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The headline to this is incorrect but the story itself is reasonably accurate.]
From the October 13, 2003 Lawyers Weekly USA
Lawyer 'Wins' Slander Suit Against Him By Church Of Scientology
By Natalie White
In the latest installment in a twisted and protracted battle, a Florida jury
ordered a lawyer to pay $4,500 to the Church of Scientology for an improper
legal move that the church said led to a wave of bad publicity.
However, attorney Kennan Dandar was jubilant when the jury read the verdict
against him since it was a far cry from the $50,000 in compensatory damages and
$2 million in punitive damages sought by the Church of Scientology.
Dandar was sued for his role as opposing counsel in a wrongful death case
against the church.
Church officials said in their lawsuit that Dandar had breached an agreement
between the church and his client - the estate of Scientologist Lisa McPherson -
to limit the defendants named in the wrongful death suit when he added
high-level church officials to the suit.
Among the church officials named was its worldwide leader David Miscavige.
Dandar saw the verdict as a victory since the judge had already ruled that he
had, in fact, breached the agreement and that the jury had to decide how much he
should pay for the violation
The jury awarded zero punitive damages, a clear rebuff of the church's demand
that he pay $2 million - the amount he was supposedly paid by a wealthy church
critic to use the wrongful death lawsuit as a way to launch a broad attack on
Scientology.
The 'Introspection Run-Down'
The wrongful death lawsuit stemmed from a traffic accident McPherson was
involved in back in 1995. According to Luke Lirot, Dandar's attorney, following
the two-car collision McPherson got out of the car, took her clothes off, and
ran to an ambulance that was nearby attending to another unrelated accident. The
ambulance took her to the nearest hospital, where doctors wanted to keep her for
observation to determine if she was a threat to herself or others. She did not
appear to be suffering from any major physical injury.
However, church officials demanded that she be released into their care, saying
it would be against the religion of Scientology for her to receive psychiatric
treatment at the hospital, Lirot said. The hospital reluctantly released her and
she was taken to the church to undergo an "introspection run-down," which Lirot
said consists in part of limiting food, drink and human contact as a way to
treat those with mental illness or those considering leaving the church.
According to the Church of Scientology International's website, Scientology's
creed states that "The study of the mind and the healing of mentally caused ills
should not be alienated from religion or condoned in non-religious fields."
The website says that Scientology, founded in the 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard, is a
growing religion that defines itself as a journey of self-discovery and the
"study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other
life." Scientology is highly critical of the medical establishment, particularly
the psychiatric world, claiming individuals can know and help themselves and
those around them without the trappings of psychiatry.
Lisa McPherson died after being cared for for 17 days at the church's
headquarters. The church argued that she died from a pulmonary embolism caused
by the traffic accident.
In the wrongful death suit, McPherson's estate argues that the church allowed
McPherson to become dehydrated and die while in its care during an
"introspection run-down." Lirot said McPherson lost considerable weight and that
her family believed she slipped into a coma and died because of inhumane and
inadequate care.
The Agreement
After McPherson's death, church officials offered Dandar a deal: They would
earmark enough money to pay a judgment if the McPherson estate won its wrongful
death suit, in return for an agreement from Dandar that the estate would not
name additional church officials or organizations in the suit.
Lirot said Dandar felt the agreement was wise at the time to prevent the church
from trying to hide assets. However, as the investigation into McPherson's death
continued, her relatives began to suspect that higher-ups knew of McPherson's
case and might also be responsible.
"He felt it was worthy of further exploration," Lirot said, explaining why
Dandar added top church officials to the suit.
This prompted the church's countersuit against Dandar for breaching the contract
and slandering the church. In a pretrial motion, Judge W. Douglas Baird ruled
that Dandar had, in fact, broken a private agreement. Once that was decided,
Lirot said the challenge was to show the jury that the church's damage requests
were overblown.
To help its case, the defense called an expert on attorneys' fees who testified
that the church's fight against adding the high-level defendants should have
cost a few thousand dollars - not the $50,000 the church claimed to have spent.
