USA v. PETERSON, SEWARD, MUECK, KERAGA and DAVIS

The Archives

Trial Proceedings:
Prosecution’s Opening Statement

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Week 9 10 11 12 13 14

Month 5 (Jan 1999)
Month 6 (Feb 1999)

Extra Weekly Summaries (from another source):
Week 2
Week 3

Newspaper Reports of the Indictment

On October 29 and 30, 1997, Mark Smith of the Houston Chronicle published two articles that we have summarized here. The first article reported on the indictment and the second described some professional reaction.

Who’s Who
Information about the participants

Witness List
List of trial witnesses, sorted by date

Related Legal Cases

Guidelines

A list of statements or guidelines dealing with "recovered memory" that have been issued over the years by various professional organizations. The list is accompanied by selected excerpts addressing several important topics.

A Challenge to Psychotherapy
Clinical practice is examined in the context of the "recovered" or "false memory" debate.

MPD and Satanic Ritual Abuse
A brief history of repressed memory, MPD/DID and the belief in ritual abuse at the hands of satanic cults, from a skeptical perspective.

"It’s in the DSM-IV"
A critical review by FMSF staff of the concept of validating the MPD/DID diagnosis by reference to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by the American Psychiatric Association.

"Satanic" Activity
A brief overview.

Influences
Major influences in the spread of beliefs about satanic ritual abuse and multiple personality disorder.

Why Believe Without Evidence
An article by Robyn M. Dawes that postulates mechanisms by which irrational beliefs arise and spread.

Drs. Braun, Sachs, Hammond et al. discuss ritual child abuse
Extracts from an audio tape, in which the subject of ritual abuse is discussed from a believing perspective.

Events and Commentary

Basic Facts About the Trial

United States v Peterson et al.
CR No H-97-237

Trial Location: U S District Court, 515 Rusk Avenue, Room 9136, Houston, Texas 77002

Trial Judge: Honorable Ewing Werlein, Jr.

Our Columnists

For Legal matters:

R. Christopher Barden, Ph.D., J.D., LP R.C. Barden & Associates
North Salt Lake, Utah

Zachary Bravos
Chicago, Illinois

On social implications and professionalism:

Spencer Harris Morfit
Westford, Massachusetts

For Psychiatric issues:

to be announced

Commentary

Comments on the Issues
(R. C. Barden)

On Professional Standards
(S. H. Morfit)

On Hypnosis
(S. H. Morfit)

Speculation and Manipulation
(S. H. Morfit)

Unindicted Co-Conspirators
(Z. Bravos)

License Revocation Hearing

The Department of Professional Regulation of the State of Illinois has brought a complaint against Bennett G. Braun, M.D., whom it accuses of three counts of gross negligence, three counts of dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional conduct, one count of misrepresentation, one count of misuse of a controlled substance or narcotic, and one count of behavior demonstrating incapacity or incompetence to practice, all in connection with his handling of the case of Patricia Burgus and her family. Dr. Braun, who has been named as an undicted co-conspirator in the Houston criminal trial, is the founder and former Medical Director of the Dissociative Disorders Unit (now closed) at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Skokie, Illinois. He is a founder of the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality Disorder, (ISSMPD) subsequently changed to The International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD). A preliminary hearing of the State of Illinois complaint took place on September 28. Dr. Braun's lawyers asked that the complaint be quashed on statute-of-limitations grounds, but this objection was overruled. A second complaint has been filed by the Department against another psychiatrist, Dr. Elva Poznanski.

A pre-trial hearing in the case against Dr. Braun took place on November 9, 1998.

Related Events and Materials

Transcripts of therapy sessions

Transcripts of tapes of therapy sessions involving one patient, and of a telephone conversation where her case was discussed, which were submitted in evidence at the trial, as well as transcripts of tapes and of a video recording of therapy sessions involving members of another family, are now in the public domain and are available here. By request, we have changed patient names in our posted copies of these transcripts.

Defendants Initiate New Proceedings
after prosecution discontinued

Prosecution Abandoned
for the sake of the victims/patients

Text of the Motion to Dismiss

Trial Terminated
for lack of jurors

As is usual, 12 jurors and four alternates had been chosen at the beginning of the trial. Judge Werlein had no alternative but to declare a mistrial after a fifth juror was removed and the defense objected to continuing with only eleven jurors.