Wealthy Rosie O’Donnell’s troubled daughter Chelsea O’Donnell is using a public defender to defend herself against felony charges of child neglect and drug possession, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, the court-appointed lawyer for Chelsea, 27, Bradley Handsen, made his first appearance in the case on November 1.
Chelsea’s lawyer demanded the prosecutors turn over evidence they plan on using in the trial. In the motion, Bradley demanded the government turn over a list of all witnesses who they plan on calling to the stand, any laboratory reports and other documents in their possession.
“All evidence and/or other information which would tend to negate the guilt of the defendant, including laboratory reports, hospital records or reports, police reports, or any other information within the state’s possession, knowledge, or control,” Chelsea’s lawyer demanded.
The prosecutors have yet to respond.
As In Touch first reported, Chelsea has remained behind bars in a Wisconsin jail since October 11.
Chelsea was arrested twice in the span of a couple of weeks. Her first arrest went down on September 10.
The Marinette County Sheriff’s Office arrived at Chelsea’s house after receiving a call from her where they heard arguing. Officers said they talked to Chelsea, who had “dilated” pupils.
She told the police that everything was fine, according to the report. Chelsea eventually admitted she got into a fight with her boyfriend, Jacob Nelund. She told officers that Jacob was inside the home with their 11-month-old son.
Officers found a meth pipe with meth residue in Chelsea’s pocket.
Later, they found a black vial-type container and a clear plastic bag with white pills on her. The substance was determined to be 18 grams of meth and the pills were Alprazolam. The police then went inside the home where they encountered Jacob.
The report said Jacob also had “dilated” pupils and they found a marijuana pipe. The police described the horrors inside the home in the report.
“The inside of the home was disgusting; throughout the house I saw rotten food, dirty moldy dishes, milk that stunk so bad it almost made me puke, dirty diapers, used female hygiene products, unclean underwear with feces and blood stains and used razor blades on the floor,” one officer wrote.
The officer added, “The living conditions in the house were horrible. I searched in the bathroom and did not find anything of interest. I then assisted with searching that downstairs bedroom that was Chelsea’s and Jacob’s. Deputy Veriha had located a used meth pipe and a gem bag with meth in it.”
The report noted that officers found a blue box on a nightstand in the baby’s room that had needles inside. The officer wrote, “Some of the needles were used and had dried blood in them. I know that drug users commonly use needles like this to shoot meth into their arms or ‘bang out.’”
The report added, “Under a baby crib, I located a black and silver digital scale, some used gem bags with white residue, and a sharps container that had more used and unused hypodermic needles. In a clothes pile, I found a straw that had been cut off and burnt.” The officer noted, “It appeared Jacob and Chelsea were more concerned with their drug addiction than providing [the baby] with a safe and clean environment.”
The baby was inside the home sleeping. “Inside the bedroom belonging to Chelsea, where [the child] was initially found, there was a meth pipe, a gem bag with methamphetamine inside, a marijuana grinder, and another container with marijuana shake in it,” the report read.
Chelsea was arrested and charged with four felony counts of maintaining a drug trafficking place, child neglect, possession of methamphetamine and possession of THC. She was released on bond. A couple of weeks later, on October 11, Chelsea was pulled over by cops while driving.
The police said Chelsea tried to throw a meth pipe into a river during questioning.
However, they said the pipe hit a fence and bounced back. Later, they found meth and pills on Chelsea. The pills found included oxycodone, morphine Sulfate pills and hydrocodone. Chelsea was arrested and charged with three felonies of possession of meth, bail jumping, possession of narcotics and other misdemeanor charges.
On October 19, Rosie, 62, spoke out about Chelsea’s arrest.
“Sadly, this is not new for our family – Chelsea has struggled with drug addiction for a decade – we are all hopeful she will find her way out of this deadly disease,” the O’Donnell family said in a statement to In Touch.
Rosie and her ex-wife Kelli Carpenter adopted Chelsea as a baby.
As In Touch previously reported, Chelsea has four children. Chelsea and her ex, Jacob Bourassa, had three children: Skylar Rose, Riley and Avery Lynn. Chelsea then had a son named Atlas in October 2023 with her current boyfriend, Jacob Nelund.
