Background courtesy
Windy's Web Design

Judge: Scientology case not about beliefs


[Tampa Tribune 14 May 1999]


The Tampa Tribune

May 14, 1999, Friday, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: FLORIDA/METRO, Pg. 5

Judge: Scientology case not about beliefs;

DAVID SOMMER; ; of The Tampa Tribune;

ST. PETERSBURG - A judge warned prosecutors Thursday not to tread on the tenets of Scientology during the first court clash over blame for the death of church member Lisa McPherson.

In an unusual move, Judge Susan Schaeffer, chief of the Pasco-Pinellas circuit, ordered prosecutors to clarify two criminal charges filed against the church as a result of McPherson's death Dec. 5, 1995.

Thursday's hearing, the first since the charges of practicing medicine without a license and abuse of a disabled adult were filed in November, could be a preview of court battles to come.

Attorneys for the church's Clearwater-based subsidiary, known as the Flag Service Organization, are attacking the very notion of filing criminal charges against a church, something they say has happened only once before in U.S. history.

That case, according to lead defense attorney Sandy Weinberg, was quickly dismissed as a violation of the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion.

Clearwater police have been investigating the church for 20 years, Weinberg said. The filing of charges as a result of McPherson's death amounts to religious persecution, he told Schaeffer.

Assistant State Attorney Doug Crow noted that his office, and not Clearwater police, filed the charges. He told Schaeffer that prosecutors want to try the church for the way its members treated McPherson, not for their beliefs.

"Never in my 23 years (as a prosecutor) have I seen anything as bizarre and disturbing as the way this individual was treated over 17 days," Crow said.

McPherson, 36, was involved in a minor traffic accident Nov. 18, 1995. Police took her to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after she disrobed and began walking down the street. Church officials soon arrived, and McPherson checked herself out.

For the next 17 days, McPherson was kept in isolated confinement at Fort Harrison Hotel, Scientology's Clearwater headquarters. Prosecutors contend she was tied down, force-fed drugs and allowed to waste away without proper medical treatment.

Weinberg's defense team has acknowledged that McPherson's treatment ran counter to church beliefs. But the church cannot be held responsible for the actions of its members, he said Thursday.

Schaeffer warned Crow that religious beliefs are out of bounds in the courtroom. She herself grew up in a religion that stressed prayer and the laying on of hands instead of medical treatment.

"I don't want to be trying a case that involves stepping on someone's religious beliefs," the judge said.

Schaeffer said she will consider the case's constitutional implications at a hearing July 22.

If the charges are allowed to stand, the matter will go to trial March 6, she ruled.

The judge ordered Crow to list the specific acts that the state considers to be illegal. Such a list is known as a bill of particulars.

If convicted as charged, the Flag Service Organization faces a maximum fine of $ 15,000.

But the precedent and the implications for Scientology and other religions is enormous, Weinberg said.

"This (case) has national implications. This is incredibly important," he said afterward.

In the past, the Catholic Church has not been held responsible for priests who molest children and the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. was not charged when the Rev. Henry Lyons, used it to operate a racketeering scheme, Weinberg said.


© copyright Tampa Tribune



Back to Lisa McPherson page