Scientology litigation has really been heating up lately. Luis and Rocio Garcia filed two new motions in court this week as they continue to press Tampa federal Judge James Whittemore to raise questions about the Scientology internal arbitration he compelled the Irvine, California couple to go through in October.
The church, meanwhile, just filed a 600-page motion in its new federal lawsuit against Laura DeCrescenzo, asking for summary judgment to kill her 9-year forced-abortion lawsuit in L.A. Superior Court. The church wants a March 29 hearing on its motion, but we’re told that one later in April is more likely as that federal action comes to a head.
The Garcias filed their lawsuit against the Church of Scientology in 2013 for what they claim were fraudulent acts to convince them to donate hundreds of thousands for the church’s building projects. Whittemore sided with Scientology, which argued that the Garcias were bound by contract to take their grievances to Scientology’s internal arbitration — which the church admitted had never actually taken place before. Whittemore stayed the Garcias’ lawsuit and compelled the couple to undergo the two-day arbitration in Los Angeles, which the Garcias have called a farce. (The church arbitrating panel awarded them about $18,000, but the couple refused it.)
Both sides have now submitted filings about the results of the arbitration which differ pretty radically about what went down in Los Angeles. And now the Garcias have submitted additional documents which make two requests of Judge Whittemore…
1. The Garcias are asking permission to submit a reply to Scientology’s latest response.
We thought it was interesting that the Garcias’ motion mentions a document Scientology recently submitted that we also found pretty remarkable. It was the actual instructions that “International Justice Chief” Mike Ellis gave the arbitrating panel, which included some of the wackiest Scientologese we’ve seen in a while.
The Garcias tell Judge Whittemore that until the church submitted that document, they hadn’t seen it before, and it raises questions about how much Ellis coached the arbitrating panel — something Whittemore had warned Scientology not to do.
Is the judge interested enough to haul everyone in to his courtroom to ask questions about it? Sure would be fun for us observers. But so far, this judge has expressed no desire to put Scientology on the spot about its internal matters, even if it means that a “church” gets away with fraud.
Meanwhile, we’ve been telling you that after 9 years of fighting in a California state court over Laura DeCrescenzo’s forced-abortion claims — which has an August trial date for later this year — the Church of Scientology is characteristically trying a Hail Mary toss with a federal lawsuit against Laura it filed late last year. The church argues that when Laura’s case was temporarily removed to federal court in 2009 and one of her claims was dismissed, the rest of the lawsuit should have been dismissed at that point and not sent back to state court.
Laura has already filed a motion to dismiss this federal gambit, but the church is now asking for summary judgment and has submitted a 600-page filing asking for a March 29 hearing. It’s basically just a restatement of what was in its complaint, that the federal court should step in and kill Laura’s 9-year state lawsuit.
We’re told that as a result of Laura’s motion to dismiss and Scientology’s motion for summary judgment, there will likely be a hearing in April that should take care of this federal action one way or the other. If Laura prevails, then it’s on to her August state trial — unless Scientology can come up with yet another way to delay her day in court.
Here’s the Garcias’ motion asking for an evidentiary hearing…
Garcia v. Scientology: Motion for Evidentiary Hearing by Tony Ortega on Scribd
And here’s the Garcias’ request to respond to Scientology’s latest reply…
Garcia v. Scientology: Leave to Reply by Tony Ortega on Scribd
And here’s Scientology’s motion for summary judgment in its federal lawsuit against Laura…
Scientology v. DeCrescenzo (Federal) Motion for Summary Judgment by Tony Ortega on Scribd
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 3, 2018 at 07:00
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Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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
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