Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jul 2005
Source: Janesville Gazette (WI)
Copyright: 2005 Bliss Communications, Inc
Contact: http://www.gazetteextra.com/contactus/lettertoeditor.asp
Website: http://www.gazetteextra.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1356
Author: Sid Schwartz

FORMER TV REPORTER CLEARED IN GUN CASE

A former Madison TV reporter who in February brandished a gun at a
Beloit radio station was found innocent Wednesday by reason of mental
disease or defect.

Joseph Ulrey, who used the on-air name of Joe Mason while covering
Rock County for WKOW-TV Channel 27 in Madison, suffers from manic
depressive illness, according to a psychiatrist.

"It is also my opinion that Mr. Ulrey was experiencing a manic episode
at the time of the alleged crime," Ulrey's psychiatrist, Molli Rolli,
wrote in a March 10 letter to Ulrey's attorney. "He was not able to
discern right from wrong at that time because he was
delusional."

On Feb. 11, Ulrey told Paul Roden, station manager at WGEZ radio
station in Beloit, that his real name was Joe Puda and that he'd been
working deep undercover for the CIA for two years, according to the
criminal complaint.

At one point, somebody at the radio station asked Ulrey, "Weren't you
ever afraid?" according to the complaint.

Ulrey answered, "That's why I got this." He reached inside his coat
and pulled out a semiautomatic pistol, according to the complaint.

Ulrey was arrested outside the radio station in a WKOW-TV vehicle.
Police reported finding a 9mm semiautomatic pistol in his coat along
with 6.8 grams of marijuana and a marijuana pipe, according to the
complaint.

Ulrey, 26, was held for evaluation under an emergency mental
commitment, police reported. At the time, Ulrey lived in Janesville.
He now lives in Naperville, Ill.

In court Wednesday, Ulrey pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of
carrying a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana and possession of
drug paraphernalia.

Based on the medical evidence, however, the prosecution did not oppose
a finding that Ulrey is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

Defense attorney Thomas Brush told Judge Michael Byron that Ulrey was
off his medications at the time of the Feb. 11 incident. He said Ulrey
spent three weeks at University Hospital in Madison after his arrest.

As part of a settlement agreement in civil court, Ulrey was released
from the hospital March 15 and the mental commitment action against
him was dismissed May 22, according to court documents.

In the criminal case, Byron ordered Wednesday that Ulrey comply with
his treatment plan for the next 10 months, which is the maximum time
allowed under the law. Byron also ordered that the Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services monitor Ulrey's compliance
with the plan.

Rolli wrote in the March 10 letter that Ulrey is not a danger if he
"stays in treatment and is closely monitored."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin