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Former TV Reporter Cleared In Gun Case
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1090/a11.htmlNewshawk: Madison NORML http://madisonnorml.org/
Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jul 2005 FORMER TV REPORTER CLEARED IN GUN CASE
Source: Janesville Gazette (WI)
Copyright: 2005 Bliss Communications, Inc
Contact: http://www.gazetteextra.com/contactus/lettertoeditor.asp
Website: http://www.gazetteextra.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1356
Author: Sid Schwartz
A former Madison TV reporter who in February brandished a gun at a Beloit radio
station was found innocent Wednesday by reason of mental disease or defect.
Joseph Ulrey, who used the on-air name of Joe Mason while covering Rock County
for WKOW-TV Channel 27 in Madison, suffers from manic depressive illness,
according to a psychiatrist.
"It is also my opinion that Mr. Ulrey was experiencing a manic
episode at the time of the alleged crime," Ulrey's psychiatrist, Molli
Rolli, wrote in a March 10 letter to Ulrey's attorney. "He was not
able to discern right from wrong at that time because he was delusional."
On Feb. 11, Ulrey told Paul Roden, station manager at WGEZ radio station
in Beloit, that his real name was Joe Puda and that he'd been working deep
undercover for the CIA for two years, according to the criminal complaint.
At one point, somebody at the radio station asked Ulrey, "Weren't you ever
afraid?" according to the complaint.
Ulrey answered, "That's why I got this." He reached inside his coat
and pulled out a semiautomatic pistol, according to the complaint.
Ulrey was arrested outside the radio station in a WKOW-TV vehicle. Police
reported finding a 9mm semiautomatic pistol in his coat along with 6.8 grams of
marijuana and a marijuana pipe, according to the complaint.
Ulrey, 26, was held for evaluation under an emergency mental commitment, police
reported. At the time, Ulrey lived in Janesville. He now lives in
Naperville, Ill.
In court Wednesday, Ulrey pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of carrying
a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana and possession of drug
paraphernalia.
Based on the medical evidence, however, the prosecution did not oppose a finding
that Ulrey is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Defense attorney Thomas Brush told Judge Michael Byron that Ulrey was off his
medications at the time of the Feb. 11 incident. He said Ulrey spent
three weeks at University Hospital in Madison after his arrest.
As part of a settlement agreement in civil court, Ulrey was released from the
hospital March 15 and the mental commitment action against him was dismissed May
22, according to court documents.
In the criminal case, Byron ordered Wednesday that Ulrey comply with his
treatment plan for the next 10 months, which is the maximum time allowed under
the law. Byron also ordered that the Wisconsin Department of Health and
Family Services monitor Ulrey's compliance with the plan.
Rolli wrote in the March 10 letter that Ulrey is not a danger if he "stays
in treatment and is closely monitored."
