NATION : Multiple-Personality Case Out

OSHKOSH, Wis. — A judge today dismissed the case against a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman by taking advantage of her multiple personalities, sparing the woman from the ordeal of another trial.

Prosecutors had asked that the charges against Mark Peterson, 29, be dropped after they consulted with the woman’s doctors and were told that another trial could worsen her mental condition.

Peterson was convicted of second-degree sexual assault Nov. 8 but Judge Robert Hawley on Monday struck down that conviction, saying a defense psychiatrist had been improperly prevented from examining the woman.

The 27-year-old woman, known as Sarah, contended that Peterson took advantage of one of her vulnerable personalities when they had sex last June in an Oshkosh park.