
Randall Wormgoor said he tried to reason with Dale Neumann, saying God worked through doctors just as the Neumanns worked through their coffee business to try to do their ministry. But then chaos broke out as word spread that Madeline was not breathing.
As the girl was being rushed to an ambulance, the mother remarked that all she needed was fluids, attendant Jason Russ testified.
Dr. Ivan Sador, a diabetes expert at Marshfield Clinic who examined medical records and police reports, said Madeline would have had high blood sugar levels for two months and organ damage three or four days before she died.
“Absolutely noticeable” symptoms of serious trouble became evident 24 hours before she died, and the girl became “very, very uncomfortable,” the doctor said.
Still, Madeline’s life could have been saved “very late into the day of her death” with the proper treatment, the doctor said.
If convicted, Leilani Neumann faces up to 25 years in prison. Dale Neumann also has been charged with second-degree reckless homicide. His trial is set for July.
Testimony in Leilani Neumann’s trial was to resume Wednesday.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Federal judge strikes down Wis. markup gas law
Date: 2/13/2009
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has declared Wisconsin’s 70-year-old minimum markup on gas unconstitutional, saying it illegally restricts trade.
Rudolph T. Randa, chief judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, made the decision Wednesday in a lawsuit filed in 2008 by Flying J, a Utah company that runs pit stops in Black River Falls and Oak Creek.
A state law passed in 1939 prohibited retailers from selling products for less than they paid. Part of that law required gas stations to mark up gas either 6 percent over what they paid or 9 percent over the average wholesale price, whichever is higher.
The measure was meant to keep larger companies from selling gas for less than smaller competitors’ prices and driving them out of business. Violators faced stiff fines and lawsuits from competitors.
At least 10 states have laws that prevent gas stations from selling below cost, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least two states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, require a certain percentage increase.
Lotus Business Group, based in Kenosha, sued Flying J in 2007, saying the company did not mark up gas as required. A federal magistrate judge ruled the markup unconstitutional in October 2007, but state regulators continued to enforce it.
Flying J then filed a lawsuit against the state Justice and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection departments in January 2008 to stop enforcement.
Randa on Wednesday found the Wisconsin law violated the Sherman Act, a federal statute that limits cartels and monopolies. The restrictions on monopolies wouldn’t apply to the state if it had a clear policy and a program to monitor gas prices, but it doesn’t, the judge said.
Spokesmen for the state departments said their attorneys were reviewing the decision.
State Justice Department spokesman Bill Cosh said the agency wouldn’t bring any enforcement actions while Randa’s order stands.
Matt Hauser, president of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said he was disappointed with the ruling because it threatened more than 1,400 gas stations with independent owners in the state.
If those businesses go under, competition will be reduced and prices could climb, he said.
“We’re hoping for an immediate appeal … to make sure consumers are protected from a less competitive marketplace,” Hauser said.
But Flying J company attorney Jonathan Dibble said the ruling should increase competition and drive down gas prices.
“The citizens of Wisconsin have paid hundreds of millions of dollars more than they should have over the years,” he said. Randa had estimated the state’s markup law cost drivers about 30 cents on every gallon during the past two years, when gas prices rose to nearly $4 per gallon.
Gov. Jim Doyle also said the ruling would benefit customers.
Linda Casey, a spokeswoman for Speedway SuperAmerica that has 75 stores in Wisconsin, said other factors affect gas prices and that Randa’s decision wouldn’t necessarily mean lower prices at the pump.
But she said the ruling “encourages competition.”
“That’s a good thing,” she said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has declared Wisconsin’s 70-year-old minimum markup on gas unconstitutional, saying it illegally restricts trade.
Rudolph T. Randa, chief judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, made the decision Wednesday in a lawsuit filed in 2008 by Flying J, a Utah company that runs pit stops in Black River Falls and Oak Creek.
A state law passed in 1939 prohibited retailers from selling products for less than they paid. Part of that law required gas stations to mark up gas either 6 percent over what they paid or 9 percent over the average wholesale price, whichever is higher.
The measure was meant to keep larger companies from selling gas for less than smaller competitors’ prices and driving them out of business. Violators faced stiff fines and lawsuits from competitors.
At least 10 states have laws that prevent gas stations from selling below cost, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least two states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, require a certain percentage increase.
Lotus Business Group, based in Kenosha, sued Flying J in 2007, saying the company did not mark up gas as required. A federal magistrate judge ruled the markup unconstitutional in October 2007, but state regulators continued to enforce it.
Flying J then filed a lawsuit against the state Justice and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection departments in January 2008 to stop enforcement.
Randa on Wednesday found the Wisconsin law violated the Sherman Act, a federal statute that limits cartels and monopolies. The restrictions on monopolies wouldn’t apply to the state if it had a clear policy and a program to monitor gas prices, but it doesn’t, the judge said.