"Obviously our basic argument was, 'How can anyone rack up $50,000 for one
motion and one hearing?'" Lirot said. He said it was a relatively
straightforward matter for the church to defeat Dandar's request to add the
additional defendants.
Although the church could document its expenses, Lirot argued that the work of a
large out-of-state law firm was unnecessary because it duplicated legal work
already done by local counsel.
"Our expert talked about how it is not what you spend but what is reasonable and
necessary to spend," Lirot said.
Lirot said another key to their "victory" was a tactical decision made during
jury selection. One of the potential jurors was a local assistant public
defender. She also knew one of the attorneys working for the church.
Lirot said after careful consideration the defense decided not to ask that she
be removed from the jury.
"She could have favored my opponent but I figured that no public defender, used
to working on almost no budget, was going to think $50,000 in attorneys' fees
was reasonable," he said.
Indeed, the strategy appeared to work.
After the verdict, the woman - who became the jury forewoman - was quoted in the
St. Petersburg Times reports saying the jurors felt the legal costs were
overblown.
"We spent a lot of time looking at the bills," Kandice Brockmeyer told the
paper. "[The $4,500] is what we thought was reasonable and necessary."
Lirot said the defense may have overwhelmed the jury with paperwork.
"From my perspective, they may have been overly aggressive with their
objections, bills for legal fees, paperwork and e-mails. I think they tried to
cover so much ground, giving the jury too much to digest, that the jury couldn't
tell what anyone did," he said.
Samuel Rosen, who represented the church, said his clients are
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tsc <ptsc@nowhere.com> wrote in message news:<h7juov0c2ggd1fh2eit1eks3jchv6qdpnr@4ax.com>...
[The headline to this is incorrect but the story itself is reasonably accurate.]
From the October 13, 2003 Lawyers Weekly USA
Lawyer 'Wins' Slander Suit Against Him By Church Of Scientology
By Natalie White
In the latest installment in a twisted and protracted battle, a Florida jury
ordered a lawyer to pay $4,500 to the Church of Scientology for an improper
legal move that the church said led to a wave of bad publicity.
However, attorney Kennan Dandar was jubilant when the jury read the verdict
against him since it was a far cry from the $50,000 in compensatory damages and
$2 million in punitive damages sought by the Church of Scientology.
Dandar was sued for his role as opposing counsel in a wrongful death case
against the church.
Church officials said in their lawsuit that Dandar had breached an agreement
between the church and his client - the estate of Scientologist Lisa McPherson -
to limit the defendants named in the wrongful death suit when he added
high-level church officials to the suit.
Among the church officials named was its worldwide leader David Miscavige.
Dandar saw the verdict as a victory since the judge had already ruled that he
had, in fact, breached the agreement and that the jury had to decide how much he
should pay for the violation
The jury awarded zero punitive damages, a clear rebuff of the church's demand
that he pay $2 million - the amount he was supposedly paid by a wealthy church
critic to use the wrongful death lawsuit as a way to launch a broad attack on
Scientology.
The 'Introspection Run-Down'
The wrongful death lawsuit stemmed from a traffic accident McPherson was
involved in back in 1995. According to Luke Lirot, Dandar's attorney, following
the two-car collision McPherson got out of the car, took her clothes off, and
ran to an ambulance that was nearby attending to another unrelated accident. The
ambulance took her to the nearest hospital, where doctors wanted to keep her for
observation to determine if she was a threat to herself or others. She did not
appear to be suffering from any major physical injury.
However, church officials demanded that she be released into their care, saying
it would be against the religion of Scientology for her to receive psychiatric
treatment at the hospital, Lirot said. The hospital reluctantly released her and
she was taken to the church to undergo an "introspection run-down," which Lirot
said consists in part of limiting food, drink and human contact as a way to
treat those with mental illness or those considering leaving the church.
According to the Church of Scientology International's website, Scientology's
creed states that "The study of the mind and the healing of mentally caused ills
should not be alienated from religion or condoned in non-religious fields."
