Some of the most serious crimes one can face are those involving nonconsensual sexual conduct. A conviction for sexual assault or another type of sex offense is likely to result in penalties such as required registration as a sex offender, a lengthy term of incarceration, a significant fine, years of probation, or required sex offender treatment. In addition to these formal penalties, a conviction for sexual assault risks severely tarnishing your reputation and could impact your employment status, family, or other areas of your life.
The potential for such significant consequences if convicted make finding the best criminal defense attorney to defend your case and pinpoint potential applicable defenses extremely important. One such potential legal defense for a sexual assault is the “sleep sex defense.” If the facts of your case involve a sexual encounter or sexual behaviors while sleeping, this defense is one to be aware of and one that the criminal defense attorney you choose will want to have knowledge about and experience using.
What is “sexsomnia”?
Sexsomnia is a sleep related disorder or “parasomnia” that specifically involves engaging in sexual conduct while asleep without conscious knowledge or control of such conduct. Parasomnias are often unwanted experiences that can occur throughout a sleep cycle. According to a 2010 study published in an issue of Sleep Medicine Journal, about 4% to 67% of study participants experienced lifetime prevalence of some kind of parasomnia.
Certainly many people have, at one time or another, engaged in sleep walking or sleep talking. This is normal and often harmless. However, if you are someone who knows you have engaged in sexsomnia or sleep violence, or have been told by others that you do, you may want to be keenly aware of the potential criminal implications of inadvertently engaging in such conduct with another individual who may not be aware of such condition.
Why could the sleep sex defense help your sex assault case?
If the accused is facing a charge of sexual assault and the crime requires that the accused intentionally and knowingly committed the offense, the sleep sex defense could be an avenue to challenge the charge because if raised successfully, it could raise reasonable doubt as to the element of intent. Arguably, if someone is engaging in sexsomnia while they are asleep and unaware of their actions, they cannot be said to have knowingly and intentionally committed an assault.
How should the sleep sex defense be raised at trial?
If you and your criminal defense attorney decide to raise and rely upon the sleep sex defense at trial, you will want to ensure such theory is backed up by evidence. To do so, your attorney will likely seek to have you evaluated by a qualified medical or mental health professional with clinical experience who can speak the causes and symptoms of sexsomnia in general as well as to your specific sleep disorder.
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What is an example of a case where “sexsomnia,” a medically recognized sleep disorder, has been raised as a defense?
In a criminal trial in Tennessee, a criminal conviction was successfully overturned by the appellate court on grounds that the trial court incorrectly excluded expert testimony regarding the sleep sex defense. See State v. Scott, 275 S.W.3d 395 (Tenn. 2009).
In another case out of North Carolina, the trial court excluded expert testimony on the issue of sexsomnia as a general matter. State v. Stewart, No. COA11-1512, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 901 (N. C. Ct. App. 2012).
The sleep sex defense is ‘uncharted water’ for many courts. Therefore, it is important to get a qualified expert involved to give you the best chance at successfully defending your case, and the best person to determine who is the most qualified expert is a highly experienced criminal defense attorney with a high success rate of winning jury trials.
Who should I contact if I want to know if the Sleep Sex Defense may apply to my case?
If you are facing a charge of sexual assault involving conduct committed while asleep, you want an attorney on your side who understands the nuances of sexsomnia the sleep sex defense. Our sex crime defense attorneys at Berry Law understand what is at stake for you. Contact us at Berry Law to obtain the representation you deserve.
