ST. PETERSBURG -- The Church of Scientology won a partial victory
Thursday when a judge dismissed one of four counts in a 4-year-old
wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of Lisa McPherson.
In one of his final acts overseeing the case, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit
Judge Frank Quesada dismissed the count alleging that McPherson was
falsely imprisoned.
Ken Dandar, the lawyer representing the McPherson estate, argued that
McPherson was psychotic and incapable of giving her consent when she was
taken by members of the church to the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater.
The 36-year-old Scientologist died in 1995 after 17 days in the care of
Scientology staffers.
Although the lawsuit has yet to make it before a jury, Quesada on
Thursday granted a motion to dismiss the false imprisonment count.
"Based on the undisputed facts of this case, plaintiff has not
made and cannot make a showing that Lisa McPherson was unlawfully
restrained "against her will' by the defendants," Quesada
wrote in his 49-page opinion. "In fact, all of the evidence
indicates the opposite. Lisa McPherson refused psychiatric observation
or admission at the hospital; she expressly stated her desire to receive
the religious care and assistance from her fellow congregants that she
and they wanted her to have.
"Moreover ... McPherson exhibited bizarre and psychotic
behavior, there is no competent evidence that Lisa McPherson demanded to
be released and was unlawfully restrained from leaving," Quesada
wrote.
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