Opinion ID: 1516934
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The prosecutrix's psychiatric record

Text: We reject defendant's argument that the trial justice erred by excluding from evidence the prosecutrix's psychiatric record and Dr. Bishop's explanation of the possible consequences of schizophrenia. In general, evidence of mental disease is admissible for the purpose of impeaching the credibility of a witness, but admission is subject to the trial justice's discretion. State v. Heald, Me., 393 A.2d 537, 539-40 (1978). On this record, we cannot say that the justice abused the discretion vested in him. Nothing in the prosecutrix's voluminous medical dossier suggested that her mental problems had ever involved her in sexual fantasies or sexual adventures of the kind at issue in this trial. That fact alone distinguishes the case at bar from State v. Davis, Me., 406 A.2d 900 (1979), and State v. Nelson, Me., 399 A.2d 1327 (1979). Further, the diagnosis in the prosecutrix's medical records was of latent schizophrenia, which Dr. Bishop would have testified meant that, although she exhibited clear symptoms of schizophrenia (not specified in defendant's offer of proof), she had no history of a psychotic schizophrenic episodeapparently even of a nonsexual character. The probative value of the proposed evidence was therefore questionable. But, beyond this, it was represented to the court that Dr. Bishop, who had not examined the prosecutrix and would not have based his opinions on any testimony at trial, would not have been able to offer an opinion as to the extent to which the prosecutrix's perception of reality might have been distorted on the night of the crime. The jury would have had no rational basis from which to infer the extent to which the prosecutrix's medical problems affected her credibility. The trial justice could reasonably have feared that the medical evidence, if admitted, would insert a wild card into the jury's deliberations. Without a rational basis for evaluating the weight of this evidence, the jury could have been unduly influenced by residual popular prejudices against persons with psychiatric disorders or have been overawed by the appearance of scientific certitude in the psychologist's description of schizophrenia. Defendant complains that the trial justice did not state for the record the basis for his ruling. In State v. Poland, Me., 426 A.2d 896, 900 (1981), we advised trial judges to explain on the record the basis for excluding relevant evidence under Rule 403. We continue to believe that our advice in Poland is sound, but it is admonitory only and cannot, in this case, be a ground for legal error. The attorneys had full opportunity to argue the point, and the judge had the relevant factors before him. There is no reason to assume that the judge did not exercise his discretion soundly. This case is not like State v. Warren, Me., 312 A.2d 535, 544-45 (1973), in which the trial judge stated an erroneous basis for his ruling.