Will Harvest Bible Chapel founder James MacDonald avoid a seven-year prison sentence for allegedly assaulting a 59-year-old woman through a mental health transformation program for his post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis? will not be known until June 4th. Last March, in a parking lot in California.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Enrique Camarena on Wednesday requested that prosecutors continue to have mental health experts evaluate McDonald’s claims, Lloyd’s Report reported.
Mr. Camarena also noted that Mr. MacDonald’s lawyers did not have a treatment plan to present to the court for his PTSD caused by reporting by Christian investigative journalist Julie Roys.
A judge ruled last October that Mr. McDonald was eligible for the mental health diversion program, based on his attorney’s prima facie finding that he was an eligible and appropriate candidate for the program.
Dr. Shanae Anderson, the clinical psychologist who diagnosed McDonald’s PTSD, said his March 2023 felony assault and battery on Barbara Bass was his first diagnosis in 2020 and most recently in 2023. He said it was due to the effects of PTSD.
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Carlos Varela said Bass, 63, was a fine husband, father and grandfather before McDonald’s assault on him, announced by Assistant District Attorney Alexis Lamprea. Stated. No record or criminal history. ”
Mr. McDonald was ousted in 2019 as senior pastor of a multi-campus church that once had 15,000 members and was accused of being a gun-toting bully who once allegedly tried to hire a hitman to commit murders. Despite the charges, McDonald said he “basically did everything.” It was rightly a victim of his church and critics.
Dr Anderson read out a report to the court, saying Lloyds’ report was part of the reason McDonald developed PTSD and that his attack on the bus was “a function of PTSD”.
“It is the examiner’s professional opinion that James’ reactions are a function of PTSD. And he is talking about his reaction to the charges, or his reaction when this incident happened. When the woman in the car got out of the car, Anderson’s report said, “years of traumatic memories of being vilified by Julie Royce came flooding back, triggering a fight-or-flight response.” says the report. “Feeling powerless, misunderstood, and essentially trapped in the truck, he got out of the car to fight back against his accusers.”
Lloyds wrote in an op-ed Wednesday that McDonald’s suspicions of PTSD were “a little too convenient,” and that her suspicions were confirmed when the former megachurch pastor invited her to meet with him through his lawyer this week.
“My lawyer wrote in an email: “I just spoke with McDonald’s lawyer. His client is proposing two meetings. Sit down to see if you have. The second meeting will be on the record, but you can ask questions,” Lloyds wrote.
“Apparently MacDonald thinks he has evidence that convinces me of his innocence in some respects. But the time to speak came many years ago, when MacDonald told me about an article I was writing. when I asked for comment,” she explained.
“McDonald invites me to not just one but two in-person meetings, even though he claims I caused his PTSD. Either he is greedy for punishment or he lies about his PTSD. “Given McDonald’s past actions, I’m leaning toward the latter,” Lloyds added. “In any case, I don’t want to be in the same room as a man who claims he can assault women with impunity.”
Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonard Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost
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