Disgraced Malaysian diplomat Muhammad Rizalman was likely to be exaggerating his mental health issues, a psychologist has told the High Court.
Muhammad Rizalman at the High Court in Wellington. Photo: POOL / Fairfax NZ
Muhammad Rizalman, 39, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting Tania Billingsley when he appeared in the High Court in Wellington earlier this week.
Charges of burglary and assault with intent to commit sexual violation were withdrawn.
Rizalman disagreed with some aspects of the police summary of what happened at Ms Billingsley's home in May last year and a hearing took place yesterday to sort those matters out.
Rizalman said he he may have used synthetic cannabis, and was confused and desperate to go toilet when he defecated on Ms Billingsley's doorstep.
Professor Graham Mellsop told the Court yesterday Rizalman also scored highly on the "F Scale", which measured whether a person was faking their symptoms.
He said that was consistent with Rizalman exaggerating his mental health symptoms.
Prof Mellsop said he did not believe Rizalman was in a state of confusion during the incidents on 9 May last year.
He said Mr Rizalman often claimed to not remember things and had been very selective with what he did remember, but he was able to give detailed accounts of what went on with him and the victim, which was incompatible with a genuinely impaired memory.
Professor Mellsop concluded beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Rizalman often does not tell the truth.
He also believed Mr Rizalman's abnormalities and mental state in May last year were primarily influenced by his ingestion of substances, such as synthetic cannabis.
Defence psychiatrist Justin Barry-Walsh said Rizalman may have been suffering an abnormal state at the time of the incident, but that was not the same as suffering a mental illness.
He said that had arisen from a combination of the stress and pressure of work, which could have led him to misuse synthetic cannabis.
Dr Barry-Walsh agreed with the Crown that Rizalman had been arrested, disgraced, humiliated, and that, combined with having to explain what had happened to his wife and superiors and being sent home to Malaysia, could have contributed to his depression.
Both doctors agreed they had no concern about Mr Rizalman's ability to give evidence at today's hearing.
The hearing will continue next Friday, when lawyers for the Crown and defence will make submissions about the evidence given today.
However Justice Collins indicated that if a conviction is entered against Muhammad Rizalman, sentencing may not be able to take place until next year.
Earlier this week, the court heard how Ms Billingsley was watching a movie on her laptop at her home in the Wellington suburb of Brooklyn in May 2014 when Rizalman entered the house through an unlocked door. He was naked from the waist down.
He knocked on Ms Billingsley's partially closed door before pushing it open and saying "can I come in", Crown lawyer Abigail van Echten said.
"The victim looked up from her bed and observed the defendant standing in the entranceway to her bedroom wearing only a shirt and naked from the waist down.
"The victim got off her bed and began yelling and screaming for the defendant to leave the address."
Rizalman grabbed Ms Billingsley by the shoulders and a struggle ensued, during which Ms Billingsley managed to push him out of her bedroom and into the living room.
"The victim eventually managed to remove the defendant from her address before locking the door. She then ran into the bathroom and called police."
A neighbour in the downstairs flat heard the screams and called Ms Billingsley's flatmate. Her boyfriend, who lived in a neighbouring flat, rushed to the flat, where he found Rizalman, who by then had his trousers on, by the front door.
He confronted Rizalman, who was walking away down the path when the police arrived.
