Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Other Claimed spiritual healing or mediumship Orange County, Florida, USA · 2020

United States: ayahuasca church found liable in $15 million wrongful-death verdict over delayed emergency response

Record class

Context only

Evidence status

Civil finding

Authority role

operators of a registered ayahuasca church retreat, with facility control over a participant during ceremony

Organization

Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church

Spiritual nexus

Begley was under the ceremonial and facility authority of Soul Quest's leadership during the ritual; that authority controlled whether and when outside medical help was sought as his condition worsened, and the jury found the delay in doing so caused his death.

  • Spiritual healing or treatment
  • Guru or spiritual-teacher authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2024-05-15 · jury verdict (civil)

    Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, Orange County, Florida, USA. A Florida jury returned a $15 million wrongful-death verdict against Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church and its majority owner Christopher Young (60% liability; Soul Quest 40%) in a suit brought by the estate of Brandon Begley, who died after an ayahuasca ceremony at the church's Orange County retreat. The jury's negligence theory centered on a delayed call to emergency services as Begley's condition deteriorated during and after the ceremony.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • facility control over a participant in an altered state during ceremony, including control over whether and when outside medical help was summoned
  • a delayed 911 call while the participant's condition deteriorated, attributed at trial to the facilitators' authority over the response to a medical emergency arising inside the ceremony

Primary record

Sources

local news civil verdict WFTV 9 Orlando, report on the $15 million jury verdict against Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church and Christopher Young, May 2024.

Reports the verdict amount, the liability split between Young and Soul Quest, and the delayed-emergency-response negligence theory.

investigative reporting civil verdict Filter Magazine, "Brandon Begley's Family Wins $15M Wrongful Death Suit Against Soul Quest."

Detailed account of the ceremony, the deterioration of Begley's condition, the delayed 911 call, and the trial outcome.

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