Published opinion, 12 March 2025 · source · PDF · 24 pages
We recount the procedural history regarding this issue in some detail to give context to our discussion. Defendant’s theory of the case was that V’s reports of abuse were unreliable based on her history of nightmares and disturbing hallucinations—effectively arguing that she had dreamt or hallucinated the encounter and incorrectly believed it had actually happened. During a pretrial hear - ing, defendant offered the testimony of Dr.
She acknowledged that she had not reviewed any medical records and had not performed any assessment of V. In closing argument, defendant emphasized his the- ory of the case: that V’s reports could not be trusted given her history of nightmares, hallucinations, and difficulty with reality-testing, implying that she was unable to tell the difference between something that was a dream and some - thing that had actually happened. Defense counsel acknowl- edged that Bourg had not diagnosed V with any mental health condition.