A Wisconsin woman accused of dismembering her lover while high on meth reacted to a trial delay on Tuesday by physically attacking her attorney.
Video footage from a competency hearing shows defendant Taylor Schabusiness suddenly leaping from her seat and appearing to strike at her lawyer, Quinn Jolly, after Judge Thomas J. Walsh suggested moving her scheduled trial start date from March 6 to May 15 at the earliest.
Schabusiness, who was wearing handcuffs, kept lunging in Jolly’s direction until a law enforcement officer could restrain her.
The courtroom was then cleared while an officer held Schabusiness to the ground and told her to “stop it” and “relax.”
According to WBAY, Jolly had asked the court for additional time to prepare for Schabusiness’ trial. Walsh later decided to reschedule her competency hearing as well, setting it for March 6, the original trial start date, Fox 6 reported.
After the attack, deputies restrained Schabusiness until she appeared calm again. She could then be heard asking them what had happened.
“You went off on your attorney, Taylor, you went crazy on your attorney,” one of them responded. “You can’t do that.”
In the courtroom footage, someone can be heard saying that Jolly was OK and did not require medical attention. WBAY reported that he asked to withdraw from the case.
Schabusiness has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and third-degree sexual assault in the death of Shad Thyrion, who was found decapitated and dismembered in February 2022 in Green Bay.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges by reason of mental disease or defect. Still, a court-appointed doctor who examined her last year found her competent to stand trial.
