Scientology church, duo battle again 
Hearing is planned for Friday on disputed computer materials

Rocky Mountain News
Wednesday September 27, 1995
By Karen Abbott

The church of Scientology and two embittered former members will
square off yet again in federal court Friday.

Denver U.S. District Judge John Kane will conduct a hearing on more
angry motions filed by the two sides, which have feuded in and out
of the Denver courthouse since August.

This time, church critics Lawrence Wollersheim and Robert Penny
want the church held in contempt of court for failing to return
computer materials to them on Monday as ordered by Kane, the 10th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Their motion accuses the church of staging a "charade" of a return,
tampering with evidence and demanding special treatment from the
courts on the bogus grounds of religious freedom.

The church wants the court to have custody of the disputed
materials, which it has delivered to the courthouse in a sealed
brown envelope.

The church claims the disputed materials are secret, sacred
Scientology beliefs that Wollersheim and Penny were illegally
distributing on the Internet in violation of copyright and trade
secrets laws.

The church, with a court order, seized those materials and
thousands of other documents in raids at Wollersheim's and Penny's
homes in August.

Although judges at three levels have ordered the materials
returned, church officials said in court documents filed this week
that they never will return them because the First Amendment
guarantees their right to freely exercise their religious beliefs.

That includes keeping the beliefs secret, they said. "That
religious tenet is firm and immutable," the church said in court
documents. "The materials cannot be surrendered to apostates."

Kane said he isn't upset by the church's response to his order or
that the two sides still are arguing.

"I'm upset that the Rockies lost last night by one run," he said
Tuesday. "As to being upset by these mutts that come into court one
way or the other, no, I'm not.

"We'll just see what happens," Kane said.