Opinions differ in case of woman accused of making false reports

Conflicting psychiatric opinions were heard Thursday in the case of an Edmonton woman accused of falsely telling police an armed intruder tied her up and raped her.

A psychiatrist testifying for the defence told court Heather Marchand was suffering from an alcoholinduced psychotic disorder at the time of the alleged offences, which led to hallucinations or delusions.

However, a psychiatrist testifying for the Crown said there are several significant issues with the first psychiatrist’s report, adding other diagnoses should be considered, including Marchand was either faking it or just seeking attention.

Defence witness Dr. Madhavan Das testified Marchand was in an alcohol-induced psychosis at the time or, alternatively, suffering from a mood disorder or undiagnosed psychotic illness.

Crown witness Dr. Alberto Choy testified Das did not have enough information to make a firm diagnosis and said he was missing key police information about the offences.

And while Choy did not interview Marchand, unlike Das, he said his review of all the pertinent information led him to conclude that she was not suffering from a significant psychiatric disorder at the time.

Marchand, 35, is charged with five counts of public mischief.

According to the agreed facts, Marchand reported five offences during a 3 1/2-month period in 2014.

In the first, she said a man tried to sexually assault her, but she fought him off. In the second, she claimed she was tied to the oven, raped and cut with a knife. In the third, she alleged the man left her a note with a heart sticker on it and in the fourth, she said she shot the man while he tried to sexually assault her.

The fifth incident happened at Pigeon Lake and involved the same man tying her up to a truck and running off after calling her names.

Court heard the RCMP was skeptical about the alleged Pigeon Lake crime and called Edmonton police. A public mischief investigation then began, resulting in charges.