Bulletin: Anna Yocca; Tennessee: Her lawyer is seeking a mental evaluation for this woman charged with attempted first-degree murder for allegedly trying to perform a home abortion at six months with a coat hanger. "More than a dozen members of an abortion rights group with members from as far away as New York showed up to support Yocca on Dec. 22 when she was arraigned by video from the county jail."..."Wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words, "Abortion on demand and without apology," the members of Stop Patriarchy, some from as far away as New York, said she shouldn't be charged at all. They stood and raised their fists as they left the courtroom, then chanted, "Free Anna Yocca! Free Anna Yocca!" Over to February 29. The Murfreesboro Post

  
"Public Defender Gerald Melton is preparing to request a mental evaluation for a woman accused of trying to perform a home abortion at six months with a coat hanger. Anna Yocca, 31, of Murfreesboro is charged with attempted first-degree murder and being held on $200,000 bond. Due to the "serious nature" of the case, Melton said, he asked Circuit Court Judge Royce Taylor this week for more time to review evidence in the matter. Based on the defendant's past, the public defender also said he plans to seek an evaluation of her. "There is some history of documented mental health treatment," Melton said. Taylor scheduled a Feb. 29 hearing when the case will be reviewed and preliminary motions filed. More than a dozen members of an abortion rights group with members from as far away as New York showed up to support Yocca on Dec. 22 when she was arraigned by video from the county jail. When asked by Judge Taylor whether she understood the charge, Yocca said, "Vaguely." Taylor appointed Melton to represent her. Wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words, "Abortion on demand and without apology," the members of Stop Patriarchy, some from as far away as New York, said she shouldn't be charged at all. They stood and raised their fists as they left the courtroom, then chanted, "Free Anna Yocca! Free Anna Yocca!""
http://www.murfreesboropost.com/mental-evaluation-will-be-sought-in-home-abortion-case-cms-43535