
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 5, 1990                   TAG: 9007050161
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Medium

COUPLE GUILTY IN DEATH OF SON NO DOCTOR SAW

A jury Wednesday convicted a Christian Science couple of manslaughter in the death of their 2 1/2-year-old son, who died of a bowel obstruction after they turned to prayer instead of doctors.

The Suffolk County Superior Court jury found Ginger and David Twitchell, both 34, guilty of one count each of involuntary manslaughter after more than 14 hours of deliberations. Each faces up to 20 years in prison.

A sentencing date was to be set Friday. The couple remains free.

Their son, Robyn, died April 8, 1986, after a five-day illness. Robyn's sickness and death were graphically detailed in two months of testimony that some experts said placed the Christian Science Church on trial.

"It has been hard on everyone and it was certainly hard on" the jury, David Twitchell said minutes after the verdict was read. "This has been a prosecution against our faith."

But prosecutor John Kiernan said the case was about crime, not religion.

"It was a direct response to the failure to provide medical care for the child. What the case proved is the right to believe is absolute - the right to practice is not," Kiernan said outside court after the verdict.

Kiernan said the verdict "does send out a message that all parents are required to provide medical care for the life and safety of their children."

Since 1980, there have been seven cases in which Christian Scientist parents were prosecuted for the death of a child, resulting in five convictions, one acquittal and one dismissal.

Defense attorney Rikki Klieman said the Twitchells would appeal. She said Judge Sandra Hamlin failed to instruct the jury properly.

Hamlin denied Klieman's request for a poll of jurors, some of whom cried before being escorted from the courtroom. During deliberations, the panel asked the judge several times to clarify the legal definition of manslaughter.

Christian Science Church spokesman Nathan Talbot said he was confident the verdict would be overturned on appeal.

"We're deeply disappointed. It's still an unresolved issue," he said. "It certainly isn't going to change spiritual healing."

The Twitchells were accused of recklessly and wantonly causing Robyn's death by denying him conventional medical treatment.

The case was built on testimony from medical experts, emergency personnel, Christian Science practitioners and former neighbors of the Twitchells.

by CNB