Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

As a wise group of men collectively known as Nazareth once put it: love hurts. Well, love hurts even more if you poison your own coffee in an attempt to get attention from the girl who just broke up with you. In fact, it may just hurt so much that it puts you in the hospital. If you need to know just what this type of love feels like, you can ask Chad Wunschel, a twenty-seven year-old substitute teacher who put a chemical in his iced coffee in order to make himself sick and get sympathy from his ex. Unfortunately, when he reported to the nurse’s station, he was taken to the hospital and the authorities were contacted to investigate the poisoning. When the police arrived at the school, they put the teacher’s entire class on lock down while they questioned each and every kid as a potential suspect in the poisoning for approximately forty minutes each. As detailed in the article below, students were understandably upset when they found out that the teacher allowed them to be subjected to this interrogation when it was he that was responsible for the poisoning in the first place. He later admitted to poisoning himself and was fired from his job.

In Tennessee, Mr. Wunschel would likely be charged with filing a false report in violation of T.C.A. § 39-16-502(a). Under this statute, it is illegal to initiate a report or statement to a law enforcement official knowing that the incident did not occur, give a statement in response to an inquiry by a police officer that misleads that officer or prevents the person responsible from being apprehended, and to initiate a report of a past, present, or future emergency knowing that authorities will respond to it. In this case, the teacher more than likely allowed police to believe someone had poisoned him and should probably have known that the authorities would act to begin an investigation and catch the suspect. Thus, he would likely be found to be in violation of the statute. Filing a false report is a felony in Tennessee, with the actual grade of the offense being determined by the circumstances.

It is a defense to such a charge that the person did not act with a wrongful intent, that it to say that the person did not intentionally mislead police or thought the statement he gave to the police was essentially true. Persons who have been charged with filing a false report are looking at serious jail time and should consult a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney who can assist them in contesting the charge.

Source: http://www.necn.com/04/30/10/Police-GNBVT-teacher-admits-to-poisoning/landing.html?blockID=226625&feedID=4215