Judge Olmedo nixes defense claim that door was opened to Danny Masterson’s own report

During yesterday’s full day of cross-examination endured by Jane Doe 1 at the Danny Masterson retrial in Los Angeles, we were reminded about defense attorney Philip Cohen’s idiosyncrasies that were on display throughout the first trial last fall.

His co-counsel, Shawn Holley, has a very different style, which we saw during her cross of Jane Doe 3 last week. We’re certain neither of those experiences has been pleasant for these witnesses, and once again we’re reminded of their fortitude, having to be sworn in now three times to speak about the horrendous details of their sexual assaults.

And always, the one person we don’t hear from is the defendant himself, Danny Masterson. That’s just how our system of justice works.

However, we were really surprised, in the last two days, to see for the first time references being made to reports written by Masterson himself for the Church of Scientology about these incidents, and even some description of the material in them.

That wasn’t lost on Cohen, who, at the end of the day yesterday, told Judge Charlaine Olmedo that by referring to those reports, the prosecution and Jane Doe 1 had opened the door for him to bring in something Masterson had written.

If Cohen were allowed to do that, it would bring in Masterson’s own statements about the alleged rape of Jane Doe 1 without him actually having to testify.

We were stunned when we realized what Cohen was asking for. But Judge Olmedo refused, saying that Cohen couldn’t bring in his own client’s statement, which would be hearsay, and that a reference Jane Doe 1 made to the statement — that reading it helped her clear up how much of a cocktail she had consumed — couldn’t then allow in the rest of what the statement addressed, which, based on what Judge Olmedo said, would contain claims from Masterson that the April 2003 incident with Jane Doe 1 was a consensual sex act.

And we know that besides Masterson’s statements or reports written for the Church of Scientology there are numerous others, including some written by Jane Doe 1’s mother, which she also alluded to yesterday. Some of this material became public in an excellent Daily Beast article by Amy Zimmerman in 2019. But without Jane Doe 1’s mother, still an ardent Scientologist, being asked to testify, it’s our understanding her reports — written to church leader David Miscavige and complaining about how the church was handling the matter — won’t get in.

It’s just a reminder that as much evidence as we are getting in this case, there’s still plenty more that could be considered. Hey, grand jury, are you listening?

OK, as for this morning, Judge Olmedo has given Cohen just 45 minutes more to finish up his cross-examination. We believe that the prosecution will then begin the testimony of Jane Doe 2, the third of the victims whose allegations the charges Masterson faces are based on.

As ever, watch your inboxes for our reports from court!

 
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Technology Cocktail

“You can make a little child sick by just talking to him about this sort of thing, by mentioning ghosts and spirits and how bad they are and how fearful they are. He gets upset because (1) you are restimulating times when he exteriorized and (2) you are invalidating him and throwing him down tone like mad. He is a ghost, a spirit, a demon. He is all these bad things they have mocked up.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1958

 
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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 Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[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

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney

 
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Source Code

“Now we take eating and condense it down. That is to say, let’s make food scarce and let’s make it very hard to get — and we got a condensation, you might say, which completely escapes time itself. And you go outside of time and get sex. That is to say, the outside of present time and you get future time, which is sex. An individual goes right straight off the time track between eating and sex, and there’s nothing will float on a time track like a sexual engram. They just float all over the time track; they don’t nail down at all. They’re very mobile. Believe me.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 3, 1954

Avast, Ye Mateys

“No new crew cases should be begun until ‘parked’ ones are pushed up into Solo range. ‘Complete in HGC’ is the target. Dozens of cases are overlong in grade. L10s should be completed only after OT III anyway. So an HGC completion does not mean ‘all possible pgms we can do in HGC.’ It means just get the pc safely off into Solo. There are also some non-soloing solo auditors aboard. FEBCs who have Solo work to be done should be shoved onto it hard within 48 hours of arrival. I want to see crew ‘HGC Completes’ up through the roof and Solo w.d. hours ranging around 900 a week minimum!” — The Commodore, May 3, 1971

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Overheard in the FreeZone

“This may be a little off topic here, but I am an Indie Scientologist who has been active on the governing board of a nonprofit radio network. I believe in free speech and human rights, which is what Pacifica Radio is all about. I’m sure you all agree with those principles. If you listen to any of the Pacifica Radio stations — KPFK in Los Angeles, KPFA in Berkeley, KPFT in Houston, WBAI in New York or WPFW in Washington, D.C. or any of the 200 Affiliate stations or if you just care about independent media, please sign the Pacifica Democracy Project Petition.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1997: Marianne Tveitan announced the removal of her Operation Clambake mirror due to threats from Scientology to sue her Internet provider. “My ISP has received a letter from the Co$ that they will sue him unless the pages were taken down yesterday. I closed the site as I can’t follow up on this as closely as I’d want to, and would rather like to wait until I can. But the mirror will be back up again in (a short?) time. OSA: just don’t think you won a victory over me because of this! I will continue to spread the word that $cientology sux, and I will be back shortly with the NOTs and the rest.”

 
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Random Howdy

“The only people who don’t adore me are the people who abhor me, and that’s just how I want it. You’re either in or you’re out.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Retrial scheduled, jury selection begins March 29. Next pretrial hearing: Feb 16.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing Feb 13.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next status conference Feb 13.

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 November 17 to argue the arbitration motions, awaiting ruling.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: March 15, 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 February 7.
— 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.

 
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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?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] What the New Yorker left out of its story about Elisabeth Moss and Scientology
[TWO years ago] Scientology can’t get enough corrupt South American police generals under its wing
[THREE years ago] Scientology boasts about members keeping up online — and once again reveals its true size
[FOUR years ago] Scientology measles ship Freewinds ditches St. Lucia quarantine for Curaçao, its home port
[FIVE years ago] How Scientology’s mental health ideas end up enabling the worst compulsions
[SIX years ago] Scientology fires again at Clearwater aquarium and calls county commissioner ‘shameful’
[EIGHT years ago] Whale watching: The wealthy donors keeping Scientology afloat, 2015 edition
[NINE years ago] Ken Dandar gets another day in court after his $1 million Scientology judgment
[TEN years ago] Scientology is Staking Everything On Portland Like It Actually Matters

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 3, 2023 at 07:00

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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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone