Last week, Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail admitted believing in black magic, smoking cannabis and buying legal highs.
Rizalman pleaded guilty to indecent assault on November 30.
He went half-naked into Wellington woman Tania Billinsgley's home and bedroom on May 9 last year. A tussle ensued before Ms Billingsley called the police.
A diplomatic fiasco followed as Rizalman fled the country.
Today's hearing revolved around the role synthetic cannabis may or may not have played in motivating Rizalman at the time of the assault.
"The Crown is saying this was an indecent assault," prosecutor Grant Burston told the court. "There was sexual motivation for the offending," he added. "The defence says 'No, this is not the case. He is [in] there asking to use the bathroom."
Another contentious issue was the role any possible mental illness may have played in the offending.
NZME earlier revealed a Wellington medical assessment in May last year diagnosed Rizalman with "mixed depression and anxiety".
"The Crown does not accept that the abnormal state of mind was the result of mental illness," Mr Burston told Justice David Collins.
Mr Burston said the defence argued Rizalman was "unable to read the situation appropriately" but the Crown felt the reason Rizalman misread the situation was more likely due to "voluntary" synthetic cannabis use.
Justice Collins said he wanted more details about two visits Rizalman made to a Johnsonville general practitioner before May 9 last year.
Defence lawyer Dr Donald Stevens QC today said he planned to go through his submissions in "substantial detail" because this was the first time Rizalman had a real chance to tell his story.
"There can be little doubt that Mr Rizalman was in an abnormal mental state."
The defence lawyer said a doctor earlier found stress, anxiety, "potentially depression" and potential misuse of drugs were to blame for Rizalman's state of mind.
Dr Stevens said Rizalman's doctor made a distinction between specific "mental illness" and abnormal mental states.
At a disputed facts hearing last week, the Crown asked Rizalman if he defecated outside Ms Billingsley's house because he was trying to put a love spell on her.
The disgraced diplomat said he suffered from diarrhoea and entered Ms Billingsley's house to clean himself up.