Obviously this women made some huge errors and offended a lot of people and for that she needs to make amends.

BUT...at the same time she is someone who obviously is suffering from some mental issues...it kinda makes me sick to see pictures of her on various rag newspapers.

What kind of country is this that continues to publicly humiliate someone with a mental disability...obviously there was a great interest in the story around the time of its occurence...but now we know it was a result of a mental issue. The media and public should have left the issue alone at that point.

Denise, I guess I'm joking a little. But suppose Wilbanks had called and said, "I'm fine, I'll be home in a few days." The city still would have been out their $40k, and it wouldn't have been Wilbanks' fault.

As for intent, Wilbanks had no intent of starting a massive manhunt. She probably made up the kidnapping story as an excuse for her disappearance; arguably, word of the manhunt would have led her to embellish the story, so the causation is almost backwards.

I'm guessing some sensible New Mexico cop sat her down and got her to recant. (Sorry, I see I said "Arizona" above.) And probably whatever her mental problem is was obvious enough that NM officials didn't see any point in charging her.

a.) spending a fortune on a trial to
b.) send her to a $50,000 a year prison.

... Is pretty silly. The point is to set up an incentive structure to not file false reports, and thereby avoid costs in the future.

Whether this is a good idea is a separate issue. I would consider a plea bargain and probation as a reasonable outcome.

As for reimbursement, my understanding is that the City, which incurred most of the expense, is negotiating with her attorney for that. The DA isn't really in a position to do that, except for seeking restitution if she is convicted criminally. (I'm not a Georgia lawyer, so that's a guess based on other criminal law.)

Like others have said, it is doubtful this will go to trial. I can see her pleading guilty, agreeing to pay any restitution (which will be a small cut of her inevitable book and Lifetime Movie Channel deal), and possibly perform some community service.

She should be punished for the fake 911 call and the story she made up about what happened to her. That's not something you should mess around with. However, I think it is a little much to try to charge her for all of the time/money/effort that was spent on the search.

My own view is that the interstate nature the case took on when the false report was made, ought to mean the false report charge belongs to the feds, not Gwinnett. But IANAL.

The question is whether or not the court in Georgia has jurisdiction given that the report was made to New Mexico police, not Georgia police. That is something for the attornies to work out.

Maybe I've got the chronology wrong? You May 1 post says, "Jennifer Wilbanks, who had half of Georgia out looking for her after she reported being abducted because she was stressed out over a wedding, may face criminal charges..." Surely "half of Georgia" was hunting her _before_ she reported being abducted? Maybe there's some crime her family (and fiance) can be charged with, since they're the ones who got the expensive manhunt started.

I can understand Gwinnett County being annoyed at wasting money. If DA Porter can get any reimbursement, he should take it like a shot, rather than wasting more money on a trial.

There are parallels to the Tawanna Brawley case years ago in NY; I'm pretty sure there were no criminal charges in that (more egregious) case.

That said, I think the charges are fair, after all lots of time and money was spent looking for her and investigating a crime that didn't happen.