PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS ROBBERY HAUNTS EX-MOUSEKETEER.

Byline: Associated Press 

A former Mouseketeer was emotionally scarred and is still fearful because of an armed robbery in the Disneyland parking lot two years ago, a psychologist testified Wednesday.

Terry Bissell took the stand one day after former Mouseketeer Billie Jean Matay, who is suing Disneyland, broke down in sobs and forced a 30-minute recess in her testimony about her confrontation with the gunman in the parking lot.

Bissell told an Orange County jury that the trauma of thinking she was going to die left Matay emotionally scarred.

``She would tend to, at home, when someone would come to her door, she would have an excessive amount of anxiety with palpitations and fear of answering her door, so she would tend to isolate herself,'' the psychologist said.

Matay, in her early 50s and living in Agua Dulce, was one of the original Mouseketeers. She performed at Disneyland's opening in 1955 and occasionally appeared on television's ``Mickey Mouse Club'' before leaving the troupe in 1956.

Claiming negligence led to the Aug. 17, 1995, robbery, Matay, her daughter and three grandchildren have requested unspecified damages from the Walt Disney Co.

``I'm still scared. I still run and hide in the back of my house,'' Matay told jurors Tuesday.

Papers filed in the lawsuit claim Matay's grandchildren, who were 5 to 11, were further traumatized by being taken behind the scenes and seeing a Mickey Mouse character and cast members from the ``Lion King'' parade taking off their costumes.

Disney attorney Stephen Waimey told the seven-man, five-woman jury in his opening statement that the robbery was regrettable, but even Disneyland isn't immune from crime.

Matay said the robber got away with money, jewelry, checks, credit cards and identification licenses. He was never caught.