DAVID SOMMER
of The Tampa Tribune
Feb 23, 2000 - 12:47 AM More than four years after Lisa McPherson died while in the care of Scientologists. the medical examiner has amended her autopsy to say the woman's death was accidental, rather than "undetermined." The ruling came after Pasco-Pinellas Medical Examiner Joan Wood reviewed new medical evidence and test results, most provided by church-hired medical experts. Prosecutors had charged church officials with practicing medicine without a license and abusing a disabled adult. They now will decide whether to dismiss those charges. The ruling could affect a civil case pending in Tampa in which McPherson's relatives are seeking millions in compensation from the church. "Honestly, it's of major importance," Assistant State Attorney Doug Crow said of Wood's decision to amend her autopsy findings in McPherson's death on Dec. 5, 1995. "We need to review it. ... I wouldn't want to speculate about what effect it may have," Crow said. Wood's decision also prompted a bid by the church to stop the release of an estimated 10,000 pages of investigative reports and witness statements just hours before they were due to become public record Tuesday. The church wants to give prosecutors time to decide whether to withdraw the criminal charges before the documents become public, defense attorney Sandy Weinberg said. An emergency hearing on the church's bid to block the documents' release is set for this morning. Another request to block release of autopsy photographs is pending. Weinberg acknowledged that news organizations are not likely to use the photographs because of their graphic nature, but he said the church does not want its critics to post them on the Internet. The criminal charges contend that the 36-year-old McPherson was force-fed unprescribed medicine and forcibly restrained by church officials during the last 17 days of her life. Prosecutors have alleged that she lost 57 pounds in that time, but Weinberg said Tuesday the only evidence to back that up was Wood's original autopsy report. Wood filed an "Amended Report of Autopsy" Friday after reviewing new medical evidence and test results provided by church-hired medical experts, said her attorney, Jeff Goodis. The medical examiner is required by her office's guidelines to consider all new evidence, he said. Wood is in Nevada attending a forensic pathologists' convention. She did not respond to messages left at her office and her Reno hotel. McPherson, a Scientologist for 13 years, was involved in a minor traffic accident Nov. 18, 1995. She then disrobed and began walking down the street. Police took her to a downtown Clearwater hospital, where a psychiatric nurse was called. She subsequently checked out and left with church officials. She spent the next 17 days inside the church's spiritual headquarters, the Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater. Church officials eventually took her to a hospital in New Port Richey that had a Scientologist doctor. She was pronounced dead on arrival. Initially, Wood ruled that the "manner" of McPherson's death was "undetermined." The original autopsy report went on to say that the Clearwater woman died of a blood clot in her left pulmonary artery that formed in her leg "due to bed rest and severe dehydration." Wood said then that McPherson had nothing to drink for the last five to 10 days of her life and was comatose for the last day or two. Wood has changed the "manner of death" to read "accident." The "immediate cause of death" is listed as a blood clot in the lungs that migrated from a bruise behind her left knee. Wood lists "other significant conditions" as "psychosis and history of auto accident." Weinberg and church director Mike Rinder both predicted the criminal case will now unravel. If prosecutors do not dismiss the two felony charges, in which the church faces a maximum $15,000 fine, then the case will be dismissed by a judge on freedom of religion grounds, Weinberg said. Earlier this month, Chief Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Susan Schaeffer, who was scheduled to preside over an October trial, transferred the case to Circuit Judge Brandt Downey. Schaeffer also took a two-week medical leave but would not disclose her condition. Schaeffer had been scheduled to hear oral arguments next month on the freedom of religion issues. Both sides have filed thousands of pages of legal briefs on the issue. Schaeffer originally took the case saying that no judge with a full docket of cases would have time to deal with it. Wood's ruling also undermines the civil lawsuit filed in Hillsborough Circuit Court by McPherson's estate, Weinberg said. But Ken Dandar, the family's lawyer, said the new autopsy findings could work against the church. Wood still lists "severe dehydration" as part of her "final anatomic diagnosis." Dandar said that shows that McPherson was mistreated at the Fort Harrison Hotel. Also, by adding psychosis as a significant condition, Wood has made it clear that McPherson was unable to exercise her freedom of religion in her final days, Dandar said. The church does not believe in psychiatric care, its officials have said. McPherson, who moved to Clearwater from Texas to study advanced church teachings at the Fort Harrison Hotel, did not want to be treated in a hospital that provided psychiatric care following her car accident, church members said. Church critics contend McPherson was trying to leave the church, which they argue is actually a cult created by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard as a way to make money. David Sommer can be reached at (727) 799-7413 or dsommer@tampatrib.com http://www.tampatrib.com/MGI0IFQD05C.html