If Danny Masterson’s accusers take lawsuit to Calif. supreme court, they will have issues

Yesterday, we reported the stunning news that an appeals court denied the petition filed by Danny Masterson’s accusers. The court, like in Valerie Haney’s case, found that these plaintiffs suing Scientology can appeal their cases — but only after they go through Scientology’s “religious arbitration,” not before.

After Valerie’s petition was denied, she asked the California state supreme court for a review, but the court refused.

Should Danny Masterson’s accusers take the same step?

We think they will be tempted to. But if they’re going to succeed where Valerie failed, we figure they’re going to have to deal with some real problems in their case.

That became clear when we got a look at Scientology’s opposition to their petition, a copy of which we received yesterday at the same time we learned about the court’s denial.

Even though the case is over at that level, we still think it’s worth going through Scientology’s opposition, because it spells out issues in the case that Masterson’s accusers are going to have to deal with if they take the decision on arbitration to a higher court.

In part, these are the same issues that people suing Scientology have been dealing with for years, and that’s the trap that Scientology sets for them with religious service contracts that oblige them to take their claims to arbitration instead of civil court, and that bind them no matter how far into the future they say they are harmed by the church.

But there are also other issues that have come up because, time and again, the Masterson accusers have been represented by a legal team that has repeatedly blown deadlines or submitted claims improperly, and that now have accumulated into a real mess. Scientology, it’s plain from this new document, has many ways to attack any argument that the Masterson accusers make because of the sloppy court record.

For example, one of the most outrageous situations in this case is that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steven Kleifield ruled that Danny Masterson could take part in the Scientology religious arbitration, and Masterson has stated twice in court papers that he intends to do so. This would appear to violate the rights of his accusers under California’s “Marsy’s Law” as long as he’s also being prosecuted criminally for raping three of the plaintiffs, Chrissie Carnell-Bixler and two women going by the names Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2.

But as Scientology points out in its opposition, Chrissie’s attorneys didn’t bring in the Marsy’s Law argument properly, submitting it in a “sur-reply” that the judge hadn’t asked for or approved. It’s a maddening technicality, but the kind of blunder that Chrissie’s attorneys have been committing throughout this case and that Scientology is only too eager to exploit.

Scientology’s main point in its opposition is that the appeal by Chrissie and the other plaintiffs wasn’t actually based on Judge Kleifield’s ruling, but that it builds its argument on Marsy’s Law, the criminal court protective order, and other claims that Chrissie’s team never properly brought into the case.

Please give the opposition a close read and let us know what you think. Which of Scientology’s arguments will the legal team need to attack head-on if it takes this case to the state supreme court?

 
Here’s the document.

Bixler v. Scientology: Appe… by Tony Ortega

 
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Source Code

“Way back here at origin, you get the first separation from theta. And that actually would be Incident One…It’s very patterned, and you can run it without much trouble. It simply consists of this: The race, with its bodies and so forth, inhabiting a place in THIS universe, a planet in this universe, was hit by, infiltrated by, an incoming race…This invader race came in and says – with a lot of electronics and said, ‘Boys, all you’ve got to do is take this little jim-dandy whizzer, and you know, you will be twice as thetesque as before.’ They sold you all a bill of goods…They knocked us off with a very simple apparatus, and that simple apparatus consisted of something that went around your head and across the top of your head and under your chin — under your throat — and back of your head. And everything pointed at the pineal. They turned on the juice…and your mystic powers more or less went by the boards…Long time later, maybe even a million years later, you eventually wound up before another crew. And this other crew said, ‘We don’t want you around anymore, and we’re going to send you to jail.’ And so they packaged you up and shipped you off, and that is an incident we call Before Earth — B.E….But there’s a race existing right now out in outer space, and this race is not very interested in you, not very interested. And some of you, by the way, without much trouble, can do a contact across, because some of your theta line stayed out there….I’m sorry if it stretches your credulity. I do hope, however, that it doesn’t stretch it to the point where you won’t operate on it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 10, 1952

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“Margo Clarke is to work 48 hours in the Income Dept preparing statements to become familiar with the rundown. INCOME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN DISBURSEMENT. Liz Ausley is to act as Temporary Purser, check out on the new P/L on org boards and do a proper org board for Div III FAO. The WHY of any FAO disorganization or slow forming has been traced to lack of knowledge on how to post an org bd as covered by the new P/L.” — The Commodore, March 10, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“What we see in the world today is the deliberate and knowing application of Reverse Scientology, the compromise, inversion and reversal of truth. KUCDEIOF (know, unknow, curious, desire, enforce, inhibit, none of it, false) is applied downscale by firstly persuading the person to unknow what they actually know to be true. KUCDEIOF is applied in reverse to implant false and substituted stable data. Reverse KUCDEIOF is pyramid sales, WorldBook Encyclopedia for example. The point is one handles all this stuff by applying Scientology upscale. It’s an interesting avenue of approach when we consider that LRH indicates the undercut to the GPMs is increasing perimeters of awareness and increasing awareness levels or responsibility levels within those increasing perimeters of responsibility. Gradients apply.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1997: Reuters reported the unlikely-sounding story of a bomb disposal at a French Scientology org this week. “A member of the Church of Scientology found and defused a powerful bomb Friday in a church in the western town of Angers, police sources said. They said the device, concealed in a sports bag, was found in the entry hall shortly after the Scientology church, near the town railway station, opened in the morning. The Church member who found it carried it to a nearby park and defused it himself. Eyewitnesses said it had been primed to explode minutes later. ‘The explosive device was made to kill and was very powerful,’ one investigator said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and no indication of the motives behind the attack.”

Random Howdy

“I think right now Katie’s main goal is to get Suri acclimated to the real world and to not give Tom and Bert any ammo for a new custody suit. Can you imagine if Katie got caught smoking pot or something else fairly innocuous to most sane people?”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson arraigned Jan 20. Next conf to set prelim, March 24.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed to April 13.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Charged in Brooklyn federal court on Feb 4. Arraigned on Feb 9. Pretrial conference set for Apr 29.

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration. June 7: Status conference.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.

Concluded litigation:
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks

The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. 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 a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology mail contract worth $5 million a year says firm suing a former employee
[TWO years ago] A new drug shows promise for depression, so naturally Scientology is fighting it
[THREE years ago] Mike Rinder answers questions about the new ‘Aftermath Foundation’
[FOUR years ago] Louis Farrakhan, Leah Remini, and a document that helps explain the Scientology-NOI pact
[FIVE years ago] Reporter’s notebook: Scientology’s latest intimidation attempt is sadly familiar
[SIX years ago] Scenes from a ‘Going Clear’ screening — Alex Gibney at the True/False Festival
[SEVEN years ago] ‘Mad Men’ actress Elisabeth Moss’s record in Scientology is actually easy to obtain
[EIGHT years ago] Hurry, Scientology Needs Your PR Help!
[NINE years ago] Scientology Intervention: Commenters of the Week!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 10, 2021 at 07:00

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