On August 4 we broke the news that Danny Masterson’s attorney Shawn Holley was attempting to delay his rape trial from October 11 to late January by saying she was too busy with Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer’s arbitration in Washington DC.
That led to coverage in The Daily Beast and the Los Angeles Times when one of Masterson’s accusers, who goes by Jane Doe 1, put out a statement after our story came out, and her attorneys not only said that Masterson’s trial should not be delayed, but that they planned to be in court for the scheduled August 17 hearing that would consider Holley’s motion.
With the victim’s attorneys alerted, and the press watching, Holley apparently thought better of having the matter become a public spectacle on August 17. So she requested that it be considered sooner, and on Friday the two sides appeared in Judge Charlaine Olmedo’s courtroom.
And although Holley had claimed in her motion that Deputy DA Reinhold Mueller wasn’t against a delay, he had in fact filed an opposition to her motion on August 9.
We confirmed with the court that at the moved-up hearing on Friday morning, Judge Olmedo heard Holley’s argument for why the trial should be put back, and she denied it.
The court has set October 3 for pre-trial motions, and for a jury pool to report on October 11 so jury selection can commence.
Danny Masterson’s rape trial is definitely on, and Judge Olmedo is not budging on the date. The That ’70s Show actor and Scientology celebrity is facing charges that he forcibly raped three women, all Scientologists at the time, between 2001 and 2003. He’s been charged under California’s strict “One Strike” law, and if he’s convicted of all three rapes he faces 45 years to life in prison.
We first broke the news in March 2017 that the LAPD was investigating Masterson, and he was charged by the DA’s office in June 2020. Since then he has filed a myriad of motions and petitions in order to try and get the case derailed or delayed. On June 30 Judge Olmedo denied the last of his motions to dismiss, but then on July 26 and 28 Shawn Holley filed a letter and a motion asking for a continuance.
We published both of those documents, revealing that Holley was attempting to get the trial moved to late January because she was also representing Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer in the appeal of his two-year suspension by Major League Baseball. Bauer’s 324-game suspension, announced in April, is the longest since the MLB adopted its new domestic violence policy in 2015. The LA District Attorney’s Office declined to press criminal charges against Baeur last year based on the allegations of a San Diego woman who claimed that the pitcher had sexually assaulted her. But the MLB can suspend a player even if that player isn’t charged criminally, and the league talked to at least two additional women, both in Ohio, who also made allegations against Baeur. The pitcher appealed the suspension, resulting in the arbitration.
Jane Doe 1, in her statement after our initial story came out, asked Judge Olmedo not to allow Masterson to push things back further so a baseball player could first appeal a suspension. “I hope the Court sees that the matters in this trial, the rights of the victims, and the need for finality of this important matter, trump a scheduling conflict related to baseball,” she wrote.
Judge Olmedo agreed. And now Danny Masterson has less than two months to prepare for trial with his life on the line.
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Technology Cocktail
“CLEAR CAN BE ATTAINED. And further it is being attained right this minute by dozens of Class VI preclears. It will take them months to get there but they are soaring and will tell you so. One session on it sends them the equivalent distance that ten intensives did in their early auditing. Why? Because they did the earlier auditing. The road was just a longer road. Man looks for the quick way, the one-shot way, the needle and the rocket to sudden glory. CLEAR takes now an exact progress over exact levels. And the way is not long really. But it could be a few years for some. But what’s a few years if one is bargaining for Eternity?” – L. Ron Hubbard, 1965
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Now available: Bonus for our supporters
Episode 8 of the Underground Bunker podcast has been sent out to paid subscribers, and it’s a conversation with Patty Moher about her amazing career as a Scientology spy and then her years leaking great info about the church. Meanwhile, we’ve made episodes 1 through 7 available to everyone, with Geoff Levin on Scientology’s celebrities, Pete Griffiths on running a mission, Sunny Pereira dishing secrets of Scientology’s Hollywood Celebrity Centre, Bruce Hines on the crazy life in the Sea Org, Jeffrey Augustine on recent Scientology court cases, Claire Headley exposing Tom Cruise, and Marc Headley on what it must be like for David Miscavige living in Clearwater, Florida.. Go here to get the episodes!
