In a classic case of Scientology legal calisthenics, David Miscavige’s attorneys have informed the Los Angeles Superior Court that it is moving to quash Miscavige’s participation as a defendant in a lawsuit filed August 22, claiming that notice of the lawsuit wasn’t served on the Scientology leader properly.
This is the first response we’ve heard regarding any of the three major lawsuits filed this year that named Miscavige as a defendant, and it comes in the suit filed by four women who say they were violently raped by Scientologist actor Danny Masterson, and that they suffered harassment by Miscavige and the church when they came forward to law enforcement in 2016.
We told you recently that process servers reported to the court that they performed “substitute service” on Miscavige by giving court papers to a reception worker at what is believed to be his “official” address, the Hollywood Guaranty Building at 6331 Hollywood Boulevard, which houses on its ground floor the “L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition.” On the 11th floor is where top Scientology officials meet for planning, and former executives tell us that there’s a set of rooms for Miscavige to stay there.
So, with Miscavige historically using the location as both a business office and a residence, we figured that it was a pretty good target for substitute service, which allows a defendant to be notified of a lawsuit without physically handing them the court notice.
But we’re hearing that Miscavige’s attorneys disagree, and have notified the court that they want Miscavige’s participation quashed as a result. (Meanwhile, the same process server company was also used for substitute service at 6331 Hollywood Blvd in the other two lawsuits that name Miscavige as a defendant, one also filed in Los Angeles on behalf of Leah Remini’s assistant Valerie Haney, and a third lawsuit filed in Miami on behalf of a woman referred to as Jane Doe who alleges that she was sexually abused as a child at multiple Scientology or Scientology-affiliated facilities, and that her abuse was covered up in a conspiracy headed by Miscavige. We expect that Miscavige’s attorneys will make the same argument in those cases as well.)
We turned to attorney Scott Pilutik for some help understanding the law, and he explained that this is a very common strategy, and that the plaintiffs may be required to make many more attempts to serve Miscavige before the court then orders some kind of resolution.
Pilutik showed us the California law that governs service, and we noted this language, that a defendant “may be served by leaving a copy of the summons and complaint at the person’s dwelling house, usual place of abode, usual place of business, or usual mailing address other than a United States Postal Service post office box, in the presence of a competent member of the household or a person apparently in charge of his or her office…”
That intrigued us. We knew from Leah Remini that when she was still in the church and she wanted to send gifts to the Miscaviges, she was told to send them to 6331 Hollywood Blvd. Did Miscavige himself use that address to mail things out?
Well, it turns out that just a couple of years ago, we posted a letter that Miscavige had sent out in regards to the way the country of Russia was raiding and arresting church members there. Here’s the top of the letterhead…
And here’s the address that is at the bottom of that page…
We were stunned to see that Miscavige was mailing out letters at 1710 Ivar Ave, 11th floor, because that’s simply a different entrance into the Hollywood Guaranty Building, around the corner from the entrance on Hollywood Boulevard. Here, take a look:
But the Ivar entrance is simply a locked door that leads to an elevator (that ultimately leads to the same 11th floor as the Hollywood Blvd entrance).
Is David Miscavige going to try to keep himself out of devastating lawsuits alleging child abuse, child trafficking, and the coverup of that abuse and the coverup of violent rape by simply claiming that the lawsuits are being delivered to the wrong door in his building?
We can’t wait to find out.
We’re also hearing that there may be an issue with how Danny Masterson was served, which also took place at the same location, the Hollywood Guaranty Building, even though, we pointed out, the actor neither lives nor works there, as far as we know. We have been told that this may indeed be an issue, and so process servers are continuing to hunt down the actor.
A hearing to sort out the motion to quash has been set for February 5.
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Leaked document of the day
From the Mace-Kingsley Ranch release comes this item. It’s a snapshot of the ranch’s statistics in November 1995.
We look forward to our longtime Scientologist readers deciphering all of the codes for us. But most immediately recognizable is the obsession with upstats and downstats: Every week, a Scientology outfit is expected to do better than it did the week before.
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“We have, in this universe, space has a peculiarity. And there are three kinds of space. Three kinds of space: there’s ‘was space,’ ‘is space’ and ‘will be space.’ There are three kinds of space. And how is this space formed? By postulating it exists….Somebody was serious. And I think the whole, the title of this whole play ‘MEST universe’ could be on that line: ‘Somebody Was Serious.’ And the title of Dianetics could be ‘One Was Stubborn.’ All right.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 20, 1952
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“I still maintain we are missing the real thing. Sitting on a rock with an OT48 certificate seeing people like Trump actually being an Operating Thetan is humbling. There are other examples of people who change the course of history, make loads of money, handle suppression and an old body and still keeps a seriouly gorgeous woman happy and productive. So I have to ask, how have the OT levels worked out for us?”
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“I worked off and on in the restaurant/hotel industry for years. When the kitchen got slammed i.e busy, pretty soon tempers would flare and everybody would be cursing one another left and right (sometimes it turned to mild violence). Cooks attacking servers, they in turn attacking the busboys who would in turn attack the dishwashers. When it was over everybody would go to the bar, get loaded and try to have sex with each other forgetting the previous transgressions. Words spoken in the heat of the moment mean nothing.”
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!
We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.
Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!
Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!
Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Someone doesn’t want you to see this rich Scientologist act like a rich Scientologist
[TWO years ago] Charles Manson and Scientology: What the church doesn’t want you to know
[THREE years ago] Scientology is making this world ideal, one renovated building at a time
[FOUR years ago] Five months later, Ponzi schemer and Scientologist Reed Slatkin is still dead
[FIVE years ago] Did a fashion website give a big boost to a Scientology infiltrator of NYC schools?
[SIX years ago] Claire and Bruce Take Us Into the Bizarre World of Scientology’s Operating Thetan Two!
[SEVEN years ago] Fox 25 in Oklahoma City Keeps Up the Pressure on Scientology’s Drug Rehab Deaths
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Sunday Service: Your Thanksgiving Week Open Thread!
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,634 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,763 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,267 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,787 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 807 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 698 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,005 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,873 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,647 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,421 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,767 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,333 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,252 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,420 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,001 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,262 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,301 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,013 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,539 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,065 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,628 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,768 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,088 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,944 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,063 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,418 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,721 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,827 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,229 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,101 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,684 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,179 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,433 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,542 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 20, 2019 at 07:00
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