Authorities allege a woman was so determined to convince her
husband of a need to move to a safer neighborhood that she faked
being raped.

She split her own lip with a pin, scraped her knuckles with
sandpaper, had her friend punch her in the face, and even wet her
pants to give the appearance she had been knocked unconscious,
authorities said Friday.

Charges filed by the Sacramento County district attorney allege
Laurie Ann Martinez, a prison psychologist, conspired with the
friend to create the appearance that she was beaten, robbed and
raped by a stranger in April in her Sacramento home.

Police detectives and crime scene investigators spent hundreds
of hours on the case, until one of Martinez's prison co-workers
came forward to say Martinez had been talking at work about faking
a crime at her home to persuade her husband to move, Sacramento
police Sgt. Andrew Pettit said Friday.

Martinez, her friend and two co-workers eventually told police
the whole thing was a setup to convince Martinez's husband that
they needed to move from a blighted, high-crime area three miles
north of the state Capitol.

It didn't work. Instead, the couple filed for divorce six weeks
after the April 10 incident, according to court records.

"If all you wanted to do is move, there's other ways than
staging a burglary and rape," Pettit said. "She went to great
lengths to make this appear real."

Martinez, 36, a psychologist for the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, reported she had come home that day
to find a stranger in her kitchen, authorities said.

"As she tried to run away, the suspect grabbed her and hit her
in the face," court records say in describing what she told police.
"She lost consciousness and then when she awoke she found her pants
and underwear pulled down to her ankles."

Missing from her home were two laptop computers, Martinez's
purse, an Xbox video game console, a camera and numerous credit
cards that Martinez said the stranger had stolen.

In reality, the items were all at the home of her friend, Nicole
April Snyder, authorities allege. Investigators say Martinez had
Snyder punch her in the face with boxing gloves they bought for
that purpose.

Martinez began crying hysterically when police arrived,
according to court papers.

Martinez's two lawyers in the family court actions, Russell
Carlson and Ben Ramsey, did not immediately return telephone
messages seeking comment. Her husband's attorneys in the family law
case declined to comment.

Martinez was arrested Monday and freed on $50,000 bond. There is
no record that she has a criminal attorney before her arraignment
set for Monday.

Snyder, 33, is charged with the same conspiracy counts, and a
warrant has been issued for her arrest. Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman
for the district attorney's office, said she had no indication that
Snyder has retained an attorney.

If convicted of conspiracy, each woman faces up to three years
in prison, Orio said.

Martinez had been a psychologist overseeing other mental health
workers treating inmates at California State Prison, Sacramento,
said department spokeswoman Terry Thornton. The prison 20 miles
east of Sacramento was the scene this week of a fight among more
than 150 inmates that sent 11 inmates to outside hospitals.

Thornton said Martinez was redirected to the department's
headquarters in May, when the investigation began, and has had no
contact with inmates since then. Thornton said the department also
is conducting its own investigation.

Martinez did not immediately return an emailed request for
comment left with Thornton.

Robert Kahane, executive officer of the California Board of
Psychology, said Martinez's license currently is valid. However,
"we are working diligently to ensure immediate and continued
consumer protection as quickly as possible," he said.