Church tells judge their souls at risk
Rocky Mountain News
Tuesday October 3, 1995
By Sue Lindsay

Scientologists on Monday said they would be excommunicated and the
immortality of their souls would be at risk if they followed a
court order to turn over church materials to a Boulder man.

Their testimony came during a hearing Monday in Denver U.S.
District Court to see whether the church should be held in contempt
for failing to follow a judge's order to return all property seized
from former Scientologist Lawrence Wollersheim and Robert Penny.

U.S. District Judge John Kane ordered the computer materials
returned Sept. 12. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the
U.S. Supreme Court denied requests for a stay of the order. But
Wollersheim contends that his returned computer system doesn't work
and that the disputed higher level teachings of the church were
deleted.

Wollersheim and church president Heber Jentzsch got into a shouting
match outside the courtroom before the hearing began.

"This is a $2 billion satanic church that wanted to shut us down!"
Wollersheim said.

"You are the criminal who has stolen these documents and you got
caught," Jentzsch countered.

Kane said he will rule today.

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