Schuler is accused of having sexual relations with the students on five different occasions at her Cobblestone Lane home in Springboro last year. She originally entered a plea of not guilty, but changed her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity on July 8. Schuler’s attorneys contend the students took advantage of her and since she was impaired, she was helpless to stop it.
Judge Robert Peeler, who had to agree to the plea change, held a hearing on Monday. He said he was concerned about the late plea switch and delayed justice. But on Tuesday he issued his ruling on the matter.
“When considering the timing of the change of plea in conjunction with expert reports as the underlying basis for the NGRI plea, the court is compelled to consider whether such filing is intended to delay proceedings. In the court’s view, the closer to trial a change of plea is filed, the more suspect it becomes,” Peeler wrote. “However, in an abundance of caution to ensure that the defendant is entitled to present her defense, the court will permit the defendant to add the alternative NGRI plea.”
Schuler’s attorneys, Charlie H. Rittgers and Charlie M. Rittgers told Peeler they didn’t want to jump the gun on entering a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity plea, until they were sure they had good cause. The Rittgers father and son team said the prosecution’s non-compliance with some discovery requests has slowed the evaluation process.
“We could not make a plea for not guilty by reason of insanity unless we had strong reasons for it,” the younger Rittgers said. “In order to do that we had to have Ms. Schuler evaluated by an expert, which we did. The expert, and it was his decision, wanted full discovery.”
Both Rittgers said they need videotaped interviews with the boys Schuler is alleged to have had sex with, for their expert to declare her incompetent. Peeler was a bit surprised during the hearing by the assertion.
“I can’t imagine why an expert who is trying to determine whether or not an individual suffers from a serious mental condition — which is what this boils down to — what another person’s statement has to do with that,” Peeler said.
Her trial was slated to start Aug. 8 and Prosecutor David Fornshell has said the timing of the plea was suspect, because the victims will soon be heading off to college. Multiple evaluations could be ordered, causing a delay in the trial and forcing the students to return from college to testify.Fornshell argued Schuler was evaluated by experts and given tests before the trial — which was originally scheduled for early May. He said the defense should have notified the court of their plan to present an alternative theory.
“This could have gone on a parallel path, they knew they knew they were going this path in March,” Fornshell said. “They didn’t spring it on us until three weeks before trial. For that reason we don’t believe good cause was shown.”
The two sides have been arguing over what evidence the prosecution is required, under new court rules, to disclose. A discovery hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Peeler ordered an evaluation of Schuler and vacated the Aug. 8 trial date. The attorneys in the case also agreed to a gag order in the case which has attracted a lot of publicity.
The allegations against Schuler were reported to school officials anonymously on Jan. 10. On Jan. 18, the 10-year Mason teacher was placed on paid administrative leave and has since resigned. Schuler is free on bond and is wearing a GPS monitoring device while living in Centerville with her parents.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.
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