As we expected, court dates in the lawsuit filed by Danny Masterson’s accusers have been moved back because of the pandemic.
Here’s the new schedule as laid out by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steven Kleifield…
July 8 (was April 22): The Philly-based attorneys for Masterson’s accusers will get their chance to be formally be admitted to the Los Angeles court after twice Scientology has opposed their petition, most recently for very nitpicky reasons.
Aug 31-Sep 1 (was June 15-16): Hearings on the demurrers (a kind of court response) filed by Scientology and by Danny Masterson himself. In the case of Scientology, its demurrer targets Bobette Riales, the only one of the plaintiffs who is not a former Scientologist. The church is asking the court to remove her from the lawsuit, saying that her allegations are weak and that her experiences are different enough that she doesn’t belong in the same suit as the others. Masterson’s demurrer is aimed at all five of the plaintiffs, and he too says that their allegations of a campaign of harassment are without foundation and he wants out of the lawsuit. Because an amended complaint was filed by the plaintiffs, Masterson will be filing a new version of his demurrer by May 1.
Sept 4 (was June 19): Case management conference.
Oct 7-19 (was July 21-27): Scientology has filed various motions to compel arbitration against the four of the five plaintiffs (Chrissie Carnell Bixler, her husband Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2) who were former members of the church. Pointing to previous success in other cases (the Garcias in their Florida federal lawsuit, and the lawsuit brought by Leah Remini’s assistant Valerie Haney), Scientology is citing “religious” contracts signed by these former members and is asking the judge to stay the lawsuit and force these plaintiffs into Scientology’s own brand of “religious arbitration.” We expect that as these dates draw nearer, both sides will agree to consolidate them all in a single hearing.
On the criminal side, the courts shutting down only gives Los Angeles DA Jackie Lacey more excuse to do nothing, which is what she’s been doing for three years now. Seeking a third term in a run-off election in November, Lacey recently added more charges against Harvey Weinstein and we heard from a number of readers about it. But if anything we think that only makes it even less likely that she would also announce charges against Masterson: She’s adding those charges against Harvey as a way to lessen the heat she’s getting from activists about not doing anything about famous people (Masterson, Bikram Choudhury) who have been accused of sexual assault.
It might be another matter if major media would mention Masterson when they go through their “MeToo” updates, but they rarely do, and the Los Angeles Times seems to have no interest in whether Lacey does anything about the allegations against the That ’70s Show actor. (And now the Times is in big trouble, like so many other newspapers in this terrible era.)
Also, speaking of criminal matters, looks like the Hanan Islam trial, which was supposed to begin yesterday, has been moved to October 7.
And in other news…
A Los Angeles reader noticed that for some reason Scientology’s “L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition” on Hollywood Boulevard is listed on Postmates, a food delivery service. So they ordered up a helping of Shelly Miscavige.
Mark Bunker, meanwhile, noted that Scientology’s Freedom magazine has already started filing records requests with the city of Clearwater for every communication regarding his historic tenure as city councilman. (Also, here’s Mark on his attempt to get appointed to the Downtown Development Board.)
In South Africa, a state ministry put out a statement that it was canceling an agreement with Scientology after it turned out the church was using an OK to sanitize one government office into an authorization to go door-to-door and claim it was disinfecting places on behalf of the country.
Mike Rinder’s reaction on Twitter: “No surprise here. Misrepresentations are part and parcel of every Scientology ‘goodwill PR’ scheme.”
——————–
Bonus items from our tipsters
Stable data from LRH!
In Canada, Scientology continues to pretend it’s part of the solution…
In Utah, some successful “safepointing”…
In case you still can’t get enough of the Decon Seven Sanitation Team…
From Narconon to OT 8, a success story…
Webinars, webinars, and more webinars!
——————–
“Don’t, by the way, think I’m utterly mad when I talk about this, because I am afraid that the very, very best and most conservative churches of the land would rather be found dead than to disagree with me on the fact that man does have a soul. And the quest of an auditor, in working with a preclear, is to discover and rehabilitate that soul and actually help the individual to find out where heaven is. If we use those terms, of course, it becomes very comprehensible, in a past frame of reference. But heaven isn’t what you think it is, and hell is right here….But isn’t it strange that whenever I talk to somebody about this, they are much more willing to accept this concept than they were willing to accept such things as prenatal engrams and so forth. The most violent reactions I get from people, ordinarily, ‘You mean I HAVE lived before and I WILL live again?’ And you say…’Yeah, and the race has lived for an awful long time, and you could probably do so-and-so and so-and-so, and step out of your body and soar off to Venus if you wanted to.’ Used to be I’d say to somebody…’There’s such things as prenatal engrams and a child records when it’s in its mother and so forth.’ And they’d say, ‘Yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak.’ No agreement on the line. But people are agreeing with me on THIS in the most unexpected quarters, unexpected quarters. Most people are atheists because they know that the way it was drawn up and presented to them wasn’t the way it is. That’s why they’re atheists. So don’t have any great fear about this theta track and theta beingness, or even in relaying it to people, because you’re in for some surprises. They’ll sit there and they’ll say, ‘Is that so! Tell me more.'” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 15, 1952
——————–
“There appears to be one other state of being above OT that can be theoretically stated to be a True Static. So stay the course as things are about to change for the better. All of the hopes and dreams that we have worked so hard for are not only about to be realized — but surpassed.”
——————–
“The only thing standing between Scientology being viewed in the same light as FLDS, Peoples Temple or Branch Davidians by the general public is Tom Cruise and the rest of the celebs.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Jay Spina: Sentencing was set for April 3 in White Plains
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members: Trial set for October 7 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Waiting for an appellate decision from the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Hearing on motion for reconsideration set for June 17
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: May 1 (Masterson new demurrer due), July 8 (plaintiff attorneys pro hac vice), August 31-Sept 1 (CSI/RTC demurrer against Riales, Masterson demurrer), Oct 7-19 (motions to compel arbitration)
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe’s attorneys have asked for discovery, depositions (Warren McShane, Lynn Farny), April 20 hearing set (motion to compel arbitration)
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach bankruptcy appeal: Oral arguments were heard on March 11 in Jacksonville
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Amended complaint filed.
——————–
Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!
We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.
Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!
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 our weekly series. How many have you read?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] L. Ron Hubbard: Scientology will thrive when medical doctors are reined in
[TWO years ago] Scientology’s space opera ideas aren’t just for the upper levels, as one key early book shows
[THREE years ago] Scientology is No. 1 with No. 2! Or, how the Church of David Miscavige stinks up Clearwater
[FOUR years ago] Scientology rips apart families with its ‘disconnection’ policy — but why?
[FIVE years ago] Another leak of outtakes from 1997’s ‘Secret Lives’ — Scientology’s finance ‘dictator’
[SIX years ago] Jefferson Hawkins helps us understand Scientology’s L Rundowns!
[SEVEN years ago] We Need Your Help, Scientology Watchers
[EIGHT years ago] Writers of the Future, Today! Scientology Gets Its Party On
[TEN years ago] Scientology Bigwigs Get the Classic Scientology F-U
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology’s First Celebrity Defector Reveals Church Secrets
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,908 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,412 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,932 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 952 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 843 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,150 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,018 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,792 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,566 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,912 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,478 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,397 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,565 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,146 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,407 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,445 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,158 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,683 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,213 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,773 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,913 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,233 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,088 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,208 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,563 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,866 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,972 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,374 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,246 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,829 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,324 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,578 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,687 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on April 15, 2020 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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, 14 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
