James Bromley, one of the plaintiff's attorneys, accused Goldberg of lying to his clients - three orthodox Jews and a Mormon- who were desperate to conform to the expectations of their religious communities to marry and have children. They were lured by Goldberg's false promise of the program's two-thirds success rate, but Bromley reminded jurors Goldberg testified that estimate was based on counselors' opinions.
The defendants claimed they never called homosexuality a mental disease but rather a spiritual disorder. Bromley read back an email Berk sent to clients that compared homosexuality to alcoholism a disease recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.
He also reminded jurors of the tactics. Chaim Levin was made to relive the sexual abuse as a child by a relative. Downing coached Unger to blame his mother for making him gay, then gave him a tennis racket and told him to strike a pillow and imagine he was hitting her. During weekend retreats and in group sessions, clients were encouraged to undress to rid themselves of "body shame" and touch themselves to express their manhood.
He asked the jury to recall the testimony of Carol Bernstein, former president of the American Psychiatric Association, who compared conversion therapy counselors "to amateur surgeons operating on the minds of young gay men."
"You never want to go under the knife with an amateur surgeon," he said.