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“If it isn’t written it isn’t true. The only orders that affect transfers, functions, programs in an org must be issued as Executive Directives, OODs or FSOs or FBDLs or AIDES ORDERS, CBOs or FOs to be legal…Therefore if anyone tells you to change post or duties or that a function is changed on the Org Bd and cannot show it to you in a policy letter or FO or CBO, it is not true. Furthermore to follow such an unwritten or illegal order is to risk a Comm Ev for accepting illegal orders. It would be just as bad to follow an order to violate an HCOB and run some upsetting process. The reason is very plain. Policy, followed, results in a productive, comfortable post and policy not followed with verbal orders only in effect makes a cat’s dinner.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 16, 1971
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“As I’ve had some upsets and checked to find others have from noise in sessions I think it’s best if we have DOC figure out a ‘Ship Noise’ period when we can have all hands chipping and any banging and E/R compressor charging. A couple hours of this scheduled when Qual is NOT auditing would be a great help. New recruits or new members aboard are apparently unaware of areas where they shouldn’t bang and chatter. This should be part of their ship info. DOC should work this out.” — The Commodore, August 16, 1970
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“Have been visiting three Church of Scientology places around Copenhagen over the last few days. All of them dramatize the Corona Insanity. All staff go around inside and outside with masks and gloves. When we walked into one place we were told we would be given masks and gloves, which we refused. Then they refused entry. The receptionist said that all Churches of Scientology internationally had the same rules.”
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1995: Helena Kobrin announced this week that the OT portion of the Fishman materials have been sealed by Judge Harry Hupp. “This order blocks access to the Advanced Technology filed by the defendants in that case, thus foreclosing unauthorized persons from mistakenly claiming any entitlement to copy and distribute any of those materials without the permission of Religious Technology Center (RTC), the exclusive copyright licensee and trade secret owner.” This statement was verified by several a.r.s skeptics. Dick Cleek: “I just talked to ‘Valerie’ in the Federal Courthouse for the Central District of California. She said Judge Hupp ordered the Fishman case sealed yesterday afternoon. She said they had to gather up copies out of about 10 people’s hands. She was good enough to read part of the order to me, ‘sealed pending the court’s final decision’.”
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“That’s it, I’m joining Scientology tomorrow.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Trial scheduled for October 11, pretrial conference August 17.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury. Additional charges also referred to grand jury after January 5 assault while in jail.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Readiness hearing scheduled for August 22 in Los Angeles
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filing amended complaint on August 2.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place, next status hearing October 25. Scientology petitioning US Supreme Court over appellate ruling.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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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, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
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] Danny Masterson’s nutty lawsuit involving his house loan is finally kicked out of court
[TWO years ago] VIDEO: Portland unrest inspires $250,000 donation from Scientology lifer
[THREE years ago] Here’s the lawsuit against Scientology and Danny Masterson. Let’s dive into it.
[FOUR years ago] Stanley Clarke turns out to be as deep into Scientology as we feared, all these years later
[FIVE years ago] Mirriam & Saina from ‘Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath’ — The LAPD has let us down
[SIX years ago] In 1951, L. Ron Hubbard’s fellow SF writers debated him about ‘badly-written’ Dianetics
[SEVEN years ago] Passion of the Heist: The Scientology hucksters who have made this summer unforgettable
[EIGHT years ago] After a year’s delay, Mary Sue Hubbard’s house is on the market for $2.5 million
[NINE years ago] Scientologists Say the Darndest Things In Their Disconnection Letters
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s Oklahoma Nemesis, Bob Lobsinger: ‘They Lied Every Step of the Way’
[ELEVEN years ago] Ed Bryan, OT VIII, Demonstrates the Power of Scientology’s Highest Levels
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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 2,758 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,263 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,813 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,803 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,694 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,999 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,869 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,643 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,974 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,447 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,763 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,329 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,248 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,416 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,996 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,258 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,294 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,009 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,534 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 889 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,064 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,615 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,764 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,084 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,939 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,058 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,414 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,717 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,823 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,221 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,097 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,680 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,175 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,429 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,538 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 16, 2022 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, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), 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
