Judge grants query to look into witness' health records

By MARTHA BELLISLE

mbellisle@rgj.com

A Washoe District Court judge granted a request Wednesday from lawyers for Catherine Bader Wyman, convicted of the 1974 death of her adopted son, to seek the mental health records of Wyman's main accuser: her estranged daughter.

Julie Bader Dunn testified during the June trial that she saw her mother kicking her

3-year-old brother James "J.W." Bader in the stomach on a daily basis but kept the information secret after his death, fearing it would split their family.

Dunn's testimony, and that of a forensic pathologist who said the toddler's injuries were evidence of abuse, led a jury to convict Wyman of second-degree murder. She was sentenced on Aug. 15 to 15 years in prison.

Medical history

On Wednesday, Wyman's lawyers told Judge Jerry Polaha that Dunn was on a mild antidepressant during the trial and had received psychotherapy for years before reporting the abuse. Combined, they said, this information might have affected her story and how the jury viewed her testimony.

They asked Polaha to allow them to ask a California court to release Dunn's mental health records to see if they show anything that would make her story suspect.

"Maybe the records will reveal how she was plotting to lie about her mother," said Martin Wiener, one of Wyman's lawyers, after the hearing.

"Maybe we'll find out she's medicated with some mind-altering drugs that were influencing her testimony," he said. "Or maybe she's told 10 years of continuous lies to a therapist.

"All of those things could affect what the jury thinks about her truthfulness at trial."

Prosecutor responds

Chief Deputy District Attorney Karl Hall said the defense had another option and is fishing for something to make Dunn look bad.

"When they first filed, I said if they want the truth, they should subpoena the therapist and psychiatrist and have them testify," Hall said. "They want the records so they can spin a yarn. They're hoping there's something in there to sully the character of Julie Dunn."

"It's not fair to go into the private medical records when they can't show good reason to do it."

Setting precedence

Before Polaha granted the request, Deputy District Attorney Scott Pearson, replacing Hall, argued that allowing the defense to investigate the history of a witness would open the door for background checks of all witnesses in any trial.

Pearson also argued the defense had not shown any evidence the records will produce questions about Dunn's credibility; they only suggest they might.

And he argued that Wyman was not convicted on Dunn's testimony alone, that the autopsy revealed child abuse.

Polaha said he agreed with the jury's verdict but was willing to let the defense seek the records to see where they might lead.

"The obvious point in the process is her demeanor on the stand and what may have caused her demeanor on the stand," Polaha said. "There was 10 years of psychotherapy involved.

"It may have been that she saw crimes and said nothing and that caused a mental breakdown," he added. "But what if there were other things?"