State can't use medication evidence to counter insanity defense in fatal crash, Georgia court says

This story was updated on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at 5:06 p.m.

In the prosecution of a Georgia woman who caused a fatal car crash while suffering a psychotic break, the state cannot use evidence that she had stopped taking some of her psychiatric medications to counter her insanity defense, the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday.

Michelle Wierson was driving her Volkswagen Tiguan at high speed through the streets of DeKalb County, in Atlanta’s suburbs, when she hit a Toyota Corolla stopped at a traffic light. The impact pushed the car into the intersection, where it collided with another car. Miles Jenness, a 5-year-old passenger in the Toyota, suffered a traumatic brain injury and a severed spine and died days later.