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Sleepwalking as a Defense to Child Molestation Charges?

By Corey Rayburnyung

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant in a child molestation case can use expert testimony to support sleepwalking as a defense. From a local news account:The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a Nashville firefighter is entitled to present medical testimony that a sleepwalking disorder caused him to commit child sex abuse.Adrian Leroy Scott II is facing trial on charges of raping a female relative in 2006, but claims he was asleep during the assaults and unaware of what he was doing.The state filed a pretrial motion in Davidson County Criminal Court that excluded sleep expert Dr. J. Brevard Haynes' testimony saying it was "was not sufficiently trustworthy."Haynes had diagnosed Scott with sleep parasomnia involving sexual behavior...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Crimes on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).