What's new

Rathbun vs Scientology/Miscavige, et. al -- Preliminary Hearing - Media Reports

JBWriter

Happy Sapien
The definitive thread to read/review about the 'goings on' at the Preliminary Hearing in the matter of Monique "Mosey" Rathbun v. Scientology/Miscavige/RTC/etc. is right here at ESMB: http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthre...or-harrassment&p=836569&viewfull=1#post836569

The definitive media source for excellent coverage about most everything related to this important legal case, including the Preliminary Hearing, is at The Underground Bunker blog at this link: http://tonyortega.org/2013/09/12/mo...finishes-in-her-temporary-injunction-hearing/

For ESMBers and those who lurk/learn here, this thread is intended as a place to post media reports/articles about this first phase of the case.


Here's a link to a news story from KHOU's Stasia Willson: http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news...goes-before-Comal-County-Judge-223546121.html


Harassment case involving the Church of Scientology goes before judge

(All red highlights that follow are from me -- explanation for doing so found below the quoted portions.)

Excerpts:

COMAL COUNTY, Texas -- A case involving alleged human harassment is going before a Comal County judge.

A Bulverde woman has filed a lawsuit against Scientology leader David Miscavige and Operatives and Organizations of Scientology.

The plaintiff in the case, Monique Rathbun, is married to former Scientology Executive Marty Rathbun, who blew the whistle on the church and turned into an outspoken critic.

The two-day hearing is designed to determine whether a temporary injunction against the head of the church should be made permanent.

For more than three yeas, Rathbun claims the Church of Scientology International and its leader Miscavige with the Religious Technology Center, RTC, shattered the privacy and tranquility of her family's life in south Texas.

"This case is about the intentional premeditated harassment carried out by the defendants against the plaintiff Monique Rathbun. Should the temporary restraining order protecting Ms. Rathbun, should it be extended into a temporary injunction, these defendants subject to jurisdiction here in Texas," said Plaintiff Attorney Ray Jeffery.

Rathbun said Miscavige and the Church of Scientology International are responsible for constant surveillance, face-to-face confrontations, intimidation, insults and harassment of her family, friends and coworkers as well as humiliating nasty pranks.


Rathbun also said that the church and RTC interfered with her and her husbands ability to make a living, claims the defense attorneys deny.

Rathbun claims she and her family moved from Corpus Christi last year to Bulverde in hopes of escaping the alleged harassment, but soon they learned they were being watched from an RV with a camera set up. The defense claims they had nothing to do with the surveillance.

"She's entitled to make her case. She's entitled to demonstrate and get recovery from those who violated her rights as they did but that's Mr. Miscavige," said Attorney Lamont Jefferson.
The defense team stressed on Thursday that Miscavige is solely concerned with the church, but that Scientology has a right to protect its belief system, and that the church took no illegal action in how it dealt with the Rathbun family.

Rathbun also seeks $1 million in damages as part of her legal action.

Yes, a few typos/grammatical errors/dropped words. And I wouldn't give those forgivable mistakes a second-thought were it not for the clumsy/clunky writing style -- and rather sketchy slant of this hastily-uploaded piece. (Uploaded @ 6:03 today, per the article.)

How many actual reporters get a quote from an attorney so very wrong?

And... "alleged human harassment" ?
Um...what?

Read or don't - it's here and YMMV.

JB.
 

sallydannce

Gold Meritorious Patron
Wow - same as the OP but a different link.

[Edit: The article excerpted in the OP/Post #1 is a transcript of sorts to the video footage of Ms. Willson's aired coverage of the day's events @ the court house.]

Thanks, Sally!

