RIFFER: David Miscavige too busy saving Scientology from Covid to be served lawsuit

For more than a year, Scientology leader David Miscavige and his attorneys have been working hard to keep him from being served in a lawsuit filed by Danny Masterson’s rape accusers. And right from the beginning, our readers were asking whether that problem could be solved by serving the elusive Miscavige through the publication of notices in a newspaper.

We’ve learned now that Chrissie Carnell Bixler’s attorneys are beginning to pursue that angle, filing a motion asking Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steven Kleifield for approval of that process, and in the meantime they’ve filed a raft of papers about their efforts so far to serve Miscavige, and some of it is pretty interesting.

In particular, we now get to see a couple of splenetic new letters of outrage written by Miscavige’s legal attack dog, Jeffrey Riffer, whom we only recently placed as #15 in our list of the Top 25 People Enabling Scientology.

But the intrigue is not all on one side here. We’re still scratching our heads at some of the decisions made by the attorneys for Bixler, Bobette Riales, and two women going by Jane Doe who filed the lawsuit, alleging that they’ve been harassed by Miscavige, Masterson, and the Church of Scientology since they came forward to the LAPD with their rape allegations against Masterson in 2016.

In June Masterson was criminally charged with raping three of the women in incidents between 2001 and 2003, and he faces 45 years to life in prison if he’s convicted. He’s declared his innocence, and he’s accused the women of filing the civil lawsuit as a publicity stunt. With Masterson scheduled to be arraigned on September 18, the civil suit will likely go into a stay soon. But for now, it’s still active and still producing interesting documents.

Bixler’s attorney Bobby Thompson has put this filing together, which we have for you below, and it recounts the efforts to serve Miscavige since last year. Some of the decisions made by Bixler’s legal team, a national powerhouse of attorneys based mostly in the Philadelphia area, still make us quizzical. That they chose Thompson, for example, an attorney not in Los Angeles but in Burlingame, California to handle the matter until they could be admitted to the case from out of state (which took more than a year to accomplish), and then Thompson’s decision to rely on a Burlingame process server to track down the defendants in Los Angeles. That company, cleverly named “Are You Being Served?” then contracted out the work to a man name Robert Hall who has been the center of a lot of attacks by Scientology’s attorneys.

Hall tried to serve Miscavige at 6331 Hollywood Boulevard, the Hollywood Guaranty Building, which is definitely a nerve center of Scientology management, and where there’s a reception desk on the ground floor, where Hall said he left papers. The building has an office that Miscavige uses on the 11th floor, and Scientologists are told to send mail to Miscavige to that address. (Leah Remini told us that was the address she was told to send cards and letters to both David Miscavige and his wife Shelly when Leah was still a parishioner and Shelly hadn’t yet vanished.) Scientology complained loudly that Miscavige’s Religious Technology Center office is actually at 1710 Ivar Avenue — which we pointed out what actually just a different entrance to the same building.

Scientology has asked for sanctions, saying that they have video evidence that Hall didn’t do what he said he did, but most of their accusations of “fraud” have blown over already: The other defendants — the Church of Scientology, the Religious Technology Center (Scientology’s nominally controlling entity), and Celebrity Centre International — have already acknowledged being served.

Judge Kleifield has ruled that Miscavige has not yet been served, but he’s putting off for now the question of sanctions.

After Hall failed to find Miscavige, Bixler’s attorneys turned to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office, and a deputy assigned to the matter also got nowhere at 6331 Hollywood Boulevard.

But wait a minute. How was a deputy supposed to find the worldwide ecclesiastical leader of Scientology when Thompson had supplied the Sheriff’s Office with such erroneous information about Miscavige?

FIVE-FIVE?

As if.

As much as we facepalmed over that, the real treat in these documents were the angry letters from Jeffrey Riffer, which always fill us with glee.

The best of them was written by Riffer on April 1, and the outrage here is so feverish we almost reached for the smelling salts. Riffer was reacting to Thompson’s suggestion that Miscavige save everyone more wasted energy by simply signing a document and accepting service.

Sign a document? Did Thompson not realize that Miscavige was at that very moment saving the worldwide Church of Scientology from the greatest health threat of our times?