Spokesmen for the state departments said their attorneys were reviewing the decision.
State Justice Department spokesman Bill Cosh said the agency wouldn’t bring any enforcement actions while Randa’s order stands.
Matt Hauser, president of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said he was disappointed with the ruling because it threatened more than 1,400 gas stations with independent owners in the state.
If those businesses go under, competition will be reduced and prices could climb, he said.
“We’re hoping for an immediate appeal … to make sure consumers are protected from a less competitive marketplace,” Hauser said.
But Flying J company attorney Jonathan Dibble said the ruling should increase competition and drive down gas prices.
“The citizens of Wisconsin have paid hundreds of millions of dollars more than they should have over the years,” he said. Randa had estimated the state’s markup law cost drivers about 30 cents on every gallon during the past two years, when gas prices rose to nearly $4 per gallon.
Gov. Jim Doyle also said the ruling would benefit customers.
Linda Casey, a spokeswoman for Speedway SuperAmerica that has 75 stores in Wisconsin, said other factors affect gas prices and that Randa’s decision wouldn’t necessarily mean lower prices at the pump.
But she said the ruling “encourages competition.”
“That’s a good thing,” she said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Cheerleading is a contact sport, Wis. court rules
Date: 1/27/2009
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — High school cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a case being closely watched in the cheerleading world.
The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt. The court also said the injured cheerleader cannot sue her school district.
The National Cheer Safety Foundation said the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.
At issue in the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries.
It does not spell out which sports are contact sports. The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled last year cheerleading doesn’t qualify because there’s no contact between opposing teams.
But all seven members of the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to overturn that decision. In the opinion, Justice Annette Ziegler said cheerleading involves “a significant amount of physical contact between the cheerleaders.” As an example, she cited stunts in which cheerleaders are tossed in the air.
The lawsuit was brought by Brittany Noffke, who was a varsity cheerleader at Holmen High School in western Wisconsin. Practicing a stunt in 2004, Noffke fell backward off the shoulders of another cheerleader and suffered a serious head injury.
She sued a 16-year-old male teammate who was supposed to be her spotter but failed to catch her; the school district; and the district’s insurer.
Ziegler rejected Noffke’s argument that “contact sports” should mean only aggressive sports such as football and hockey. She wrote they should include any sport that that includes “physical contact between persons.”
The decision means cheerleaders can be sued only for acting recklessly. The court said Noffke’s teammate only made a mistake or showed a lack of skill. As for the school district, Ziegler said it cannot be sued for the coach’s behavior under a Wisconsin law that shields government agencies from lawsuits for the actions of employees.
Many observers had warned that families of cheerleaders would be forced to take out big insurance policies if the lower court decision stood.
Because of the increasingly difficult stunts, injuries among high school cheerleaders are a problem. Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that two-thirds of the roughly 100 cases of “catastrophic” sports injuries among high school girls since 1982 have involved cheerleading.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — High school cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a case being closely watched in the cheerleading world.
The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt. The court also said the injured cheerleader cannot sue her school district.
The National Cheer Safety Foundation said the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.
At issue in the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries.
It does not spell out which sports are contact sports. The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled last year cheerleading doesn’t qualify because there’s no contact between opposing teams.
But all seven members of the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to overturn that decision. In the opinion, Justice Annette Ziegler said cheerleading involves “a significant amount of physical contact between the cheerleaders.” As an example, she cited stunts in which cheerleaders are tossed in the air.
The lawsuit was brought by Brittany Noffke, who was a varsity cheerleader at Holmen High School in western Wisconsin. Practicing a stunt in 2004, Noffke fell backward off the shoulders of another cheerleader and suffered a serious head injury.
She sued a 16-year-old male teammate who was supposed to be her spotter but failed to catch her; the school district; and the district’s insurer.
Ziegler rejected Noffke’s argument that “contact sports” should mean only aggressive sports such as football and hockey. She wrote they should include any sport that that includes “physical contact between persons.”
The decision means cheerleaders can be sued only for acting recklessly. The court said Noffke’s teammate only made a mistake or showed a lack of skill. As for the school district, Ziegler said it cannot be sued for the coach’s behavior under a Wisconsin law that shields government agencies from lawsuits for the actions of employees.
Many observers had warned that families of cheerleaders would be forced to take out big insurance policies if the lower court decision stood.
Because of the increasingly difficult stunts, injuries among high school cheerleaders are a problem. Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that two-thirds of the roughly 100 cases of “catastrophic” sports injuries among high school girls since 1982 have involved cheerleading.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Litigant rapper gets poetic justice in Wis. court
Date: 1/24/2009
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Justice might be blind, but apparently it likes good rhythm.
A Wisconsin appellate court ruled in favor of a trombone player who filed his legal brief partially written in the form of a rap to argue he shouldn’t have to pay $3,750 in fees.