JB

Will be interesting to watch media unfold on this one in next 12 - 24 hrs. The word "viral" keeps popping into my head. :)
 

Anonycat

Crusader
Will be interesting to watch media unfold on this one in next 12 - 24 hrs. The word "viral" keeps popping into my head. :)

One of the amazing things about the cult, is their consistent and horrible crimes. So, every book is of great, great value. Every whistle-blower, everyone who speaks out breaking their silence. It is liberating, and for the good of all. Yet, this signature trait of the cult, makes every court case and every book, a matter of global interest. This has been going on like dominoes falling, and on the good side, the dominoes will eventually run out. On the bad side, I feel a moment of pain when they spend millions or tens of millions on a stalking, and pay their private sector staffing in the stalking and legal side. That $XX,XXX,XXX was someone's donation for something other than that. I just had to vent. The whole thing is sick, and now people will know Monique and her story. I am very glad about that.
 

sallydannce

Gold Meritorious Patron
One of the amazing things about the cult, is their consistent and horrible crimes. So, every book is of great, great value. Every whistle-blower, everyone who speaks out breaking their silence. It is liberating, and for the good of all. Yet, this signature trait of the cult, makes every court case and every book, a matter of global interest. This has been going on like dominoes falling, and on the good side, the dominoes will eventually run out. On the bad side, I feel a moment of pain when they spend millions or tens of millions on a stalking, and the private sector of their stalking and legal staffing. That $XX,XXX,XXX was someone's donation for something other than that. I just had to vent. The whole thing is sick, and now people will know Monique and her story.

Yep. There's something thoroughly non-sustainable happening to the cult as more and more people break their silence. It was silence and secrets that were the glue. And the glue has melted.

Like you, I feel pain as I watch this circus, yet again, going under the microscope. Real people have suffered at the hands of the cults madness. A real imperfectly perfect woman (Monique) has been put through a living hell and the deluded, deceived, parishioners ignorantly pay for the legal counsel to defend the bullshit.

It is sick! Keep venting. :)
 

Anonycat

Crusader
Yep. There's something thoroughly non-sustainable happening to the cult as more and more people break their silence. It was silence and secrets that were the glue. And the glue has melted.

Like you, I feel pain as I watch this circus, yet again, going under the microscope. Real people have suffered at the hands of the cults madness. A real imperfectly perfect woman (Monique) has been put through a living hell and the deluded, deceived, parishioners ignorantly pay for the legal counsel to defend the bullshit.

It is sick! Keep venting. :)

I think I understated how strongly I feel that those hurt by the cult should be properly compensated. And I encourage any and all to step up and make their day in court too.

As far as my other vent, I would say that the cult of scientology could - theoretically - appear to have a pulse with the money they have, and the few thousand client-scientologists they have left. But, without new public/raw meat, the Orgs and Missions have no stats and would fail. The symptom of this is, all the tiny, off-the-path offices they downsize to. I feel that trend is an indication of the catastrophic failure of the cult.

As we see, Org buildings are being sold, and the money - taken. They got about $20,000,000 in the past week or two, on the sale of 2 buildings. I also feel that this trend is an indication of things to come.
 

JBWriter

Happy Sapien
New story just filed from the Tampa Bay Times by Joe Childs...

"Wife of Scientology critic details alleged harassment"

Excerpts:

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — All Monique and Marty Rathbun had to do was show themselves, and trouble would follow.

Walk down the front steps of their home. Take out the trash. Sit on their back deck. Climb into their pickup. A group of Scientologists called the "Squirrel Busters'' were always there, taunting, pointing cameras at them, telling Marty Rathbun to stop what he was doing. They often rolled up in a golf cart, coming from a rented house down the street.

And they kept it up for 199 days, until September 2011, Monique Rathbun told a Texas courtroom Thursday as testimony opened in her lawsuit alleging that Scientology leader David Miscavige directed a three-year intimidation campaign against her husband that ricocheted and harmed her as well.

"Every time we left our house, any time we went out the door, here they came in golf carts,'' Monique Rathbun said during testimony before Comal County judge Dib Waldrip.

She also said she believes the church tried to drive a wedge between her and husband using other tactics — private investigators calling on friends and family, a sex toy anonymously sent to her workplace and surveillance cameras installed recently in an undeveloped lot next to their new home, a remote house outside San Antonio. The Rathbuns say they moved there to get away from church operatives.

