Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, Page 131
Kingston argued that he deserved a new trial in part because prosecutors and 3rd District
Judge David Young made references to polygamy during the trial and questioning of
potential jurors. The prosecution also made reference to Kingston's other wives' attendance
at the wedding, and to an incident in which the girl's father, John Daniel Kingston, beat her
for running away from Kingston. John Daniel Kingston pleaded no contest to third-degree
felony child abuse and was sentenced to 28 weeks in the Box Elder County Jail.
The judge limited prosecutors' questions about polygamy during the trial, and told potential
jurors, "the fact that Mr. Kingston is alleged to be ...a polygamist, should really have no
bearing on this case." Assistant Attorney General Laura DuPaix said she was happy with the
decision, which she called a "moral victory." "I'm hoping it will encourage more young
people who want to get out of this," she said. (Elizabeth Neff, Salt Lake Tribune, 4/12/02,
Internet)
Space Aliens
Reputed Space Alien Cult Leader Claims Insanity
Scott Caruthers, 56, the reputed leader of a ―space-alien cult‖ is to undergo a mental
evaluation as the result of an insanity plea filed in Carroll County (MD) Circuit Court, where
he and three alleged followers were scheduled for trial next month on murder-conspiracy
charges.
Caruthers' defense attorney, George Psoras Jr., said that Caruthers is "not criminally
responsible by reason of insanity," because at the time of the alleged offense he lacked the
capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the law
because of a mental disorder.
Caruthers, an artist, author, and inventor, was previously profiled in The Sun as a cult
leader who communicated with a mother spaceship through cats, according to former
associates and writings of an organization called Beta Dominion Xenophilia. But Caruthers
said at the time that he was using the materials for his science-fiction writing, not in
connection with a cult.
According to charging documents in the criminal case, the four codefendants are accused of
planning in August and September of last year to hire a hit man to kill Caruthers' former
business associate, David Gable, of Baltimore County. But the supposed hit man instead
went to authorities, according to charging documents. The documents said that two ex-
husbands of the women, and a man who tried to help family members investigate the cult,
were targets.
A fifth defendant, Amy C. Dardick, 40, was charged with conspiring —with the four other
defendants — to have her ex-husband killed. Released on $10,000 bail, she is to be tried
separately. (Sheridan Lyons, Baltimore Sun, 4/24/02, Internet)
Taliban/John Walker Lindh
Was Lindh “Brainwashed” by The Taliban?
Social psychologists and cult experts are debating whether or not the American John
Walker Lindh, captured along with Taliban forces in Afghanistan, was ―brainwashed‖ to
fight with them or did so of his own free will. Professor James Richardson, a social
psychologist at the University of Nevada, who is a critic of the term and concept
―brainwashing,‖ says that people use it to avoid the consequences of their decisions. On the
other hand, Dr. Philip Zimbardo, president of the American Psychological Association and a
professor of psychology at Stanford University, said that the powers of ―social influence‖
cannot be denied. He said: ―They are variants of well-known social psychological principles
of compliance, conformity, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, framing, emotional
Kingston argued that he deserved a new trial in part because prosecutors and 3rd District
Judge David Young made references to polygamy during the trial and questioning of
potential jurors. The prosecution also made reference to Kingston's other wives' attendance
at the wedding, and to an incident in which the girl's father, John Daniel Kingston, beat her
for running away from Kingston. John Daniel Kingston pleaded no contest to third-degree
felony child abuse and was sentenced to 28 weeks in the Box Elder County Jail.
The judge limited prosecutors' questions about polygamy during the trial, and told potential
jurors, "the fact that Mr. Kingston is alleged to be ...a polygamist, should really have no
bearing on this case." Assistant Attorney General Laura DuPaix said she was happy with the
decision, which she called a "moral victory." "I'm hoping it will encourage more young
people who want to get out of this," she said. (Elizabeth Neff, Salt Lake Tribune, 4/12/02,
Internet)
Space Aliens
Reputed Space Alien Cult Leader Claims Insanity
Scott Caruthers, 56, the reputed leader of a ―space-alien cult‖ is to undergo a mental
evaluation as the result of an insanity plea filed in Carroll County (MD) Circuit Court, where
he and three alleged followers were scheduled for trial next month on murder-conspiracy
charges.
Caruthers' defense attorney, George Psoras Jr., said that Caruthers is "not criminally
responsible by reason of insanity," because at the time of the alleged offense he lacked the
capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the law
because of a mental disorder.
Caruthers, an artist, author, and inventor, was previously profiled in The Sun as a cult
leader who communicated with a mother spaceship through cats, according to former
associates and writings of an organization called Beta Dominion Xenophilia. But Caruthers
said at the time that he was using the materials for his science-fiction writing, not in
connection with a cult.
According to charging documents in the criminal case, the four codefendants are accused of
planning in August and September of last year to hire a hit man to kill Caruthers' former
business associate, David Gable, of Baltimore County. But the supposed hit man instead
went to authorities, according to charging documents. The documents said that two ex-
husbands of the women, and a man who tried to help family members investigate the cult,
were targets.
A fifth defendant, Amy C. Dardick, 40, was charged with conspiring —with the four other
defendants — to have her ex-husband killed. Released on $10,000 bail, she is to be tried
separately. (Sheridan Lyons, Baltimore Sun, 4/24/02, Internet)
Taliban/John Walker Lindh
Was Lindh “Brainwashed” by The Taliban?
Social psychologists and cult experts are debating whether or not the American John
Walker Lindh, captured along with Taliban forces in Afghanistan, was ―brainwashed‖ to
fight with them or did so of his own free will. Professor James Richardson, a social
psychologist at the University of Nevada, who is a critic of the term and concept
―brainwashing,‖ says that people use it to avoid the consequences of their decisions. On the
other hand, Dr. Philip Zimbardo, president of the American Psychological Association and a
professor of psychology at Stanford University, said that the powers of ―social influence‖
cannot be denied. He said: ―They are variants of well-known social psychological principles
of compliance, conformity, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, framing, emotional
