SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Utah woman has pleaded guilty to attacking her husband with a hammer after blindfolding him and promising a "surprise," court records show.
Amy Teresa Ricks, 37, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault in 3rd District Court Tuesday, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday.
Prosecutors had originally filed a charge of attempted murder. Ricks's husband Joel escaped the attack after suffering only minor injuries, the Tribune said.
Court records indicate Ricks's attorneys had been preparing a defense based on a claim of battered spouse syndrome. Ricks has no memory of the 2007 assault because she has post-traumatic stress syndrome, attorney Susanne Gustin said.
The case went on for three years because of defense efforts to obtain husband Joel Ricks's mental health records, an effort that went to the Utah Supreme Court without success, the Tribune reported.
The Ricks are still married but separated. Sentencing is scheduled for April 19.