Now, in the middle of one of the world’s worst public health crises (which is getting worse as the number of deaths keep increasing), you demand that Mr. Miscavige sign a Notice of Acknowledgment. Alternatively, you threaten to again use the media as a weapon of harassment by effecting service through publication in a major local newspaper….

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Now more than ever, Mr. Miscavige’s attention is necessarily focused on the health and well-being of parishioners and staff around the world. No country or individual is immune from our public health and economic crisis. More than a quarter of all Americans (including Californians) are under mandatory orders to remain in their homes for all but essential needs. The national social distancing guidelines, and state and local government orders, have forced schools, businesses and churches to close, isolating individuals while at the same time threatening (or even destroying) their livelihoods. As the ecclesiastical leader of a major world religion, Mr. Miscavige is working non-stop to lead his parishioners and staff through this crisis.

 
Miscavige sign a document to save more court delays while a pandemic is going on? The very idea!

Riffer outdoes himself every time, we swear.

Also in the file, you’ll see that in order to prove that Miscavige does have an official address at 6331 Hollywood Blvd, the Bixler legal team paid for a report from BeenVerified on the Scientology leader.

And while the report does, in fact, name 6331 Hollywood Blvd as Miscavige’s address, it also provides his screen handle and email address — and it’s pretty obvious that they’re actually the accounts of Miscavige trolls. (The email address bounces back.) But hey, his address has ‘been verified’!

Anyway, we’ll be interested to see if Judge Kleifield gives Bixler the green light to serve Miscavige by publication. It’s about time, right?

 
Here’s the document…

Bixler v. Scientology: Supp… by Tony Ortega

 
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Source Code

“As you look over the history of Dianetics and Scientology you’ll see a cycle is in operation. We get more and more complicated, more and more complicated, more and more complicated and then suddenly we get to a new, higher level of simplicity. And then this simplicity gets complicated and more complicated and more complicated and then we get to a new, higher level of simplicity. That’s just a history of me outguessing you.” — L. Ron Hubbard, September 12, 1961

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“The world is going mad more than ever. The dwindling spiral is speeding up. ‘Reasonableness’ says: oh, no, it’s all fine. (Of course, they want you to succumb with them.) Well, it’s not all fine, at all. You see it everyday. We were given the greatest of the greatest gift, The Technology, the Observations of a man who knew how to observe and he wrote it all down. We are all brothers in arms now and there is a Call to Arms now more than ever. Is this Technology going to be passed on to the children of this world or is it all gonna be AI (Automaticity)? We know better than anyone of Automaticity. So, this is a Call to Arms and no one is exempted. We should all be united. Enough with divide & conquer. Who’s gonna Unite us? LRH Admin Tech. The Big Missing Factor in the Freezone. ”

 
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Random Howdy

“The trick for recognizing an Aussie accent is that they always sound like they’re asking a question.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Arraignment scheduled for September 18.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing is set for October 5 in White Plains, NY. Jeffrey’s is set for October 24.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29, bond raised to $350,000 on Aug 27. Prosecutors appealed denial of their motion to have bond revoked, response from defense due Sept 11, response by prosecutors on Sept 14.

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Motion for reconsideration denied on August 11
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Sept 29 (CSI/RTC demurrer against Riales, Masterson demurrer), Oct 7-19 (motions to compel arbitration)
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach bankruptcy appeal: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, awaiting verdict.

 
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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?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Hey, kids! It’s open mic night at your local Scientology spaceport!
[TWO years ago] FLORIDA IS IDEAL: Scientology ushers in glorious new civilization in country’s wang
[THREE years ago] Tonight on ‘Leah Remini’: Two witnesses detail David Miscavige’s ruthless Scientology takeover
[FOUR years ago] Steve Cannane’s Oz-flavored Scientology history ‘Fair Game’ gets a UK-US-Canada publisher
[FIVE years ago] ‘Going Clear’ wins Outstanding Documentary Emmy, also for writing, directing
[SIX years ago] Escaping from a Scientology drug rehab center: A transcript
[SEVEN years ago] MONIQUE RATHBUN’S TESTIMONY: Day One Finishes in Her Temporary Injunction Hearing
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Chooses an Odd Time to Open a “National Affairs” Office in DC
[NINE years ago] The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, No. 9: Jason Beghe

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 12, 2020 at 06:00

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