Info for Cory #1
Anonymous
Los Angeles Times, January 13, 1990 Page B15
Captivity Case May Be Tied to Faith
By John H. Lee and John Johnson
Times Staff Writers
Pomona police said Friday they are investigating whether beliefs
espoused by the Church of Scientology led a family to confine a mentally
disabled woman in a cell-like bedroom at a Phillips Ranch house.
While stressing that neither the church nor its beliefs are under
investigation, police said they want to know if Scientology practices
could explain why the woman was kept in confinement.
Police and Los Angeles County mental health workers discovered Marianne
Coenan, 31, locked in a sparsely furnished room with a boarded-up window
after they entered the residence on Jan. 5.
The woman was incoherent and had bruises and scratches on her legs,
wrists and neck, police said. She was kept behind a door into which a
small, square opening was cut and steel bars had been inserted, police
said.
Her husband, Edwin Coenan, 41, was arrested the same day and booked on
suspicion of false imprisonment and endangering a dependent adult. He
has been released on $5,000 bail, and no charges have been filed.
The woman's father and stepmother, Floyd and Audrey Twede, as well as
the victim's half-brother, Steven, are also under investigation, police
said. The Twedes rented the house on Rolling Hills Drive where the woman
was confined.
Police said they saw Scientology printed material in the house and plan
to review documents written by Scientology's late founder L. Ron Hubbard
that describe how to treat mental breakdowns. In the documents, Hubbard
recommended isolation as a treatment and also warned his followers to
avoid conventional psychiatric care.
"During talks with attorneys representing the [husband and the Twedes],
it has always been a given fact that they are Scientologists," Pomona
Police Detective Carolyn Lundstrum said.
"The family also made statements to the effect that they didn't believe
in some forms of medicine and psychiatric help," Sgt. Elias Valdez said.
"We are trying to determine what connection the beliefs had with the
false imprisonment."
Investigators said other relatives and friends of the woman said she had
been kept in the room for at least eight weeks after suffering a mental
breakdown in October.
"Attorneys for the husband and parents have said that Marianne became so
violent, she was hurting herself," Lundstrum said. "So they created a
space where she could not harm herself. They said they did it for her
own safety."
The woman's confinement came to the attention of authorities after Cathy
Speer of Hillsboro, Ore., said her sister failed to arrive in Oregon for
the Christmas holidays, Lundstrum said. Speer asked police to go to the
Phillips Ranch home to check on her, the detective added.
After Edwin Coenan's arrest, a relative called the Church of Scientology
and was referred to Timothy Bowles, whose Los Angeles law firm
represents the church on various matters. Bowles told The Times that he
had been briefly involved in the case, but is not defending Coenan.
Church spokeswoman Shirley Young confirmed Friday that the Coenans and
Twedes are Scientologists but added that the care of Marianne Coenan
"was not a church matter ... nor did the church take any stand with
relationship to her treatment."
Specifically, police said they will review a "technical bulletin"
authored in 1974 by Hubbard, in which he describes the "Introspection
Rundown" -- a process for treating people with mental breakdowns.
He wrote that people suffering severe mental anguish, or a "psychotic
break," should be isolated and "destimulated" to protect them and others
from possible harm. During the process, Hubbard added, the "muzzled
rule is in force," meaning that no one should speak to the troubled
person or talk within earshot.
The document also articulates Hubbard's understanding of psychosis and
his disdain for psychiatry.
Asked if the family was using a church-approved treatment for psychosis,
church spokeswoman Young said Coenan's isolation was "a medical matter"
and added that "the church takes no official stand on it."
However, church officials, relatives and police said Coenan had been
under medical supervision during the two months of confinement.
Young, asked whether the family was applying the "Introspection
Rundown," said, "I'm just becoming abreast of the situation. So far as
what they did, this is a sad and unfortunate case."
Detective Lundstrum, meanwhile, said the bulletin "may help explain what
the people were doing, but the information has absolutely no legal
bearing on the case."
Detectives visited Marianne Coenan several times this week at a private
psychiatric hospital in Pomona, Lundstrum said. Coenan appeared to be
in fair physical condition, and "she had some lucid moments, but she
still has not been able to concentrate," the detective said.
"I haven't talked to her yet about the case," Lundstrum said. "She is
not ready to be questioned. She says things to herself, most of which I
couldn't understand."
Relatives told police that her condition deteriorated over the past
year, during which time she had been taken to several doctors.
One of those physicians was James R. Privitera, a Covina nutritionist
and allergist. Coenan was brought to his office two months ago, and he
recommended a CAT scan, which is a medical imaging procedure, Privitera
said.
The doctor declined to discuss the case in detail, citing the need to
protect the patient's privacy. Privitera said he told the police
investigators he would discuss the case with them if they obtained a
court order.
Privitera was placed on medical probation in 1980 after prescribing the
controversial drug laetrile to cancer patients. In 1987, the state
moved to revoke his probation and end his practice. Privitera has
denied the allegations, and the case against him is pending.
Privitera said he has no connection to Scientology and the church has
never steered patients to his practice.
Detectives said charges against Edwin Coenan must be formally filed by
Thursday. At that time, charges against any other suspects will be
filed, if there are any, Lundstrum said.
