Jane Doe 3’s cross-examination interrupted as the Danny Masterson trial takes a day off

We want to apologize for the tardiness of yesterday’s video wrap-up outside the courthouse. We had a devil of a time uploading the video, which was a little longer than usual and was exacerbated by some connection problems. We think we learned some lessons from it and will try to avoid a similar problem in the future.

This morning we’re making it available for everyone here on Substack and at YouTube.

The Danny Masterson trial is dark today, interrupting the cross-examination of Jane Doe 3, so we’re going to spend the day on our bicycle. But we did want to bring you up to date on a couple of other cases that we’ve been neglecting because of the trial.

First, the sentencing of Jay Spina’s brother Jeff is coming up this Friday, and we had a couple of notes about it.

You remember Jay and Jeff Spina, they’re the Middletown, New York chiropractors and Scientology donors who are accused by the government of running a sophisticated scam involving fake business ownerships in order to make off with about $80 million in Medicare funds. We attended Jay’s sentencing in April 2021, during which federal Judge Kenneth Karas said that what Jay was accused of made his “blood boil.”

You see, it wasn’t just about the theft (and both sides, before Jay’s sentencing, agreed to reduce the accusation against him to only about $9 million), but that Jay Spina was still trying to portray himself as a pillar of the Middletown community who had made some poor decisions. But the government had caught the Spina brothers using elaborate means to try to hide the fraud, and what really seemed to incense Judge Karas was that Jay had pushed the use of “facet injections” into the neck of patients by a practitioner who had learned how to do it by watching YouTube videos, and it had resulted in the death of a patient. When that woman’s son had tried to find out what happened, Jay had unleashed a Scientology-like retaliation campaign against him.

Judge Karas lowered the boom on Jay, sentencing him to nine years in prison. And initially, Jay was sent to some fairly scary federal prisons and not the one he had requested.

So, we have a couple of updates. First, Jay Spina has managed to get transferred to the prison he preferred, the Otisville, New York facility that is somewhat famous for being a cushy place for white-collar criminals. Here’s how the Chicago Tribune described it: “The camp does have its allure. About 115 inmates sleep in bunks lined up in barrack-style halls, instead of individual or two-man cells like in higher-security facilities. There are lockers to store personal belongings, washers and dryers for laundry, microwaves to heat up food and ice machines to keep cool. Alums include accountant Kenneth Starr, who was accused of bilking celebrities like Uma Thurman with bad investments, and former Cendant chairman Walter Forbes and ex-Connecticut Gov. John Rowland. New York Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff wanted to go to Otisville, but the Bureau of Prisons sent him to North Carolina instead.”

Meanwhile, the government is still trying to get some of that $9 million back from Jay Spina, and has filed for writs of garnishment against what they describe as investment income. The US Attorney’s office noted that of the $9 million, Jay has so far paid $150. Just recently, Judge Karas signed off on the writs.

And this Friday, Jay’s brother Jeff Spina will be sentenced, but the government is talking about him in very different terms. It filed a sentencing memo that spoke about all the cooperation that Jeff provided in the investigation, revealing that he was not only willing to provide information that might help the government prepare its case, but also that he was willing to testify at trial, and even against his own brother.

The government has taken that into account and is moving for a reduced sentence.

Jeff’s attorney asked for another delay, but Judge Karas denied it and the sentencing will occur this Friday.

In another case we’re watching, the bizarre shooting death of a man named Brian Statler that occurred in 2019 at the Inglewood Church of Scientology, trial is coming up on December 6 as the two Inglewood police officers who shot Statler are being sued by Statler’s ex-girlfriend Decery Capponi, a Scientologist, on behalf of their daughter, who is going by the initials S.C.D.P.

If you remember, we found out in previous documents filed in the case that it turned out Statler wasn’t armed and that he was never actually asked to leave the church. The two police officers will be probed in the trial about how they determined that Statler was truly a threat. They claimed that he had managed to get the firearm from one of the officers and the other had no choice but to shoot him, and the plaintiff’s attorney doesn’t believe it.

The two sides are jockeying for position now, filing motions about what may or may not be included at trial. They also submitted a joint witness list, which includes not only various law enforcement officials, but also employees at the Inglewood Org. And there was one small notation that we couldn’t help being interested in.

A witness is listed with this description: “Decedent obtained credit cards from the witness, and purchased the Bentley that decedent was driving on the day of the incident.”

Finally, some mention of the Bentley that Statler showed up in. Bought with credit cards by Statler that he didn’t own? Stranger and stranger.

