Court TV Radio | Message Boards | Newsletters

Updated Sept. 12, 2007, 11:00 a.m. ET
One judge OKs Mary Winkler's 'Oprah' appearance, another says she can't go to Chicago


Mary Winkler
Mary Winkler was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in April 2007.

A few hours after one Tennessee judge ruled that Mary Winkler could go on television and talk about why she killed her preacher husband, another denied her request to travel out of state to be on the show.

The first ruling came from a Carroll County chancery court judge who declined a request from Matthew Winkler's parents to prevent their daughter-in-law from appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Wednesday.

At her murder trial earlier this year, Mary Winkler testified that she shot her husband in the back after enduring nearly 10 years of emotional, physical and sexual abuse. A psychological expert for the defense testified that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the abuse.

A jury convicted her of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

In their motion for a restraining order, Diane and Daniel Winkler — who are fighting Mary Winkler over custody of her daughters, Patricia, Mary Alice and Brianna — claimed the appearance would "adversely affect" the three girls, who live with their grandparents.

"It is not in their best interest for their private lives and problems to be aired in the newspapers and television. No good can come of it," the Winklers argued. "Petitioners do not believe it is proper to try this case in the press."

The judge declined their request without comment.

But later in the afternoon, the McNairy County Circuit Court judge who presided over Mary Winkler's trial denied her request to travel to Chicago so she could appear in a segment about battered women's syndrome.

In a motion requesting permission to travel, Winkler's attorneys said she agreed to appear on the show to go along with the airing of an interview that was taped in August.

She had received permission from her probation officer to travel to her attorney's Mississippi office to tape that interview and to travel to Chicago to participate in the live segment, according to the motion.

A press release issued earlier this month from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" promised that Winkler would open up about the abuse, reveal details from the day her husband died and explain why she has decided to speak up now.

"The defendant would show that the purpose of her travel and her appearance is for the benefit of those people currently suffering from Battered Women's Syndrome by making the public aware of the dangers of untreated psychological problems," the motion said.

In a brief order denying Winkler's request, Circuit Court Judge Weber McCraw simply wrote that her motion was not well taken.

Calls to representatives of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" were not immediately returned.

In June, McCraw sentenced her to 210 days in custody, with 60 days to be spent in a mental health facility so she could receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

After allowances for time served, Winkler spent about a week in county jail before being transferred to an unidentified mental health facility. Since leaving the facility in August, she has been living in McMinnville, Tenn., with a family who took her in before her trial.



Advertisment




|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COURTTV.COM
|
|
|
UTILITIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
COURT TV SITES
|
CORPORATE
|
|
|
|
TM & © 2007 Courtroom Television Network, LLC. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
CourtTVnews.com is a part of the Turner Entertainment New Media Network.
Terms & Privacy guidelines