Discovering those cameras was the last straw, Monique Rathbun testified as about 20 friends and former Scientologists listened.

But were the Squirrel Busters invading a homeowner's privacy in confronting the Rathbuns? Or were they exercising their First Amendment rights, protesting where they believed the practice of Scientology was being corrupted by improper delivery?

On cross examination of Rathbun, church attorney Les Strieber III asked her several questions that may have hinted at the church's defense strategy.

She acknowledged no church representative physically assaulted her or her husband. No one trespassed on their property.
Even though she saw cameras pointed at her and her husband — at their house and at visitors to their home — she has not seen photos taken by those cameras.

Streiber was part of a large team of lawyers representing the seven defendants Rathbun is suing: Miscavige, two church entities, three private investigators and one of the Squirrel Busters.

The two-day hearing before Waldrip seeks to determine whether a temporary injunction against Miscavige should be made permanent.
San Antonio lawyer Lamont A. Jefferson, representing Miscavige, said the leader's attention is trained solely on Scientology's ecclesiastical matters.

He said the plaintiff's goal was to depose Miscavige, and that such an action would run afoul of religious freedom protections in the First Amendment. Those protections prevent civil courts from intruding into church governance, he said.

Jefferson also argued that Monique Rathbun could continue her lawsuit with the Church of Scientology International as a defendant, not Miscavige.

The church has "sufficient assets to address any damages she claims she has suffered as a result of this supposed investigation," Jefferson said.

Here's a link* to the online article: http://www.tampabay.com/news/scient...t-church-legal-team-shows-up-in-force/2141406

(*Note: The link seems to have the prior headline, not the newest headline, so the link may change.)

JB
 
Last edited:

sallydannce

Gold Meritorious Patron
Since there are more OT VIII's on ESMB than on the Co$, everyone start postulating. On the count of three - one, two, POSTULATE!!!!!

lol. I'm gonna rehab my ash-tray intention thing...just for the hell of it. :omg:

"Dance! Damn ya! Move! Sit down on that chair! Touch the fucking wall would ya!!! Fish swim! Birds? Start flying!!!"

Oh dear, the programming is all scrambled. :biggrin:
 

NoName

A Girl Has No Name
lol. I'm gonna rehab my ash-tray intention thing...just for the hell of it. :omg:

"Dance! Damn ya! Move! Sit down on that chair! Touch the fucking wall would ya!!! Fish swim! Birds? Start flying!!!"

Oh dear, the programming is all scrambled. :biggrin:

Do birds fly? Thank you.

Do fish swim? Thank you.

Do cult shill lawyers fail? Thank you.
 

Anonycat

Crusader
Since there are more OT VIII's on ESMB than on the Co$, everyone start postulating. On the count of three - one, two, POSTULATE!!!!!

q0l5.jpg
 

Anonycat

Crusader
lol. I'm gonna rehab my ash-tray intention thing...just for the hell of it. :omg:

"Dance! Damn ya! Move! Sit down on that chair! Touch the fucking wall would ya!!! Fish swim! Birds? Start flying!!!"

Oh dear, the programming is all scrambled. :biggrin:

In Scotland, we had to use haggis.

1fs5.jpg
 

JBWriter

Happy Sapien
Does it seem strange to anyone else that, so far, none of the news articles/video that have appeared on the net generated on news-only sites indicate any attempt made by a reporter to ask the private investigator ("PI") defendants even one question?

Even if the reporter asks and the response is "no comment" or "speak with my lawyer" -- doesn't such an exchange usually get reported somewhere in the body of the story?

I'd very much like any of the reporters covering this hearing fr those same news-only outlets to simply point-blank ask a PI defendant, "Hey, did you sign any agreement(s) with Co$ in the last few weeks?" -- and whatever the response provided, I'd like to see both the q & a responsibly included in the news report.

