Woman who avoided jail after stabbing her boyfriend while receiving stiff sentence on appeal

A California woman who walked free from jail after stabbing her boyfriend 108 times in a marijuana-induced psychosis is appealing her slap-on-the-wrist conviction, arguing she was initially tricked into taking the drug to use.

Bryn Spejcher, 32, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after stabbing Chad O’Melia, 26, dozens of times before turning the knife on her dog and then herself.

She received a two-year suspended prison sentence and 100 hours of community service.

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Bryn Spejcher responds as the jury finds her guilty

Bryn Spejcher reacts as the jury finds her guilty of manslaughter on Friday, December 1, 2023, for the cannabis-induced killing of Chad O’Melia in 2018. Jurors deliberated for less than a day before delivering their verdict in the afternoon. (ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR / USA TODAY NETWORK)

In a new interview, she revealed she plans to appeal the slap on the wrist because she believes O’Melia tricked her into taking the drug, she told the Daily Mail.

Although the two were dating, Spejcher told the newspaper that she never considered O’Melia her official boyfriend and that she told him two days before killing him that she was no longer romantically interested in him.

She claimed he was aggressive, intimidating and short-tempered, she told the newspaper. So when he encouraged her to hit a hookah on the day of the stabbing, she gave in to the pressure and subsequently fell into a fatal psychosis.

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Father Sean O'Melia (right) deceased son Chad O'Melia (left)

Sean O’Melia joined “America’s Newsroom” to remember his son Chad, who was fatally stabbed by a California woman. (The O’Melia Family)

“Yes, I physically inhaled it,” she said. “So we are both responsible, but clearly more attention has been paid to my part (in the attack) than to Chad’s.”

Her lawyers claim O’Melia introduced her to a hyper-potent strain of marijuana she wasn’t ready for, resulting in a side effect that sent her into a deadly craze. They did not immediately respond to questions about the appeal Friday morning, before business hours on the West Coast.

“The defense presented in court was not a ‘con’ as some have described it,” her attorney Michael Goldstein told Fox News Digital after the initial sentencing.

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Murder suspect and victim from California

Bryn Spejcher, left, was sentenced to 100 days of community service after stabbing Chad O’Melia, right, 108 times in his LA apartment. (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office / Fox & Friends First)

Months before the fatal encounter, O’Melia’s roommate also had an “extreme reaction” after smoking from the same hookah, Goldstein said. He suffered from hallucinations and fear of death.

Spejcher had smoked pot only about a half-dozen times before the stabbing, her lawyers said, describing her as a “naive user.” She worked as an audiologist at the UCLA Medical Center and is hearing impaired herself.

“The defense of ‘cannabis-induced psychosis’ was based primarily on the testimony of both renowned psychiatrist Dr. William Wirshing as the prosecution expert Dr. Kris Mohandie,” Goldstein said.

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Sean O'Melia, right, talks to other protesters i

Sean O’Melia, right, talks to other protesters during a demonstration held the day before the sentencing Tuesday of Bryn Spejcher, convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Chad O’Melia, Sean’s son. (TOM KISKEN/THE STAR / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Wirshing and Mohandie were among four experts whose work was cited in the lawsuit. They both felt that the explosive violence was “unpredictable” and “unforeseeable,” Goldstein said.

The specific strain contained a THC level of 31.8% and a warning label that read: “Caution, for high tolerance users only,” he added. According to the Yale School of Medicine, the average THC content in cannabis seized by the DEA was 4% in 1995 and had increased to 17% by 2017.

Marijuana is legal in California for prescribed medicinal users over 18 years of age and recreational users over 21 years of age.

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Chief Deputy District Attorney Audry Nafziger addresses the jury

Chief Deputy District Attorney Audry Nafziger addresses the jury during the manslaughter trial of Bryn Spejcher on Thursday, November 9, 2023. Spejcher, who was found guilty, was sentenced to probation and community service. (JUAN CARLO/THE STAR / USA TODAY NETWORK)

A search from SweetFlower.com, the website of a Los Angeles dispensary, found legal marijuana flowers for sale with THC levels as high as 39%. Similar levels were available Friday from a local competitor, The artist tree.

Processed and concentrated products can contain up to 90% THC, Goldstein added.

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“No one seems to want to address this issue,” he said.

O’Melia’s father, who organized a protest outside the courthouse for Spejcher’s no-jail hearing, told Fox News in January that the system “completely failed” his son and the family when Spejcher received a sentence of just two years of probation. 100 hours of community service and no jail time.