Mental Exam Ordered For Mom Who Faked Son's Cancer
A mental competency exam has been ordered for the Roseville woman, accused of swindling thousands of dollars from friends and family by making her son pretend he had cancer.
Carol Schnuphase's defense attorney Dominc Greco said he wants to determine if his client is mentally competent to understand the charges against her and stand trial. Greco has also requested a court order that would keep the prosecuting attorney from discussing the case with the media.
"She's sad, she depressed -- just like anyone else would be if they had their kid taken away from them and thrown in jail," Greco said.
Greco said Schnuphase wants desperately to see her son, who is now in foster care.
"I have no doubt in my mind that she loves her child more than anything else, and anything she's done has been to try to take care of her child the best way that she knows how," he said.
Cheryl Bishop of Yale cut short a trip to Florida to attend a church fundraiser for her niece's child who she thought was suffering from leukemia.
She was in court Wednesday where she saw Schnuphase in prison blues and shackles, "I have no sympathy for her whatever," Bishop said.
To lend credibility to her claim, Schnuphase is accused of shaving the boy's head and eyebrows, and feeding him opiate-laced food to make him seem sick.
A cousin, Patrick Kelsh said he believes Schnuphase knew exactly what she was doing, "She dragged it out for six month. So, there's really... no question in my mind that she's guilty," Kelsh said. "Clearly there's something going on in her head because no sane person would do what she did," he said.
A request to lower her bond was denied.
Schnuphase is scheduled back in court Dec 15th.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
