New lawyers exploring insanity defense

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MILWAUKEE, May 24 (UPI) -- The new defense team for a Milwaukee, Wis., woman charged with murder said in court it is deciding whether to continue an insanity defense.

Assistant public defenders Reyna Morales and Debra Patterson told Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski Tuesday they are still exploring a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, in the case of Annette Morales-Rodriguez.

Morales-Rodriguez is charged with two counts of intentional homicide, allegedly performing a Caesarean section on a pregnant woman in 2011 that killed both the mother and the fetus, in a hope to pass off the child as her own, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Thursday.

Her initial lawyers withdrew from the case for personal reasons: One was facing a drunk driving charge and the other was an alleged victim in a domestic violence case being prosecuted by the same office prosecuting the Morales-Rodriguez case, the newspaper said.

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