Speck Mellencamp to serve 4-day sentence in 12-hour stints

BLOOMINGTON, IN -- A judge will allow a son of rock star John Mellencamp to serve a four-day jail sentence for battery in 12-hour stints because the 20-year-old suffers from a panic disorder.

Speck Mellencamp will be incarcerated at the Monroe County Jail from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Aug. 10-13 and Aug. 18-21 so a health care professional is on duty while he's behind bars, The Herald-Times reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1UB92ib ).

Mellencamp's attorney, Thomas Farlow, requested the arrangement because the jail has nurses to attend to inmates only from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Having his client incarcerated only within those hours reduces "the risk that he will suffer a debilitating panic attack," Farlow said.

Mellencamp received the four-day sentence after he and older brother Hud pleaded guilty in April to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from a July 2013 altercation. The brothers allegedly punched and kicked a 19-year-old man in Bloomington who they believed had hit Speck Mellencamp.

Farlow said in court papers that he and the Mellencamp family consulted with UCLA psychiatry professor Dr. Daniel Siegel regarding his client's condition.

"Dr. Siegel determined it prudent that Speck's confinement coincide with times when a healthcare professional is available, and Dr. Siegel recommends incarceration be sequenced during daytime periods to enable continuous observation and supervision by jail staff, including medical personnel for emergency assessment of treatment," Farlow said.

A doctor has prescribed medication to treat the panic disorder, Farlow said.

Mellencamp is the son of John Mellencamp and model Elaine Irwin.