Gregory Royal, 47, is not an attorney but represented himself in a dispute with La Crosse County officials stemming from his divorce. He filed a federal lawsuit against county officials who recommended their two children spend most of their time with his ex-wife, but the case was thrown out because the federal courts do not intervene in such domestic disputes.
A county lawyer then asked a circuit court judge to order Royal to pay fees for bringing the case, which the judge later found frivolous.
But Royal, who lived in Wisconsin and now resides in Washington, said he wanted to convince the appeals court in a creative way that he was being treated unfairly.
“Imagine a real attorney who can actually capitalize and perfect that expression and throw some heavy stuff in there,” he said. “It’s like Einstein’s theory of relativity. It’s so short but so perfect there’s nothing you can say about it.”
Among several lines of lyrics in the six-page brief, Royal wrote: “A domestic relations exception, I was supposed to know. Appellee would know too, so why did he spend so much doe?”
The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 13 that the judge did not have the authority to order Royal to pay fees, thereby allowing Royal to now seek costs from the lawyer who brought the lawsuit.
Royal said he has already asked for $800.
The court did not mention Royal’s lyrics in its decision but he said he believed they helped him win.
He said he may repeat the technique in another lawsuit, which claims a Canadian rock band improperly interfered with a contract to air a television show that his employer helped produce on the Oxygen cable network.
“I’m thinking about a rap scenario there,” he said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Justice might be blind, but apparently it likes good rhythm.
A Wisconsin appellate court ruled in favor of a trombone player who filed his legal brief partially written in the form of a rap to argue he shouldn’t have to pay $3,750 in fees.
Gregory Royal, 47, is not an attorney but represented himself in a dispute with La Crosse County officials stemming from his divorce. He filed a federal lawsuit against county officials who recommended their two children spend most of their time with his ex-wife, but the case was thrown out because the federal courts do not intervene in such domestic disputes.
A county lawyer then asked a circuit court judge to order Royal to pay fees for bringing the case, which the judge later found frivolous.
But Royal, who lived in Wisconsin and now resides in Washington, said he wanted to convince the appeals court in a creative way that he was being treated unfairly.
“Imagine a real attorney who can actually capitalize and perfect that expression and throw some heavy stuff in there,” he said. “It’s like Einstein’s theory of relativity. It’s so short but so perfect there’s nothing you can say about it.”
Among several lines of lyrics in the six-page brief, Royal wrote: “A domestic relations exception, I was supposed to know. Appellee would know too, so why did he spend so much doe?”
The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 13 that the judge did not have the authority to order Royal to pay fees, thereby allowing Royal to now seek costs from the lawyer who brought the lawsuit.
Royal said he has already asked for $800.
The court did not mention Royal’s lyrics in its decision but he said he believed they helped him win.
He said he may repeat the technique in another lawsuit, which claims a Canadian rock band improperly interfered with a contract to air a television show that his employer helped produce on the Oxygen cable network.
“I’m thinking about a rap scenario there,” he said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Wis. woman pleads no contest in corpse case
Date: 11/18/2008
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a religious sect pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor Monday after being accused of leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her Social Security checks.
Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined $350 for obstructing an officer, while prosecution was deferred on the more serious charges against her. She’ll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.
Prosecutors accuse Lewis and Bushey of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on the toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint says Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Prosecutors say they believe Bushey and Lewis wanted to go on collecting Middlesworth’s Social Security payments.
The other charges against Lewis, including felonies of hiding a corpse and causing mental harm to a child, will be dismissed in two years if she cooperates and follows other court orders involving her children, Southworth said.
“We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey,” Southworth said. “We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her.”
Lewis’ attorney, Dan Berkos, said his client turned to Bushey and the sect for support about three years ago, after she separated from her husband.
The attorney said Lewis is “very relieved” her case has been resolved. “She has made some really great progress emotionally and even physically. She is looking forward. She is no longer looking backward at how things should have been different.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a religious sect pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor Monday after being accused of leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her Social Security checks.
Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined $350 for obstructing an officer, while prosecution was deferred on the more serious charges against her. She’ll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.
Prosecutors accuse Lewis and Bushey of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on the toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint says Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Prosecutors say they believe Bushey and Lewis wanted to go on collecting Middlesworth’s Social Security payments.
The other charges against Lewis, including felonies of hiding a corpse and causing mental harm to a child, will be dismissed in two years if she cooperates and follows other court orders involving her children, Southworth said.
“We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey,” Southworth said. “We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her.”
Lewis’ attorney, Dan Berkos, said his client turned to Bushey and the sect for support about three years ago, after she separated from her husband.
The attorney said Lewis is “very relieved” her case has been resolved. “She has made some really great progress emotionally and even physically. She is looking forward. She is no longer looking backward at how things should have been different.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.