Hats,
In the period 1961-3, at ST. Hill on the SHSBC and in our staff co-audits in Melbourne we all processed together in the one room on card tables that were so close one barely had elbow room . . . . so you could hear "everyone's items."
But to answer your question on "someone else given your item" . . . it can happen many ways. One just has to get imaginative as to the ways folks can screw things up.
But, if you go to Mate's thread "How Dangerous is New OTVII (Solo NOTs)" here:
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=16109
you'll see how different individual Beings can be incorrectly given another's or others' items.
It is why, in Standard Hubbard tech, you have assessment questions specifically worded for OT3's and above . . . it facilitates getting the item no matter whose it is---yours or a spiritual connection's, and giving it to the correct "who."
In 1962, before we really had a handle on this spiritual connection business, while own goal listing I actually got and accepted a goal from one of my spiritual connections . . . . so the catastrophe was twofold: wrong item for me and, unacked spiritual teammate whose item was given to another (me!)
On the issue "auditor presence" written of so eloquently the lads, yes, it is the key.
I find it that the auditor has to be totally willing for the PC to come up with and to discover and be able to get off ALL, repeat,
ALL, of their truth.
And you have to honor it as
their truth!
The idiocy of ignoring what the PC says and dubbing in something else, or refusing to allow the PC to have
their item because of some other stupid view of should be, is criminal and utterly destructive.
We had an example of this from FoTi . . . she had an amazing ascension and state of Being recovery, and the dunces wouldn't let her have what it actually was that she accomplished!!

They tried to re-name, make it something else to fit their regimen !!
From personal experience, I related a story elsewhere on ESMB of an event in London in April, 1968, wherein I was so lovingly present and perceiving so precisely as-is the condition of the old lady in my presence that her case began to unravel in front of me and she actually physically straightened up and got "younger" before my eyes.
I experienced this with Dex when I first met him . . . his presence is so empowering you actually get better due to him being with you. I experience this with Face and Ted here also . . . the key to it that the Beings are so willing for you to expand to your utter and complete trueness that your crap blows.
I had several such auditors. One audited me for 300 hours and is a friend of Carmelo's. Also, the C/S for all of that auditing was Class XII Ron Schaffran, who was on loan to CCLA from Flag. Roger, do you believe that if you know who your C/S is and greatly respect that person's abilities and if the processing is given standardly, can a pc achieve better case gain by knowing he is being C/Sed by a top level and standard Case Supervisor?
It happened to a lady I was chatting with at the farmer's market Saturday.
Here is the end of an exchange of our emails on this issue over the weekend. It begins at the bottom. This here is after I sent her some processes to handle what interested her after our our 60 second chat.
_____________________________
So, you don't need to be in formal session to benefit your fellows

you just need to be totally present, permeate and perceive/duplicate as-is the truth of what is there.
Rog