MANSFIELD — A 28-year-old Mansfield man who allegedly tried to convince a Mansfield woman to let him have sex with her 8-year-old daughter has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
The written plea on behalf of Bryce Witchey was entered Tuesday by defense attorney Rolf Whitney, according to Richland County Common Pleas Court online records.
According to Ohio Revised Code Section 2901.01, “a person is ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ … only if the person proves, … that at the time of the commission of the offense, the person did not know, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, the wrongfulness of the person’s acts.”
Such a plea is entered early in the criminal legal process, which usually triggers the court to order an examination by a doctor. The report from that examination is made available to the court, as well as defense attorneys and prosecutors.
Whitney’s written plea also raises the issue of Witchey’s competency to stand trial.
Whitney was retained as Witchey’s attorney, replacing earlier appointed council in Mansfield Municipal Court.
According to ORC Section 2945.37, if such an issue is raised before a trial begins, the court shall hold a hearing on the issue. If the issue is raised after the trial has commenced, the court shall hold a hearing on the issue only for good cause shown or on the court’s own motion.
“A defendant is not competent to stand trial if either or both of these are true: (1) the defendant is incapable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings against the defendant or (2) the defendant is incapable of assisting in the defendant’s own defense,” according to the law.
An individual judged incompetent may not be tried or convicted unless and until the individual attains competency. An individual must be competent before waiving the right to counsel or entering a guilty or no-contest plea.
“Not guilty by reason of insanity” and “competency to stand trial” are separate and independent issues in a case, according to the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission.
“Competency to stand trial is a determination by the judge about a defendant’s present mental condition and about the defendant’s capacity to understand the proceedings and assist in the defendant’s own defense,” the commission wrote.
“A plea of not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) asserts an affirmative defense regarding defendant’s mental condition at the time of the offense and focuses on the defendant’s capacity to know the wrongfulness of the defendant’s actions at that time,” it wrote.
“While both issues may be raised in the same case and the court can request joint evaluations, if both are raised the trial court will likely want to resolve the competency issue prior to addressing the NGRI issue,” the commission wrote.
Witchey was charged by Mansfield police with a felony count of importuning on June 14 and remained in the Richland County Jail on Wednesday morning on a $500,000 bond, according to court records.
The case entered the county court system on June 21 after Witchey waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Mansfield Municipal Court and the issue was bound over for consideration by a grand jury.
Technically, the hearing in Common Pleas Court was primarily for the setting of bond since a grand jury has not yet “charged” him in the felony-level court.
Common Pleas Court Magistrate Jill Cochran presided over the bind-over hearing Monday, reducing a bond that had been set at $5 million in Municipal Court. No other pending court dates or appearances are listed in the court records.
If Witchey is released on bond, Cochran ordered he be placed under house arrest and also wear an electronic monitoring device.
The magistrate also ordered Witchey to have no contact with victim(s) and no contact with minors.
Cochran also ordered Witchey to have no contact with “any females outside his immediate family” and he is forbiden to use “tablets, cell phones, smart watches and computers or any electronic devices that connects to the internet/wifi.”
While he remains in the county jail, Witchey is to have no internet access, according to the magistrate’s judgment entry.
The case has been assigned to Judge Brent Robinson.
The charge of importuning is a third-degree felony found in Ohio Revised Code 2907.07, which states, “No person shall solicit a person who is less than thirteen years of age to engage in sexual activity with the offender, whether or not the offender knows the age of such person.”
If convicted of importuning, Witchey could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine and may have to register as a sex offender upon his release.
According to Mansfield Police Department records and a 9-1-1 call, the woman told police a man was talking to her on social media on the night of June 13 and said he wanted to have sex with her daughter.
She said it was happening even as she called police, using an Instagram profile. The woman said she was recording the on-screen conversation, but didn’t know the suspect’s actual name.
According to the police report, officers went to the mother’s house and Witchey was identified during their investigation.
“Screenshot and screen recordings were collected (from the mother) via email. A (arrest) warrant was prepared and sent … for review,” the police report said.
When officers went to arrest Witchey at his home on the city’s south side June 14 at at 3:38 a.m., he was also charged with misdemeanor counts of obstructing official business and resisting arrest, according to the police report.