Judge: Jane Doe 1 can have ‘limited discovery’ before arbitration showdown

We’ll have a correspondent in the courtroom today as Jane Doe 1’s forced-marriage lawsuit has a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court. And in this case, Judge Robert Broadbelt III has already tipped his hand: Last night he issued a tentative ruling showing that he’s going to side with Jane Doe 1.

If you remember, after the lawsuit was unsealed, revealing that Jane Doe 1 was suing Scientology, David Miscavige, and Sea Org recruiter Gavin Potter, Scientology came back with its usual strategy of trying to force the case into “religious arbitration,” this time based on a 2002 contract that Jane Doe 1 signed at the Flag Land Base.

But in a fascinating response, Jane Doe 1’s legal team responded that the contract was highly questionable: She had gone to Flag with her friend Lisa Marie Presley, and she wasn’t really there for services.

Nevertheless, Judge Broadbelt granted Scientology’s request to put the lawsuit on hold until he can hear the arbitration issue in February.

Jane Doe 1’s response was to ask for the right to conduct “limited discovery” between now and then so she can gather more evidence to bolster her contention that she signed the 2002 contract under duress.

In his tentative ruling last night, Judge Broadbelt overruled Scientology’s objections and said he planned to grant Jane Doe 1 some limited ability to gather evidence about the contract.

Plaintiff states that, although she was present when the arbitration agreement was signed, she does not have access to certain of Defendants’ documents to support her claims of fraud, undue influence, and duress. For example, Plaintiff states that she does not have access to “FLAG policies regarding visitors and requiring visitors to sign such documents,” which may aid in her defenses to Defendants’ motion. Thus, the court finds that Plaintiff has shown good cause to grant her leave to conduct arbitration-related discovery.

Assuming the judge doesn’t change his mind in today’s hearing, this is great news for Jane Doe 1, who will have a couple of months to get documents out of Scientology that could help her keep the lawsuit out of arbitration.

We’ll have someone in the court to let us know how much Scientology whines about this decision, and to see if there are descriptions of more specific examples of the kind of discovery Jane Doe 1’s side will be asking for. Exciting stuff.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“In the field of healing by mental or spiritual means, the pc is sick because he or she has had a series of considerations about being sick. Deformity or illness, according to the tenets of mental healing, traces back to mentally created or re-created masses, engrams or ideas which can be either de-stimulated or erased completely. Destimulation results in a temporary recovery for an indefinite period (which is nonetheless a recovery). Erasure results in permanent recovery.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1964

 
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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 [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“As long as religion brings solace to man in any way, shape or form, as long as churches stand in any way for the spiritual freedom of man, psychiatry will not really be able to progress, whatever its end goals are. Therefore, our rebuttal to any such attack is that psychiatry should not be permitted to wipe out a small church and then go on to a bigger church and then go on to a bigger church, and so take it all over. And also that the Minister of Health, as we have just told the press, has no right whatsoever to comment upon religious beliefs or practices. And in addition to that, that they are telling us that we must not do something we are not doing. Now, this is the yickle-yackle that appears in the world. The public at large is in actual fact getting ready to turn. Much of it has already turned. They see something very rotten in this idea of attacking Scientology. They are sick of this, see, because it’s gone on too long. And we hear cross comments of this particular character here and there. And they’ve gone too far and they’ve said too much! And they are now talking to a hostile public on the subject. It’s up to us to make sure that this is the downfall of all suppressive practices in that line.” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 13, 1966

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“Lots of fan mail and FN VGIs from people on the FSO on Valuable Final Products. I hope we can get in any corrections and additions. Send them to LRH Comm Ship. Funny but it’s like gold. Before one sees real gold dust in a miners pan, he can be fooled by anything. He thinks mica, bright rocks, fool’s gold, anything is gold. Then you show him real gold and never afterwards does he fail to recognize it. Can’t be fooled at all. It’s that way about a list of actual valuable final products. Once you see what sort of they are for a department, div or org you can’t ever be fooled.” — The Commodore, December 13, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“The last 20 years under DM particularily, has been devastating….It’s my belief that a real program aimed at recovering every single Clear and OT ever made, along with a generous Amnesty, wherein they were met with 100 percent standard, Ethics officers, CSing, Auditors and Admin Terminals would create the greatest renessance in the history of the subject. The result would boom orgs and the inflow of new (FSMed) public in ways never, ever seen, not even in the haydays of Scientology.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1997: LA Weekly carried a follow-up to their article on Scientology textbooks and learning techniques. A misdirected fax provided evidence of a Scientology-led fax campaign against the paper. “A misrouted fax rolled into our offices the other day, from one Margaret McCarthy at Applied Scholastics headquarters to one ‘Daryl at Player’s Choice,’ a trophy shop in Santa Ana. By all appearances, Ms. McCarthy is directing Daryl on what to write in a letter to the editor of the Weekly. McCarthy opens the missive to ‘Daryl’ with instructions for her to re-type an enclosed letter to the editor on her own company letterhead. And then things get weird. McCarthy uses some secret symbolic notation – two vertical lines alternating with two dots – to warn Daryl against making mistakes in the letter. As in: ‘Be careful of typos, etc. This is a [secret symbol] publication and you know they’ll nail us for any boo boos.’ We called McCarthy and asked if she was orchestrating a letter-writing campaign against the Weekly, but she wouldn’t say. The notation, ‘1.1’, was in a fax – mistakenly sent to our machine – from an employee of Scientology-affiliated textbook publisher Applied Scholastics to a Santa Ana merchant, directing her on what to write in a letter to the Weekly’s editor. The fax warns: ‘Be careful of typos, etc. This is a 1.1 publication and you know they’ll nail us for any boo boos.’ The notation, as many readers kindly alerted us, comes from the late L. Ron Hubbard’s mental Tone Scale, which ranges from 40 (serenity of beingness) to negative 40 (total failure). According to the online Scientology handbook, 1.1, ‘the most dangerous and wicked level,’ means ‘covert hostility’ – a common designation bestowed on the Church’s perceived enemies. Applied Scholastics president Ian Lyons confirmed the notation’s meaning, saying, ‘There is no secret about it.'”

 
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Random Howdy

“Future membership growth for the Church of Scientology has been effectively terminated by the Internet and Anonymous and the old guard critics. Its name is MUD. It’s definitely headed for Shakerdom and that was the original goal. As far as bringing DM to justice and the government doing anything about that, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘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 January 29, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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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] Kirstie Alley: Forgotten by the Scientology Hollywood Celebrity Centre?
[TWO years ago] Why does Scientology lie about founder L. Ron Hubbard’s supposed war wounds?
[THREE years ago] More Scientology orgs boarded up, our readers report: What’s going on?
[FOUR years ago] Scientology will try to force Danny Masterson accusers into its internal ‘arbitration’
[FIVE years ago] Scientology reveals it has a secret donor with an NFL connection giving millions
[SIX years ago] Defeated in court, L. Ron Hubbard’s son boasted about spreading lies in new FBI document
[SEVEN years ago] LEAH REMINI TO LAPD: COUGH UP PROOF THAT YOU CHECKED ON SHELLY MISCAVIGE
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s latest filing in the Trout Run zoning fight: We bleed for all religions
[NINE years ago] Jonny Jacobsen: New Scientology legal setbacks in Belgium, France, and Holland
[TEN years ago] Monique Rathbun back in court today: DAVID MISCAVIGE WILL BE DEPOSED, JUDGE DECIDES
[ELEVEN years ago] HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATING SCIENTOLOGY FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 13, 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