The struggle over the Lisa McPherson autopsy evidence is over. Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Crockett Farnell ruled Thursday that the autopsy photographs are a public record now that criminal charges of practicing medicine without a license and abuse of a disabled person have been dropped against the Church of Scientology. The Tampa Tribune immediately obtained copies of the photographs, but Managing Editor Donna Reed said the paper has no intention of publishing them. The church had sought to block the release of the photographs, in part because a civil lawsuit filed by McPherson's family is pending against the church in Hillsborough Circuit Court. The Tribune fought for the release in order to protect the public's right to access government records, Reed said. "The pictures weren't the point. The point was in preserving open public records," Reed said. "We were preserving the public's right to know ... fighting to preserve the First Amendment and the freedom of the press." Church official Mike Rinder said that in addition to the concern that potential jurors in the civil case could be tainted by viewing the pictures, the church does not want to see such personal photographs of a member posted on the Internet and plastered on protest signs by church critics. The photographs actually helped the church persuade prosecutors to drop criminal charges in McPherson's December 1995 death, according to defense attorney Sandy Weinberg. The autopsy photographs show McPherson was neither severely dehydrated nor emaciated, as was originally alleged, Weinberg said. "We think the photos are very helpful for us, but not without an explanation," he said. McPherson, 36, died after a 17-day stay at the church's spiritual headquarters, the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater. The Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner originally blamed McPherson's death on a blood clot caused by dehydration and too much bed rest during her stay at the Fort Harrison. In February, the examiner revised the report to say the woman died accidentally as the result of a blood clot caused by a traffic accident. David Sommer can be reached at (727) 799-7413 or dsommer@tampatrib.com http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGISIEXDXAC.html