See the update below.
Just last week, in Jane Doe 1’s lawsuit against Scientology, Judge Robert Broadbelt granted David Miscavige’s motion to quash his summons, telling Jane Doe that she’s going to have to try even harder to find the elusive Scientology leader before he is considered served and an official defendant in her case.
We pointed out at the time that this didn’t seem to bode well for Leah Remini, who is not only suing Scientology in a separate lawsuit, but is using the same attorneys and process servers and has even submitted the same reports from those process servers in her case that Jane Doe did in hers.
If those efforts weren’t good enough in Jane Doe 1’s case, would they also be deficient in Leah’s?
We were hoping to get an answer to that question today in a hearing scheduled in Judge Randolph Hammock’s courtroom, but then we noticed last night that once again, the judge posted a tentative ruling ahead of the hearing itself.
And that tentative ruling indicates that Judge Hammock is planning on doing the opposite of Judge Broadbelt, and he will tell David Miscavige that Leah has done enough to serve him and Miscavige will have to respond officially to Leah’s lawsuit within 30 days.
That’s kind of amazing, but once again we have to ask, will Judge Hammock actually make a ruling today, or will his tentative ruling, like a couple of others in this lawsuit, remain in limbo?
Well, setting aside that concern with Judge Hammock’s recent inability to make a decision, we want to turn to this tentative ruling, because Judge Hammock is literally ridiculing Miscavige and the arguments made by his attorney, Jeffrey Riffer.
After reviewing the facts, that Leah’s process servers left papers with various security guards at four different Church of Scientology addresses, Judge Hammock says that Miscavige’s motion complained that none of them were locations where Miscavige lived or worked, and that Leah’s team had not made “reasonably diligent” attempts to find the church leader.
“Now that the guffaws have subsided, the speciousness of that argument becomes readily apparent when one actually examines the facts,” Judge Hammock writes.
Seriously, he said that! (We told you that we like this judge.)
Two or three attempts to serve someone at a proper location is usually considered “reasonably diligent,” he says, but in this case…
Plaintiff attempted service at seven addresses, on multiple dates, believed to be affiliated with the Church and/or Miscavige. Plaintiff’s counsel has spent “nearly $10,000.00 thus far in [their] attempts to serve Miscavige.”
Admittedly, it is difficult to identify which of the numerous properties owned or operated by the Church is Miscavige’s “usual place of abode” or “usual place of business.” The difficulty in doing so comes from the Church’s use of gates, lawyers, and private security to obscure Miscavige’s whereabouts…
Under the circumstances, service on security guards — who were apparently in charge of the properties and could and did deny the process servers access to various Scientology properties — was sufficient to serve Miscavige. This cat-and-mouse-game has run its course.
Wow! How long have we been waiting for a judge in Los Angeles to say something like this? (A federal judge magistrate in Tampa said something similar a year ago and also ruled that Miscavige had been intentionally evading service.)
And so Judge Hammock — again, this is the tentative ruling and not yet official — rules that substitute service has occurred and Miscavige’s motion to quash is denied.
However, the judge isn’t done! He feels compelled to add this amazing coda to his ruling…
Concluding Observations
AdvertisementAs this Court commented at the most recent hearing in this case, this motion should never have been filed. This Court had encouraged the lawyers for both sides to resolve the issue of service against Miscavige without the need for court intervention. Be that as it may, this Court recognizes that Miscavige certainly has the right to be served by proper process of law. Although we are well within the 21st century, these rather antiquated service laws still exist and must be enforced by the courts. So be it. Miscavige was, in fact, properly served.
But the arguments put forth by Miscavige, while mostly technical in nature, still must be reasonable. For example, to contend that Plaintiff has not made “reasonably diligent” efforts to serve him simply stretches one’s credulity.
It is simply time for Miscavige to simply step up, as a responsible member of our community, to generally appear in this case and defend himself against the serious allegations being made against him by the Plaintiff in this case. He is the apparent leader of a worldwide religious organization with considerable funds and support. He has (literally) teams of lawyers to defend him. Now is the time to utilize them to defend this case on its merits.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Oh wow, Jeffrey Riffer is going to blow a gasket. And Dave has to respond to Leah’s lawsuit!
That is, if Judge Hammock actually adopts this ruling today. Twice now, he has come to court with tentative rulings — one about removing some of Leah’s defamation claims, and another about keeping the Religious Technology Center in as a defendant — and then didn’t rule on them.
Will he finally adopt these tentative rulings, or will Scientology’s attorneys once again make so much noise that he’ll put off making another decision?
Well, there’s an additional wrinkle that came up last night: We noticed that today’s hearing had been taken off the docket, and we have been unable to get some indication of whether that’s significant or not. The tentative ruling is posted on the court’s website, and it says it’s for today’s hearing. But has today’s hearing been put off? We’re trying to find out, and we’ll let you know as soon as we find out.
What there’s no denying, however, is that Judge Randolph Hammock has had enough of Scientology’s games.
UPDATE: The hearing won’t be happening because Miscavige did accept service, but Judge Hammock had his tentative ruling posted anyway. How’s them apples, Dave?
