Death of Lisa McPherson - Timeline

Timeline

1995

• December 5 - Lisa McPherson died while under the care of Flag Service Organization (FSO), a branch of the Church of Scientology.

1997

• February 19 - The family of Lisa McPherson sued the Church of Scientology and the individuals involved for wrongful death, while the Church claimed it did nothing wrong toward McPherson.

1998

• September 15 - Dr. David Minkoff settled his portion of the wrongful death suit by having his malpractice insurance pay $100,000 to the estate.

• November 13 - The Church was indicted on two felony charges in McPherson's death; abuse or neglect of a disabled adult, a second-degree felony, and unauthorized practice of medicine, a third-degree felony; the first criminal charges ever filed in the United States against the Church of Scientology. These charges were brought against the Church as a corporation, not against any individuals, and the maximum penalty, had the charges been pursued and the Church found guilty, would have been a $15,000 fine plus costs.

1999

• December 6 - Florida State Attorney Bernie McCabe presented a response to Scientology's attempt to get the case dismissed.

2000

• February 23 - Medical examiner Joan Wood changed the cause of death of Lisa McPherson to an "accident." "Gone from the new report is the original reference to the bed rest and dehydration. Wood still traces the death to a blood clot behind McPherson's knee. But she lists McPherson's psychosis and a minor auto accident as major factors."

• March 8 - A group of more than 200 Scientologists moved to have the criminal case dismissed on the claim that it had "chilled the religious rights of every Scientologist" and that other Scientologists were now being treated with concern, suspicion or ridicule by non-Scientologists. A central point of the motion was that McPherson had undergone the Introspection Rundown, which the brief putting forth the motion called an "entirely religious" practice.

• April 4 - Scientology moved to have the entire criminal case dismissed. "The entire basis for the state's prosecution of this case has now collapsed," begins one of the many Scientology legal briefs arguing the case should be dismissed.

• June 12 - On the advice of Assistant State Attorney Douglas Crow, State Attorney Bernie McCabe dropped the criminal charges against the Church. According to a memo by Crow, medical examiner Joan Wood could not be counted on to confidently testify:

2001

• August 3 - Scientologist "OT 8" Dr. David I. Minkoff had his license suspended on for one year and was fined $10,000 for prescribing medicine to McPherson at the request of her FSO caretakers without having ever seen her.

2002

• April 29 - The church accused McPherson attorney Ken Dandar of professional misconduct and perjury and tried to get him removed from the case.

• June 22 - Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada dismissed the count alleging that McPherson was falsely imprisoned on the McPherson's civil suit.

2003

• August - The church of Scientology sued attorney Ken Dandar for breach of contract, for having added David Miscavige to the wrongful death lawsuit despite a mutual agreement not to add additional defendants. In a 2003 jury trial, Scientology asked for over two million dollars in damages, but received only $4,500 in attorney fees and no punitive damages.

2004

• May 28 - under terms undisclosed to the public, the civil suit was settled out of court.

2009

• June 22 - Mark Rathbun, a former member of Scientology, admitted that he had instructed the Church to destroy files related to the case.

2012

• October 31 - Ken Dandar filed a federal lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and its attorneys, asking for injunctive relief from the church's litigation, which he claimed was a violation of his civil rights.
• November 17 - In support of Dandar's lawsuit, Marty Rathbun claimed in sworn testimony that Scientology spent $30 million to influence Florida judges and defame Dandar during the criminal and civil lawsuits concerning McPherson's death. Rathbun also claimed that Scientology influenced Joan Wood's ruling of McPherson's death as "accident" by bribing her lawyer, Jeffrey Goodis, with Super Bowl tickets and other gifts. Goodis denied the charges.
• November 24 - Dendar added David Miscavige as a defendant in his federal lawsuit against Scientology.
• November 28 - Mat Pesch, the former treasury secretary of the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, claims that he witnessed the Office of Special Affairs dumping $20 million in FSO reserves into Scientology's legal defense over McPherson's death.