Rogue Agent
RichieB <ric...@teleport.com> wrote:
>On Tue, 9 Jan 1996 17:00:08 +0100, Anonymous <nob...@replay.com>
>wrote:
>
>[snip]
>> Specifically, police said they will review a "technical bulletin"
>> authored in 1974 by Hubbard, in which he describes the "Introspection
>> Rundown" -- a process for treating people with mental breakdowns.
>
>if it's copyrighted)? I don't think I've seen it.
Tony McClelland just posted a big chunk of it, here's a few choice bits:
|HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
|Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex
|
|HCO BULLETIN OF 20 FEBRUARY 1974R
|REVISED 25 APRIL 1991
=====================
This is -not- some old policy that's no longer used, or something someone
slipped in as Hubbard's that was really written by someone else. It's
Hubbard's policy, it's in current use.
|Remimeo
|Expanded Dianetics
| Auditors
| C/Ses
|M7/M4 starrate
|Clay Demo
|
|INTROSPECTION RD
|ADDITIONAL ACTIONS
[...]
|ISOLATION
|
|With someone in a psychotic break, it is necessary to isolate the person
========================================================================
|for him to destimulate and to protect him and others from possible damage.
|While in isolation the person receives the Introspection RD done
|flawlessly on a shortsession basis, gradiently winning and gaining
|confidence. Between sessions the muzzled rule is in force. No one speaks
|to the person or in his hearing.
|
|There comes a point where the C/S must decide to release the person from
===================================================================
There is no possible way to read this other than involuntary detention.
That's backed up by the example below.
|isolation. To do this the C/S must know that the person can take
|responsibility for his actions as regards others, as well as toward
|himself.
|
|C/S ACTION 佑LEARED CANNIBAL STEP
|
|The C/S's action is a direct comm line to the person by notes. The person
|is provided with paper and pen to reply. The C/S must determine the
|person's responsibility level. Example: "Dear Joe, What can you guarantee
=================================
|me if you are let out of isolation?" If the person's reply shows continued
====================================
|irresponsibility toward other dynamics or fixation on one dynamic to the
|exclusion of others damaged, the C/S must inform the person of his
|continued isolation and why. Example: "Dear Joe, I'm sorry but no go on
=================================
|coming out of isolation yet. Your actions threatened the survival of
============================
|hundreds of people indirectly and six families directly by burning down
|their houses. You are unaware of the effects this could have had and still
|only concerned about your own welfare. You must hate the human race quite
|a bit."
The C/S clearly has all the power to hold the PC in isolation
indefinitely. The PC cannot simply say "let me out, I want to go home".
This is the exact definition of kidnapping.
Scientology policy is for people who experience "psychotic breaks" to be
isolated against their will and remain isolated from all others until they
conform to Scientology's view.
It is illegal, it is immoral, it cannot be tolerated.
RA
ag...@newhackcity.net (Rogue Agent/SoD!/TOS/attb) - pgp key on request
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The NSA is now funding research not only in cryptography, but in all areas
of advanced mathematics. If you'd like a circular describing these new
research opportunities, just pick up your phone, call your mother, and
ask for one.
RichieB
On Tue, 9 Jan 1996 17:00:08 +0100, Anonymous <nob...@replay.com>
wrote:
[snip]
> Specifically, police said they will review a "technical bulletin"
> authored in 1974 by Hubbard, in which he describes the "Introspection
> Rundown" -- a process for treating people with mental breakdowns.
Anyone have a copy of this to post (or some fair use excerpts
if it's copyrighted)? I don't think I've seen it.
> He wrote that people suffering severe mental anguish, or a "psychotic
> break," should be isolated and "destimulated" to protect them and others
> from possible harm. During the process, Hubbard added, the "muzzled
> rule is in force," meaning that no one should speak to the troubled
> person or talk within earshot.
Oh, boy. From what I hear, solitary confinement is very helpful
to a person's mental state. The Phatman was a real genius.
Did he do as well in psychology at college as he did in physics?
> The document also articulates Hubbard's understanding of psychosis and
> his disdain for psychiatry.
>
> Asked if the family was using a church-approved treatment for psychosis,
> church spokeswoman Young said Coenan's isolation was "a medical matter"
> and added that "the church takes no official stand on it."
I'm assuming that this episode was exposed by the CCHR. Is that
right, Cory?
Rich
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2
iQCVAwUBMPQz4oT0GKfZRA/9AQE79gP9HRAEqyYKrOGY95DjSV9KTVgr3JPeQ5JB
VLHu9YZBNNt+5MDJYfWXlP4yIANLEwfO00Cb0rtL42zboFGmaHaTAs7NuEgs2N3C
kmRHnx4cTCthxWrRWh8iwrkD6M3o04VCIqnDn6fkTX318bXTkDM3w7si2X76e14R
JuFQfJdoG0o=
=y4Kq
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
______________________________________________________________________
Rich Burroughs -- ric...@teleport.com -- psu0...@odin.cc.pdx.edu
http://www.teleport.com/~richieb --- Opinions are mine, not Teleport's
Authentic news posts from my account should bear a valid PGP signature
PGP key fingerprint: 1F A1 40 72 92 02 DE 7A 80 D0 5A 57 D3 1C 87 86