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Technology Cocktail
“A degraded being lies to his seniors, avoids orders covertly by alter-is, fails to comply, supplies only complex ideas that can’t ever work (obstructive) and is a general area of enturbulence, often mild seeming or even ‘cooperative’, often even flattering, sometimes merely dull but consistently alter-ising or non-complying. This datum appeared during higher level research and is highly revelatory of earlier unexplained phenomena—the pc who changes commands or doesn’t do them, the worker who can’t get it straight or who is always on a tea break.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1967
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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
“The matter of communication is a very serious one. People who are wearing glasses have a break in communication — the communication between the outside world and their minds. It is something which makes it hard for them to see. Myopic astigmatism, unless caused by an accident, is a psychosomatic affair caused by the mind. There is a communication break relating to sight. Those breaks culminate in glasses. Statements in engrams like ‘You just can’t see anything’ will cause the command power to shut off vision. Those people who have achieved optimum personality often drop off the need for glasses.” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 14, 1951
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“MOLLY McBRIDE and CLARISSE BARNETT are appointed Commodore’s Messengers. They are cadets in rank and wear a blue lanyard. When they have done their AB, Mission School 2nd Class, SSI and SSII, if they perform duty well, they will be made midshipmen. Anne Tidman as Cmdr’s Messenger I/C will assign their watches and groove them in (Terri Gillham is on Mission). Molly McBride and Clarisse Barnett should turn over any duties they have to the next in line on their posts and groove them in so as not to leave a hole. A poor turnover of former post can drag one back into it as Mr. Warren has learned lately to his sorrow!” — The Commodore, February 14, 1971
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“So there is this static potential we call theta. It has no mass, no motion, no space, no time, no wavelength but it has the ability to postulate and perceive. It is a life potential creator that all things you see have been created out of. So from this theta, pieces broke off and pieces of the pieces broke off these pieces, and they became the spirit beings that created this ‘agreed upon universe.’ It is agree upon because we agreed to the laws that it operates, by like for example gravity. Now imagine creating a block of space the size of a swimming pool. This space is NOT a nothing. It appears to be a nothing but it’s NOT. Some of these UFOs travel from one part of the universe to the other by just swapping space. That means take the coordinates of a block of space here and an identical size of space say 10 light years from here and swap spaces. Whatever is in this block of space, (like a space ship), goes to the other block of space and whatever is in that block of space comes to this block of space. The space will vanish the second time we look at it because looking at it twice violates a law that ‘no two identical objects can occupy the same space.’ So we have to trick it somehow to make it persist. We do this by creating another space in the exact same space in an instant later and DON’t LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL SPACE YOU CREATED. In fact lie about it and say someone else created it. By the continuous creation of new space in a new time we have space that persists, a space time continuum. Now we are creating this from the static called theta so we now have to create a viewpoint from the broken pieces (spirits, thetans) to go into this block of space the size of a swimming pool to create and view what we create. We try many different creations over and over again until we got the idea of creating atoms. These atoms are just a new particle created in each new space that is create and had its position in space moved so it can manifest a particle moving in a circle. Over a period of time we make all these combinations of atoms and give them properties we add so eventually over millions of years of experimentation we have finally got a workable model with suns, moons, planets. That is the most basic simple model I can think of.”
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1998: The New York Post reported that U.S. President Bill Clinton has offered to help John Travolta with Scientology’s standing in Germany. “John Travolta says President Clinton offered to help him with a pet project – getting Scientology accepted as a religion in Germany – just as he was about to play a character based on the president. The movie is based on Joe Klein’s best-selling novel about a lying, womanizing Southern governor – modeled on Clinton – who is running for president.. George says the final product, set for release next month, is far more sympathetic to ‘Clinton’ than is the book. ‘You have to be dead not see that the film favors Clinton,’ admitted Travolta, who gained 20 pounds and streaked his hair gray to look presidential in the film. Travolta told writer Josh Young that just before ‘Primary Colors’ went before the cameras last April, the actor was in Washington to promote Scientology – a controversial belief Travolta and scores of other Hollywood types embrace. ‘The next day, I met with Clinton,’ Travolta told George. ‘He told me: ‘Your program sounds great. More than that, I’d really love to help you with your issue over in Germany with Scientology.’ For Travolta, Clinton reportedly went to the extraordinary length of assigning National Security Adviser Sandy Berger to be the administration’s Scientology point man. Berger briefed Travolta in the same manner he would a senior senator, George reports. A White House official said last night, ‘it is perfectly normal and logical’ for Berger to get involved in the Scientology issue because ‘it is in the general area of human rights concerns and this is something we have raised with the German government.'”
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“The idiots show up like clockwork on a Thursday, leave a couple of barely comprehensible comments and scurry away, and they’ve done their job for the week! I think Miscavige is overpaying 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: 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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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] Chicago’s big Scientology event looked like a bust: Will this city ever be ‘ideal’?
[TWO years ago] A day in the life of a pilgrim at Scientology’s spiritual mecca in Florida!
[THREE years ago] Post-Super Bowl, Scientology is on fire and will soon clear the planet
[FOUR years ago] Masterson accusers in court today seek changes to deal with Scientology ‘arbitration’ motions
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s street theater in New York: A bid to head off a 4th ‘Aftermath’ season?
[SIX years ago] PROSECUTORS PREPARE CHARGES CARRYING LIFE SENTENCE FOR DANNY MASTERSON
[SEVEN years ago] 25 years ago today: Scientology leader David Miscavige’s ‘Nightline’ appearance
[EIGHT years ago] Karen de la Carriere: Scientology is smearing me again, and this time is hitting below the belt
[NINE years ago] More secrets from Scientology’s vanished entity, Narconon International
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s $100,000 girl records a video promoting a fundraising event in California
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Spiffy Golden Era Studios Has Its Own Dentist!
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,810 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,305 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,820 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,370 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,360 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,241 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,545 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,416 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,968 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,309 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,876 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,795 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,963 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,544 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,805 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,841 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,557 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,121 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,436 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,611 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,162 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,293 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,631 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,486 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,605 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,961 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,264 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,370 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,768 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,644 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,209 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,722 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,976 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,085 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 14, 2024 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
