Straight Up and Vertical: When is this jury going to deliver a result?

 
After a morning off, deliberations in the Danny Masterson retrial will resume today at 1:30 pm here in Los Angeles. The jury will then have only a little more than two hours to reach a verdict today before the court takes tomorrow off entirely.

We don’t know, of course, if the jury will use that two hours to ask a question or request a readback or to reach some verdicts. But we’ll be in the courtroom to bring you that news as soon as possible.

While we have this short pause this morning, however, we wanted to reflect briefly on something that, once again, has been a central feature of this experience for us.

We first broke the news of the Danny Masterson investigation by the LAPD more than six years ago, on March 3, 2017, and the focus then, as it always has been for us, was on the ordeal this has been for the women, Jane Does 1, 2, and 3, who put their lives on hold to bring Masterson to justice.

We can’t imagine the torment they are going through waiting for this jury to do its work.

But along the way, we have also had the privilege to get to know some really terrific journalists working at the courthouse. People like producer Lisa Bartley at ABC-7, Neil Blincow at the Daily Mail, Gene Maddaus at Variety, Dominic Patten at Deadline, Kelly Hartog at the Wrap, Meghann Cuniff at Law & Crime (and make sure you check out her great Substack), and James Queally and Noah Goldberg at the Los Angeles Times. (And our apologies for mentioning all of you, which is only going to make you targets even more of Scientology’s hate-filled social media operations.)

And especially, we wanted to thank Chris Shelton, who has become such a good friend and strong ally of the Underground Bunker. We hope you have had a chance to sample the weekly show that we’ve been doing with Chris at his YouTube channel, After Scientology: Straight up and Vertical. We try to boil down some of the news of the week in a fast, brief, and fact-filled broadcast that draws on our reporting and Chris’s valuable insights about the Scientology mindset.

OK, that’s our self-promotional pitch for the morning. We know it’s going to be a long wait for word from us this afternoon (or late into the evening for our UK folks). But who knows, maybe this jury can actually get something done in those two hours it has today. As ever, watch your inboxes for our reports!

 
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Technology Cocktail

“I think I have discovered in Enforced Nothingness a direct route to bringing any pc who is under some control up to the ability to conceive a static. And therefore the key to all exteriorization, havingness and perception. The process cures colds, tiredness and psychosomatics.” — 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

“There are lines of force in a galaxy. And these cookies had actually found how to detach matter along a line of force. And so they’d set a Magellanic Cloud loose along one of these lines of force and it would swing out of balance and move on out and engulf a system, and then swinging out further would engulf another system, and would spend an awful long time hanging around the system as it went by, you see? And frankly, these clouds would get to systems which they didn’t come near for maybe thousands and thousands of years. They didn’t direct these clouds intimately, they just set them loose and they would drift out through space. And these wise professors — I’ve never trusted a professor since — would sit around stroking their diplomas saying, ‘Well, this is the natural consequences of the disintegration of a galaxy. A certain period in the life of a galaxy, the Magellanic radioactive masses at the interior of the hub begin to disperse themselves out toward the rim. And this is known as the Keplin-Spreplin law and the Booplum-Booplin law, and the calculations are M to the gup-gup squared or the rippety-rip-bop to the tenth power.’” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 23, 1963

Avast, Ye Mateys

“Psychology and psychiatry have been traced as the direct authors of Fascism and today propound the Fascist message of violence and death across the world. This tangled web is being laid out like a carpet from documents being unearthed from the Nuremberg trials of war criminals and other sources. We always knew they were bad. We did not know Psychologists and Psychiatrists were the men behind Hitler and the gas chambers. By documents unearthed there is no difference whatever between psychiatric doctrine now being voiced in the East and West and Nazi doctrines so abhorred by all the world. ‘Racial Purity,’ ‘eradicated minorities,’ ‘genes,’ the lot. So it all begins to fit into a pattern. We had to be fought, for the appearance of real mental tech on the planet spelled the end of Fascist usage of false mental tech to politically dominate the world. Until we came along they were winning very nicely. So that’s one reason it’s so important to establish Scientology in Europe and England. And we’re making it.” — The Commodore, May 23, 1971

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Overheard in the FreeZone

“There was a guy who said he was audited and found out he was Jesus Christ. I was new in Scientology and we are not supposed to evaluate or invalidate, but he was telling me that the marks of the crucifixion were on his hands. And then he flashes and says, ‘You were one of the criminals on the cross, and the other criminal was LRH and on those crosses we decided to salvage this planet.’ Well I couldn’t get that out of my head and I was afraid to report him because he was in data division and I had no idea what would happen if I did report him. So I took the chance in session to go back and and look, and I stepped in both criminals and knew I had nothing to do with them. But then I went into Christ’s body and it felt like some huge piece of concrete was slamming up against me — not me a body but me a spirit, and that is a lot different feeling. So my cognition was they were trying to stop Christ from finishing what he wanted to do, some kind of spiritual awaking or something. And this UFO was cloaked in gold and I saw they were radiating something out to the crowds, which at first made me think that Christ was sending some kind of light, spiritual awareness of some kind. But no, that UFO was implanting the area. So I yelled, it was a trick.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1996: A summary of Scientology’s event in Los Angeles was anonymously posted this week. “1. 40+ packs of various technical drills (a bit similar in structure to the Tiger Drill of the 60’s) That was the main release. 2. Corresponding updates to the Student Hat, levels 0-IV, NED course, VGrad course and SHSBC. Also there are Auditor Certainty Courses for already trained auditors. 3. Mark VII Quantum E-meter (with an automatic sensitivity adjustment for Hi/Lo TA cases) 4. E-Meter reads electronic emulator. basically you plug in the E-Meter, push a button and it produces a corresponding read. 5. E-Metering course. It’s much like the Flag Metering Course minus FDS (False data Stripping procedure) and M9 (method 9 word clearing). 6. Flag-Trained Word Clearers and Course Supervisors were put in every Class V and above Org.” requested relief ‘will fundamentally alter the functioning of the world’s largest electronic public library and potentially expose each of its millions of users to unlimited tort liability.'”

 
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Random Howdy

“I love churches, cathedrals, mosques and I’ve visited more than few of them. I just don’t like what’s being taught in a lot of them.”

 
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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] How I know your Scientology files weren’t confidential: It was my job to dig through them
[TWO years ago] How Scientology can make a tragedy worse, and then even worse again
[THREE years ago] AUDIO: Scientology recruiter says wrecked families small price for salvaged planet
[FOUR years ago] Scientology tries stealthy opening of new drug rehab in Canada and gets stuffed
[FIVE years ago] Scientology asks court to freeze Laura D’s forced-abortion case for a long-shot appeal
[SIX years ago] When a Scientology ‘body-router’ turns out to be the father you haven’t seen in 7 years
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s newest attack on Ron Miscavige: Could his son David be any whinier?
[EIGHT years ago] Jon Atack: Stop making excuses for L. Ron Hubbard and the Snow White Program!
[NINE years ago] Richard Teague speaks out after his horrific ordeal at a Scientology rehab center
[TEN years ago] A Womb With a View: More Dianetics Just-So Stories

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 23, 2023 at 07:00

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, 1995-2022 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