From a practical standpoint, if I'm the 'top banana' and there's a few underlings down below who can connect me with criminal activity, I'm going to ensure those underlings are the happiest...and quietest...underlings in history. If I'm a reporter trying to understand the theory of such a connection while covering a prelim hearing, then I'm going to ask that type of question to the individual(s) most likely to have information -- the PI defendants.

Like everyone else, I expect a wide array of questions will be directed at each of the name defendants during their depositions, should the case continue on track, but the credentialed journalists reporting on the story for traditional news-only outlets should also be lobbing questions at this point.

I appreciate the MSM coverage and hope it continues, obviously. What concerns me is that the news-only reporters might be deviating from their standard reporting practice(s) because Co$/scientology is involved. Such deviation, if rooted in fear, does a disservice to all -- reporters and readers alike.

How will you know if you don't ask? :confused2:

JB
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter

JBWriter

Happy Sapien
Just in from the San Antonio Express-News, by John MacCormack...


"Woman Asks Judge To Keep Scientology From Harassing Her And Her Husband"
(Link to article here: http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Woman-asks-judge-to-keep-Scientology-from-4810637.php )

Excerpts:

NEW BRAUNFELS - A temporary restraining order against the Church of Scientology, its leader David Miscavige and others remained in effect Thursday after four hours of testimony by a woman who sought court protection from harassment and surveillance by the church.

“Having received opening statements and some testimony, (the restraining order) will be extended for some reasonable amount of time,” District Judge Dib Waldrip said at the close of a hearing here Thursday.

On the stand Thursday, she described mistreatment that ranged from months of nearly daily public confrontations by a group known as “The Squirrel Busters,” to hate campaigns against her on the Internet, to sex toys sent to her at work.

Late last year, she said, she and her husband moved from the Texas Coast to a secluded house near Bulverde to try to find peace and privacy, but the respite was short-lived.

The final straw, she said, came in July when they discovered a surveillance camera in the woods behind their house.

“My first response was, we've got to go, but we can't just keep running. At some point we have the right to privacy,” she testified.

She filed suit Aug. 16, claiming the defendants have intentionally inflicted emotional distress and invaded her privacy, among other things. Her lawyer, Ray Jeffrey, said the author of the campaign against her is Miscavige, the church's supreme leader, with whom Mark Rathbun worked closely for two decades.

“Our basic premise is there is really one man behind this harassment of Mrs. Rathbun,” he said in his opening statement. “He (Miscavige) micro-manages matters related to perceived enemies of the church.”

As a measure of the high importance of the case to Scientology, more than a dozen lawyers defending the church appeared in court Thursday, along with a high church official from California.

Keeping Miscavige from being pulled into the case appeared to be a key objective. Still pending is his challenge to the jurisdiction of the Texas court over him, a resident of California.


THIS reporter actually read the documents filed thus far in the case. Bravo, John MacCormack! :clap:

JB
 

lotus

stubborn rebel sheep!
excerpt said:
Keeping Miscavige from being pulled into the case appeared to be a key objective. Still pending is his challenge to the jurisdiction of the Texas court over him, a resident of California.

So Oatee and powerfull - E.X.A.C.T.E.L.Y as his mentor was
So terrified to appear in court and respond to very simple questions......
about their so E.T.H.I.C.A.L Ecclesiastic behavior\orders...

Pathetic!
 

Smurf

Gold Meritorious SP
Did anyone consider the racial component in the hearings? Mosey Rathbun is African-American. Of the 15 Scientoilogy attorneys, only one is African-America & was the one that was front & center today. The cult has their token black man on their team... they should be so proud. The fact that he was earning a bundle of legal fees from this doesn't mean we can't call Lamont Jefferson out for selling out his integrity & playing the race card against a fellow African-America, in return for alot of cash.

jefferson_lamont_444x300.jpg


Lamont's brother is Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texa...-luncheon-honoring-extraordinary-lawyers.html

http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texa...las-jefferson-father-of-chief-justice-wa.html
 
Top