[Groop] Mulch Melee!

[Bodhikt at aol.com]

Updated: 11:20 AM EDT
Senator's Wife Charged in Mulch Melee
WASHINGTON (April 22) - The wife of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was accused on 
Wednesday of hitting a woman in a dispute over mulch at a garden center, 
police said.
Wanda Baucus, 56, was arraigned in D.C. Superior Court on a charge of simple 
assault, a misdemeanor, and released on her own recognizance under condition 
that she stay away from the other woman and the store. The incident took place 
Tuesday; Baucus turned herself in on Wednesday.
Baucus apparently was upset she did not get help loading the mulch into her 
car while the other woman was being assisted, a police spokesman said.
Witnesses told police that Baucus put a bag of mulch behind the woman's car, 
preventing her from leaving the store, and that after exchanging words, 
allegedly struck the woman several times, police said.
Wanda Baucus' lawyer, David Schertler, said he disagreed with the version of 
events offered by the police and witnesses.
''Based on what we know, we do not believe that there was any kind of 
criminal assault in this case and we don't believe there was any basis for the 
charges,'' he said.
The lawmaker acknowledged in a statement that there was a ''situation'' 
involving his wife. ''We are trying to sort it out, going through the proper 
channels,'' he said. ''I stand by her 110 percent.''
The charges were first reported by WRC-TV.
AP-NY-04-22-04 0153EDT
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