Times files suit to force release of autopsy photos

By THOMAS C. TOBIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 22, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- The St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday sued the office of Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe to force the release of the autopsy photos of Scientologist Lisa McPherson.

Shortly afterward, a Pinellas judge ordered McCabe's office to produce the records by 5 p.m. Friday or explain why it could not.

McPherson, 36, died in 1995 while in the care of Church of Scientology staffers in Clearwater. McCabe's office charged the church's Clearwater operation with two felonies in McPherson's death but dropped the case last week after problems with the testimony of a key witness, Medical Examiner Joan Wood.

Under Florida law, a prosecutor's records become public when a criminal case is concluded.

McCabe's office and Clearwater police have released thousands of other investigative records in the McPherson case, but the autopsy photos were withheld pending Scientology's request to have them sealed.

A hearing on that request is scheduled Tuesday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.

Scientology contends the photos will harm its right to a fair trial in a Tampa wrongful death lawsuit filed by McPherson's estate.

The Times argues that the church's private interests do not constitute an exemption to Florida's Public Records Law.

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