We have learned that just weeks after a major court victory restored a lawsuit filed against Danny Masterson and the Church of Scientology, one of the plaintiffs, who goes by “Jane Doe 1,” dropped the vaunted Philadelphia-based legal team representing her and hired Bradley Edwards, a nationally known trial attorney who represented some of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and helped bring down the predator financier.
The lawsuit against Danny Masterson and Scientology was filed in August 2019 and was the second suit filed by a highly regarded team from the Philly area which included lead attorney Brian Kent and constitutional scholar Marci Hamilton, as well as Stewart Ryan, a former prosecutor who had put Bill Cosby in prison. But almost from the start there were troubling signs as the Philly team relied on a California attorney who made surprisingly glaring typographical and grammatical errors in his court filings.
The team blew at least one very important deadline, and most alarmingly it included Jane Doe 1’s actual name on at least one court brief, then was slow to do anything about it.
We were aware that Jane Doe 1 was extremely frustrated with the Philly team and how it was handling the case, but it was pretty obvious that she was stuck with them as long as the case was in limbo after Scientology successful won a motion that forced the case into “religious arbitration.”
With the case derailed, no other attorney would want to take it on.
Then, a series of things turned the lawsuit’s fortunes around.
First, the preliminary hearing was held in the separate criminal case last May, and the three accusers, including Jane Doe 1, had their first opportunity to testify about their allegations. Those allegations were shocking and resulted in intense media coverage of Masterson’s alleged violent rapes of these women.
Just days later, the California Supreme Court made the unusual decision to grant review of the arbitration ruling in the civil lawsuit. We said at the time we thought the timing of this was no accident. The horrendous testimony in the criminal case, we figure, was noticed by the Supreme Court justices, who asked an appeals court to take a new look at the lawsuit.
That resulted in an appellate hearing in November and then, three weeks ago, the stunning ruling that overturned the arbitration ruling and restored the lawsuit.
Jane Doe 1 was no longer stuck with a losing court case, and she’s been able to hire a real heavyweight.
In 2020, Edwards published Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein and described how he had led the effort to find out what was really going on with the US Attorney’s hands-off approach to the case. At the time, in 2008, Epstein’s victims were being told that the government was investigating, but nothing seemed to be happening.
“One of the victims, Courtney Wilde, comes to me and says, ‘Hey, look what’s going on. I can’t get anybody to respond.’ And so I start trying on her behalf to get in touch with the government who’s giving me information that sounds very fishy, which leads to the lawsuit to try to disrupt the immunity agreement. And we find out in court that it was a secret agreement that had been signed nine months ago. So we were like late to the party that they had kept the victims in the dark too long,” Edwards said in a 2020 podcast.
Slate describes what happened next:
After [then-U.S. attorney Alexander] Acosta struck a nonprosecution agreement with the alleged child sex trafficker, Edwards sued, claiming that Acosta had violated the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act by keeping the agreement secret from the 36 underage victims whom prosecutors had identified. In February, 11 years after Edwards filed suit, a judge finally ruled that Acosta and his fellow prosecutors did indeed break federal law by granting Epstein and his alleged accomplices immunity behind the victims’ backs…For Edwards, who once told Law.com that he likes to live in a client’s home for a few days before trial to get a sense of their daily struggles, the fight to bring Epstein to justice has been drawn out, personal, and incredibly tangled.
Edwards met multiple times with Epstein, and the financier personally sued him. He also threatened him. At a Starbucks in Boca Raton where they would meet, Epstein told him, “Brad, if you keep prosecuting me in this way, somebody’s going to get hurt.” (Edwards, by the way, is convinced that Epstein did kill himself in jail in August 2019.)
This is a breaking story: We’re sending requests for comment to both Edwards and the members of the Philly team. We’ll update this story when we hear back from them.
——————–
Sign up for a daily email when we post a new story on Scientology.
