Clery Malpracticee Suit by Suicide’s Family Tossed Out : Separation of Church, State Cited

The nation’s first “clergy malpractice” suit was dismissed in mid-trial today by a judge who ruled that any effort to establish standards for pastoral counseling would violate the First Amendment’s separation of church and state.

Religious beliefs may be “totally repugnant” to some, but “that’s the price we pay for religious freedom,” Glendale Superior Court Judge Joseph R. Kalin said.

Walter Nally of Tujunga, who, along with his wife, Maria, brought suit against Grace Community Church of the Valley over the 1979 suicide of their son, said he was shocked by the ruling and may seek a new trial.

‘Not One to Give Up Easily’

“I’m not one to give up easily, and neither is my family,” Nally said. “I’m not a lawyer, but as a human being, I feel we are all answerable to each other. I find it difficult to rationalize that there would be a group that is not answerable to man.”

The Nallys had alleged that four ministers at the Sun Valley church provided incompetent counseling to their depressed son and burdened him with guilt by attributing his emotional problems to sin and admonishing him to “get right with God.”

The church’s senior pastor, the Rev. John MacArthur, said he was not surprised by the dismissal and felt the church had been vindicated.

“I just feel that the truth was manifested,” MacArthur said.

‘Trying Experience’

MacArthur added, however, that the trial had been “a trying experience. You spend a long time trying to establish yourself as a servant of the Lord in the community, and you’re thrown up as a wrongdoer. I feel a great sense of relief that the system works as it does.”

Several jurors said after the case had been dismissed that they were leaning toward a judgment in favor of the Nally family and regretted that they did not get the opportunity to decide the case.

“I was leaning toward the plaintiff, but it’s difficult to say when you’ve only heard one side,” juror Frederick Syers said. “I thought Mr. Barker presented a good case.”

The Nallys originally filed their suit in 1980, and it was dismissed in 1981 by Burbank Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Murphy, who ruled that there were no triable issues of fact to be decided.

But a state Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in June, 1984, and ordered the matter to court. The California Supreme Court in August, 1984, refused to review the case, opening the way for the unprecedented trial, which began with jury selection April 22 and moved to opening arguments on April 24.

The plaintiffs, represented by Los Angeles attorney Edward Barker, rested their case Wednesday, alleging that the pastors had known Nally had a history of depression and desired to kill himself. Barker asserted that the pastors had a duty to inform the family and to refer Nally to mental health professionals.

MacArthur, who was called as a witness by the plaintiffs, said ministers did “as much for Ken as anyone at the church” in the 16 years he has headed the congregation. The church maintained that Nally was seen by no less than eight professionals in the last two months of his life.

Request for Dismissal

After the plaintiffs rested their case, church attorneys Samuel Ericsson and David Cooksey asked the judge to dismiss it, a fairly routine procedure at the halfway point in a civil trial. The church lawyers said the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that ministers had any legally binding duty whose neglect they could be punished for.

Kalin agreed, saying the state California Business and Professional Code, which establishes standards and licensing procedures for physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists, specifically excludes the regulation of the clergy.

Kalin added that he found no “compelling state interest for this court to interfere” and develop such standards on its own.

Even if it could be argued that the church had a duty to inform the parents and refer Nally to other counselors, Kalin said the plaintiffs had failed to establish that ministers breached that duty or that Nally’s death resulted from church negligence.

Church attorneys said that, had the judge rejected the motion, they were prepared to begin presenting witnesses for the defense today.