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Jail time for Seiler doubtful
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by Joanna Salmen
Friday, April 16, 2004
The chances UW sophomore Audrey Seiler will face the maximum punishment for faking her abduction earlier this month is unlikely. An out-of-court agreement will likely be reached before a formal trial begins.
District Attorney Brian Blanchard charged Seiler Wednesday with two misdemeanors for lying to police about her abduction. The maximum penalty Seiler could receive is nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine for each misdemeanor.
A not-guilty plea was entered Thursday on Seiler’s behalf by her lawyers Randy Hopper, a prestigious Minneapolis-based attorney the Seiler family hired to defend their daughter.
Seiler was not required to attend the hearing and is free on signature bond. However, Seiler will eventually have to appear in court for sentencing.
City Council president Mike Verveer said an agreement would most likely be made outside of court, as is the situation with most cases that pass through the Dane County court system.
“The vast majority of criminal cases in Dane County are settled in advance to a trial,” he said. “It is not uncommon for many weeks to go by without any criminal trials taking place in the Dane County court.”
Verveer said if charged, Seiler could enter the county’s first offenders program since she has a clean record. The most common punishments for those in the program are restitution. Seiler could have to perform community service and may receive probation as well. Jail time, although unlikely, is also a possibility.
Seiler is charged once for lying to police who responded to a call March 31, 2004, from a Department of Revenue employee who reportedly saw her lying in the fetal position on a path near the Alliant Energy Center.
A manhunt with 150 officers, police dogs and aircraft were then sent out to search for the man Seiler said abducted her at knifepoint from her Regent Apartment.
Seiler was charged for the second misdemeanor for lying to police the next day in an extensive interview, where she retracted her statement that someone came to her room and took her at knifepoint. She continued to tell police, however, that she was abducted while in the marsh.
She later admitted it was all a hoax.
The 15-page criminal complaint also said Seiler lied to police Feb. 1, when she said she was hit in the head from behind and left unconscious behind a building on Bowen Court. She was not charged with obstruction for the Feb. 1 instance.
Seiler acted out on both occasions to get the attention of her boyfriend, UW freshman Ryan Fisher. According to the complaint, Seiler accessed Fisher’s e-mail account and found romantic e-mails from his ex-girlfriend from Rockford, Minn., where both Seiler and Fisher are from.
In a journal entry dated just before her disappearance, Seiler wrote, “I love him with all my heart, but I know he needs to love me back. I won’t be well for a while. I know that. I’ve got to go, maybe to pray, mostly for my well being.”
The complaint states Seiler accessed her boyfriend’s e-mail account and searched the Internet for wooded areas in Madison while she was reported as missing. When Seiler was found, police noted her clothes were clean, her nails freshly painted and she was dry despite a recent rainfall.
Students said Thursday they were tired of hearing about the case.
“We have all moved beyond the Audrey case,” UW sophomore Brigid Harvey said. “Enough is enough.”