Did you know you can get an email every morning when we post our daily Scientology story? We know some of the folks who come to the Underground Bunker aren’t here to talk about the politics of the day, and that’s why we created a daily politics feature over at our other blog, The Lowdown, and we ask readers to take their political discussions over there. And if you drop us a line at tonyo94 AT gmail, we’ll put you on the list so you get a morning reminder that a new Scientology story has been posted — and only for our Scientology stories.
——————–
“You know girls are pretty high-toned ordinarily. You can never quite tell about a girl. You’re liable to meet her on Wednesday and her name is Elizabeth, and you’re liable to meet her on Monday and her name is Jessie, see. She changes her name very easily. Not only that, they get married and change their names. They do change their names. We do know that. Girl, up to the time she’s seventeen, has been very, very well — nicely known as Clarissa, you see, and she didn’t like that and you meet, next time you meet her she’s twenty-two and she calls herself Butch. There’s no telling what’s going to happen on it. Women do this, probably which accounts for their ability to hold on to a better-looking mock-up than men, because men become factually themselves. At whose assignment?” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 9, 1956
——————–
“We are auditing now at a volume higher than that of any org in the world with a completion rate far in excess of any other 3 orgs. The bruised elbows in getting lines in, the bruised tempers, the hard work is really paying off with the finest auditing ever done anywhere. We are also averaging two or three Clear OTs a day! Come on, other departments and divisions. You’re only expected to be the greatest division or department of your kind anywhere in the world. So fly, you guys, fly!” — The Commodore, February 9, 1971
——————–
“OT III is an incredible level — of all the gains I got in Scientology, OT III was my biggest one. Better than the L’s. OT III is fantastic. There are only two problems with OT III, either the student can’t audit, or he’s not quite ready for it. And if he does well on OT II, then he should do fine on OT III as OT II is part of one of the major incidents we run on OT III. I hope you know that.”
1997: Andreas Heldal-Lund reported a relocation of his Operation Clambake web site when his Internet provider suddenly removed access to the pages. “Operation Clambake is removed by the ISP today, without consulting me first! PS TO KOBRIN: I’m surprised it took so long for you to do something that forced me to put in some effort. You want to play it hard? OK, I’ll make sure this will get out. You just made a lot of new enemies on the Net!”
——————–
“The difference is real religions admit their beliefs are based on faith, whereas Scientology claims nothing in it is based on belief or faith, but is based on 100 percent proven scientific fact.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference May 31. Trial scheduled for August 29.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for February 11.
— Joseph ‘Ben’ Barton, Medicare fraud: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Next hearing February 15.
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ US Supreme Court denied Valerie’s petition Oct 4.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Scientology has said it will file an anti-SLAPP motion.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for June 28.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Appeal hearing held Aug 23-27. Awaiting a ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
——————–
THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
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 BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. 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?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] The pandemic isn’t over, but Scientology leader David Miscavige is ready for his bow
[TWO years ago] One sure sign a new Scientology ‘Ideal Org’ is on the way: the Central Files mayhem
[THREE years ago] Thinking of leaving Scientology? Jefferson Hawkins has your roadmap.
[FOUR years ago] Tory ‘Magoo’ Christman, and how Anonymous went from online war to in-real-life pickets
[FIVE years ago] We have your invitation to Scientology’s holiest celebration of the year!
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s thug life, documented: Aaron Smith-Levin shares a record of Sea Org violence
[SEVEN years ago] Mark Ebner finds Scientology’s rubbish again as Narconon International vanishes!
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s continuing plans for its Super Bowl ad, and more Sunday Funnies
[NINE years ago] Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: Original Spin
[TEN years ago] Scientology, Deep in the Heart of Texas: The Voice at the Debbie Cook Hearing
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,570 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,075 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,595 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,615 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,506 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,813 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,681 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,455 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,786 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,259 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,575 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,141 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,060 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,228 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,809 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,070 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,106 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,821 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,346 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 701 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,876 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,427 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,576 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,896 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,751 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,870 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,226 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,529 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,635 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,033 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,909 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,492 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,987 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,241 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,350 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on February 9, 2022 at 17:45
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
