{"id":15768,"date":"2025-11-07T17:36:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T00:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/defense-expert-testifies-on-consent-and-memory-in-walls-sex-assault-trial\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:50:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:50:34","slug":"defense-expert-testifies-on-consent-and-memory-in-walls-sex-assault-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/defense-expert-testifies-on-consent-and-memory-in-walls-sex-assault-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense expert testifies on consent and memory in Wall\u2019s sex-assault trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lyndreth
Lyndreth Wall, former Ute Mountain Ute councilman, speaks to the children at Kwiyagat Community Academy during the first day of school in Towaoc in August 2021. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald File Photo)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

A psychology expert testifying for Lyndreth Wall\u2019s defense said Friday that people often misinterpret nonverbal sexual cues and may later reshape their memories based on emotions or hindsight.<\/p>\n

Her testimony stood in contrast to the prosecution\u2019s sexual-assault expert, who took the stand the day before.<\/p>\n

\u201cSexual compliance means you don\u2019t prefer it, but we do it voluntarily. When we look back in hindsight the emotions we feel color that,\u201d said Deborah Davis, an expert for the defense.<\/p>\n

Attorneys for Wall continued defending the former Ute Mountain Ute leader on the 10th day of his federal sex-abuse trial.<\/p>\n

So far, six women have accused the former councilman of sexual abuse during what they believed were spiritual healing sessions. The focus is now on the defense, who say the women lied and some were having consensual affairs with Wall.<\/p>\n

The courtroom Friday shifted between tense and measured moments as attorneys debated which of Davis\u2019 opinions the jury could hear and the scope of prosecutorial questioning.<\/p>\n

Davis, a psychology professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, qualified as a defense expert on sexual assault, traumatic memory and counterintuitive victim behavior.<\/p>\n

She said her research focuses on how people often rely on indirect cues to interpret consent, which are frequently misunderstood, and how memories can be reconstructed over time.<\/p>\n

Her testimony sharply contrasted with that of the prosecution\u2019s final witness, Sarah Deer, who addressed how sexual assault victims respond to trauma and the misconceptions about how they are expected to behave afterward.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can honestly disagree. In order for people to agree that there is or isn\u2019t consent, one person has to communicate it and one person has to understand it,\u201d Davis testified Friday.<\/p>\n

Davis said people often signal consent or nonconsent through indirect, nonverbal cues \u2013 such as physical touch, relationship history and setting \u2013 which are frequently misread. She added that individuals may assume their discomfort is obvious when it isn\u2019t, and that memories can be reshaped over time.<\/p>\n

Her testimony supports the defense\u2019s argument that the encounters were consensual or later reinterpreted, not criminal assaults.<\/p>\n

The defense sought to block the government from referencing her work on Harvey Weinstein\u2019s and Bill Cosby\u2019s cases, calling it prejudicial.<\/p>\n

The government insisted that questioning spoke to her professional bias and credibility and therefore it was a fair line of inquiry. Judge Gordon Gallagher allowed the work history into evidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have consulted with Harvey Weinstein\u2019s case. \u2026 And how much were you paid for that work?\u201d asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Graves during cross-examination.<\/p>\n

Davis replied she had not yet been paid, but the bill, including expenses, totaled about $21,000.<\/p>\n

Tensions flared at times during cross-examination and redirect, as both sides interrupted. Graves repeatedly objected to Davis\u2019 lengthy answers, accusing her of giving narrative responses. Judge Gallagher overruled most of the objections.<\/p>\n

On direct examination, Davis said memory can be shaped by emotion, and that people may later view an encounter as less voluntary if they come to feel fear, disgust or embarrassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMemory is the story you tell yourself about what happened. The actual ability to replay the event fades very quickly,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA person who is re-interviewed by law enforcement several times over a few years \u2026 could that impact their memory?\u201d defense attorney Summer Woods then asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople\u2019s memories change based on suggestions in interviews, and what they say in interviews very much depends,\u201d Davis replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would agree with me that your work on memory is politically charged? People vigorously disagree with it?\u201d Graves asked during cross-examination.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d have to clarify. There are certain things people agree with and certain things people disagree with,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

During cross-examination, Graves pressed Davis on her lack of clinical experience with sexual assault victims and quoted from one of her recent academic publications, which cited Oscar Wilde: \u201cEverything in this world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe powerful are more likely to infer sexual consent in an ambiguous situation?\u201d Graves asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot categorical \u2013 it\u2019s a rating scale. They rate a woman\u2019s willingness higher if they are feeling more powerful,\u201d Davis replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou said alcohol indicates consent?\u201d Graves asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, it is a cue that makes it more likely. Anyway, it\u2019s just words. Or technical words,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

Court adjourned after Davis stepped down from the stand. The trial will pause for a week due to scheduling conflicts. The defense is expected to resume calling witnesses at 8 a.m. Nov. 17. Judge Gallagher told jurors Friday that closing arguments could begin as early as Nov. 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prosecutors highlight past testimony in Cosby, Weinstein trials<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19832,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15768\/revisions\/19832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15768"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}