Peter Bernard from Channel 28 just interviewed me about Joan Wood's reversal. He gave me a copy of the C of S press statement so I could comment on it.

Here it is:

PRESS STATEMENT

Obviously, the change of the death certificate -- both the cause of death as well as the conclusion that it was an accident -- is extremely significant and a huge development that dramatically affects the State's case.

The cause of death was a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung) from a bruise on the left leg. The point is:

* Her death was sudden
* Her death was unpredictable
* It was undiagnosable
* IT WAS AN ACCIDENT

The bruise came from an automobile accident.

The original findings of Joan Wood are what the State based their case on. She has now reviewed further information and concluded that the death was an accident.

There have been a lot of unsupported and inflammatory allegations about Ms. McPherson's death. What we've endeavored to do is obtain the scientific evidence to disprove those allegations and handle this case in a responsible manner.

Obviously the State needs the opportunity to review their case in light of this dramatic development.

Message-ID: <38B41C03.5464@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 09:42:27 -0800
From: Realpch <Realpch@aol.com>
Subject: Re: CofS press statement

Ah. So the idea is that Lisa's death was actually due to her automobile accident? And that being locked up for 17 days and losing all that weight and being drugged and dehydrated had nothing to do with it? I guess that the representatives of the Church of Scientology feel that if they could only have kept Ms. McPherson illegally detained for another few months or so without the inconvenience of her untimely death, she might have lost say another 30 or 40 pounds, but would eventually have come around. --- Peach

Message-ID: <38B42530.A23323D@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 13:21:36 -0500
From: Ed <metasyn@aol.com>

None of this invalidates the two charges of 1) abuse of a disabled adult, and 2) unlicensed practice of medicine.

It is just PR trying to put the maximum positive spin.

What Scn has succeeded with here is creating new possibilities for technicalities to complicate and drag out their appeals.

From: Stacy Brooks <stacybrooks@mciworld.com>
Subject: Re: CofS press statement
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 17:14:32 -0500
Organization: The Lisa McPherson Trust, 33 North Fort Harrison Avenue, Clearwater, Florida 33755 Telephone: (727) 467-9335 Fax: (727) 467-9345 Message-ID: <1Vm0OCg5GwUKGhSRscXlcJghNavv@4ax.com>

You can see the revised autopsy report on xenutv. Joan Wood revised her original findings.

This press statement from cos is wildly false, of course, as their press statements always are. I said regardless of what may come of this revised report it doesn't change the fact of what happened to Lisa. Her death was NOT sudden, it was NOT unpredictable, and it was NOT undiagnosable. It was NOT an accident either. It could have been prevented. I said a lot of other things too. We'll see what makes it onto the news tonight.

From: philscott88@hotmail.com (Phil Scott)
Subject: Re: CofS press statement
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 02:47:21 GMT
Message-ID: <38b49aef.10723804@news.tdl.com>

I think a jury is going to rule that it was homicide regardless. The cult tied Lisa to a bed and forceably injected her with drugs against her will, she lost 40 lbs right before thier eyes, they noticed her severe decline in health...they continued to hold her in captivity... she died. Its real simple. Now the fact of her death being agravated by a bruise is irrelevant. The bruise would NOT have cause her death without the dehydration.

I dont think it will fly for a second.

Phil Scott