Well anyway, we’ll keep an eye on that one, but for now of course we have our hands full with the Danny Masterson trial. Here then is our video after yesterday’s session in court.

 
——————–

Technology Cocktail

“There are now two kinds of processing in which we are involved: Light processing and deep processing. Light processing deals with postulates and effects and can be done either on an individual or co-auditing basis. Deep processing calls into use Effort and Advanced Procedure; and with it an auditor is mandatory. Postulate Processing combined with Effort and Advanced Procedure helps the preclear to pick up very early postulates, incident by incident.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1951

 
——————–

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 as trial begins and Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

 
——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— The Underground Bunker Podcast

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— SPECIAL: Your Proprietor’s updates on the Danny Masterson trial

[1] Sep 21 [2] Sep 28 [3] Oct 4 [4] Oct 10 [5] Oct 11: Day One [6] Oct 12: Day Two [7] Oct 13: Day Three [8] Oct 17: Day Four [9] Oct 18: Day Five [10] Oct 19: Day Six [11] Special interview with Chris Shelton, Oct 19 [12] Oct 20: Day Seven [13] Oct 21: Day Eight [13] First week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [14] Oct 24: Day Nine

— The Underground Bunker Podcast on YouTube

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince

 
——————–

Source Code

“Now, you will find that a rape or sexual attack may result in glasses, because this is refusal to communicate. And after all, what is a dental operation but a sort of rape, if you really think about it that way? Somebody is trying to take something away from an only partially reasoning individual who is under drugs. And what does the patient want? He wants to get away — not communicate. Do you get the idea? ‘Don’t communicate with me, don’t touch me, don’t hurt me.’ So you start up and down the track and you will find incidents here and there, and particularly locks are what you want; you don’t want to process a thousand engrams just to get off a pair of glasses. You get the times when the individual didn’t want to touch, feel, see, hear, or any of the rest of the package of communication, because that is what you are looking for.” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 26, 1951

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“FAIR GAME for the current week for NO REPORT of stats are: Dave James, Gilbert Black, Donna Tidman, John Stevens, Adele Vonnie, Doreen Smith, Murdock McBride.” — Lt. Jeff Walker, I&R, October 26, 1970

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“I tried but I had a hard time trying to open an independent Academy close to Clearwater. I supervised and word cleared for 20 years but OSA has a heavy presence here.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

1996: Time magazine settled with Scientology to end the lawsuit filed following the 1991 Time Magazine article which prompted the creation of alt.religion.scientology. From the Associated Press: “Under the settlement, Time, which is published by Time Warner Inc., agreed to publish a statement in next week’s issue about Michael Baybak, who brought the lawsuit. ‘Time’s report on Mr. Baybak, a member of the church, was not intended to suggest that Mr. Baybak was a ‘front’ for the Church of Scientology or that his actions were in violation of any law or regulation,’ the statement says. Robert Pondiscio, a spokesman for the magazine, said ‘we are very happy with the settlement.’ He said that a confidentiality order prevented him from commenting on whether any money was involved in the settlement. The May 1991 cover story on Scientology, described the church as a ‘global racket’ and included a separate box that described Baybak’s activities on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. The article also said that the exchange was a source of funds for the church.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“Seeing as how the Church of Scientology has publicly stated that they are not a turn-the-other-cheek religion, how is any of this a shock to anyone?”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Trial began October 11 in Los Angeles.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Arraigned on August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 28.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing scheduled November 17 to argue the arbitration motions.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through December 13.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior 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.

 
——————–

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 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] What’s happening right now in Scientology’s independent ‘Freezone’
[TWO years ago] Scientology continues its ‘Fair Game’ of Gerry Armstrong with court hearing today
[THREE years ago] Full court press: Scientologists have been busy in the halls of justice lately
[FOUR years ago] What the Australian press can’t say about James Packer and his Scientology adventure
[FIVE years ago] Scientology cries religious discrimination in appeal brief filed in Maryland zoning fight
[SIX years ago] Trump supporter arrested for threatening to kill Muslims at L.A. Islamic center is a Scientologist
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology cries religious discrimination in appeal brief filed in Maryland zoning fight
[EIGHT years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology needs your money more than ever!
[NINE years ago] Jon Atack Considers L. Ron Hubbard’s Tangled Relationship With Mind-Altering Substances
[TEN years ago] Scientology on the High Seas: Vixie, Vitamins, and Satan Worshippers
[ELEVEN years ago] Lloyd Kaufman on Scientology and South Park: Eric Sherman Did Ask Me about Trey Parker and Matt Stone

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on October 26, 2022 at 09:00

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