Tallahassee woman found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2019 stabbing at a McDonald's
A Tallahassee woman charged with stabbing a stranger at a McDonald's was found not guilty by a judge for reasons of insanity.
Alexis Cutler was found not guilty of attempted murder and kidnapping because a judge found she experienced a mental break at the time of the stabbing.
Judge Kevin Carroll heard from a single witness, psychologist Dr. Gregory Pritchard during the hearing. Carroll has not yet issued an order finalizing the case which will also come with a treatment plan for Cutler.
The finding on Oct. 4 is a relatively rare one. National data shows that that insanity defenses are used in about 1% of all criminal cases but is only successful in about 26% of those.
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The 24-year-old was arrested in November 2019 after stabbing Bradley Gauger inside the McDonald's at the corner of Capital Circle Southwest and Tennessee Street. She entered the restaurant and got into a verbal altercation with a manager before she began to throw furniture, according to the Leon County Sheriff's Office at the time of the incident.
She stabbed Gauger in the back with a knife before leaving. She later told investigators she didn’t know him and stabbed him because he was angry.
Cutler was represented by criminal defense attorney Tim Jansen.
"We believed from the very beginning that Mrs. Cutler had mental health issues," Jansen said. "After diagnosis and treatment, she’s doing very well and living as a productive member of society on South Florida. We believe, as the court found, she was not responsible because she had a mental health breakdown on the day in question."
Assistant State Attorney Jon Fuchs said Cutler’s case was a pretty clear one of momentary insanity. She met the statutory definition and it was determined that her state of mind at the time of the stabbing was a clear break.
“She met the criteria for not guilty by reason of insanity,” Fuchs said. “It was three weeks until she started responding to the treatment she was being given. By all accounts she was productive person however there was an issue leading up this in the same week.”
Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee woman found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2019 stabbing
