JAMES ARTHUR RAY'S TRIAL MUST CONTINUE: JUDGE

SELP help guru James Arthur Ray will continue to stand trial for the death of three people in an Arizona sweat lodge after a judge refused a bid by his attorneys to cut his manslaughter trial short.  Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman all died at his "Spiritual Warrior" retreat and the bestselling author of The Secret is accused of being reckless in their deaths.
Prosecutors say Ray conditioned participants through breathing exercises, sleep deprivation, a 36-hour fast and lectures to ignore their bodies' signs of danger.
And as a result in the huge temperatures in the lodge, they died of dehydration.  But Ray's attorneys argued that prosecutors hadn't proved their case and that Ray had no legal duty to check on participants during the sweat lodge ceremony and they moved for the case to be thrown out of court.

In a written motion they wrote: "There is no evidence that Mr. Ray knew the three individuals were dying.
"Ms. Brown, Mr. Shore and Ms. Neuman were all breathing, talking with participants around them, specifically telling others they were `OK' or `fine' and moving until the end of the ceremony."
Arizona Judge Warren Darrow  however refused their request and the defense will have to call their witnesses in the case.