The website says that Scientology, founded in the 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard, is a
growing religion that defines itself as a journey of self-discovery and the
"study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other
life." Scientology is highly critical of the medical establishment, particularly
the psychiatric world, claiming individuals can know and help themselves and
those around them without the trappings of psychiatry.
Lisa McPherson died after being cared for for 17 days at the church's
headquarters. The church argued that she died from a pulmonary embolism caused
by the traffic accident.
In the wrongful death suit, McPherson's estate argues that the church allowed
McPherson to become dehydrated and die while in its care during an
"introspection run-down." Lirot said McPherson lost considerable weight and that
her family believed she slipped into a coma and died because of inhumane and
inadequate care.
The Agreement
After McPherson's death, church officials offered Dandar a deal: They would
earmark enough money to pay a judgment if the McPherson estate won its wrongful
death suit, in return for an agreement from Dandar that the estate would not
name additional church officials or organizations in the suit.
Lirot said Dandar felt the agreement was wise at the time to prevent the church
from trying to hide assets. However, as the investigation into McPherson's death
continued, her relatives began to suspect that higher-ups knew of McPherson's
case and might also be responsible.
"He felt it was worthy of further exploration," Lirot said, explaining why
Dandar added top church officials to the suit.
This prompted the church's countersuit against Dandar for breaching the contract
and slandering the church. In a pretrial motion, Judge W. Douglas Baird ruled
that Dandar had, in fact, broken a private agreement. Once that was decided,
Lirot said the challenge was to show the jury that the church's damage requests
were overblown.
To help its case, the defense called an expert on attorneys' fees who testified
that the church's fight against adding the high-level defendants should have
cost a few thousand dollars - not the $50,000 the church claimed to have spent.
"Obviously our basic argument was, 'How can anyone rack up $50,000 for one
motion and one hearing?'" Lirot said. He said it was a relatively
straightforward matter for the church to defeat Dandar's request to add the
additional defendants.
Although the church could document its expenses, Lirot argued that the work of a
large out-of-state law firm was unnecessary because it duplicated legal work
already done by local counsel.
"Our expert talked about how it is not what you spend but what is reasonable and
necessary to spend," Lirot said.
Lirot said another key to their "victory" was a tactical decision made during
jury selection. One of the potential jurors was a local assistant public
defender. She also knew one of the attorneys working for the church.
Lirot said after careful consideration the defense decided not to ask that she
be removed from the jury.
"She could have favored my opponent but I figured that no public defender, used
to working on almost no budget, was going to think $50,000 in attorneys' fees
was reasonable," he said.
Indeed, the strategy appeared to work.
After the verdict, the woman - who became the jury forewoman - was quoted in the
St. Petersburg Times reports saying the jurors felt the legal costs were
overblown.
"We spent a lot of time looking at the bills," Kandice Brockmeyer told the
paper. "[The $4,500] is what we thought was reasonable and necessary."
Lirot said the defense may have overwhelmed t
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On 17 Oct 2003 05:35:10 -0700, KenMilhone@yahoo.com (Ken Milhone) wrote:
Thanks ptsc,
So no trial date has been set yet? And to think this was supposed to
go to trial in June, 2002 wasn't it?
Right. But Judge Beach, in his infinite wisdom, feels it is more important to
hold a hearing on the ninth or tenth frivolous, duplicative motion to disqualify
Ken Dandar than to set a trial date.
Kudos to the Dandar Brothers and Luke Lirot for their courage and
perseverance in spite of all the BS with which the COS, with the help
of Robert Minton, Jr. and Stacy Brooks, have tried to railroad them
and cover up the wrongful death of Lisa McPherson.
Indeed.
--
Home of the Buttersquash Conspiracy http://buttersquash.net
Save America. Vote Dean. http://www.deanforamerica.com
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On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 13:26:20 GMT, ptsc <ptsc@nowhere.com> wrote:
On 17 Oct 2003 05:35:10 -0700, KenMilhone@yahoo.com (Ken Milhone) wrote:
Right. But Judge Beach, in his infinite wisdom, feels it is more important to
hold a hearing on the ninth or tenth frivolous, duplicative motion to disqualify
Ken Dandar than to set a trial date.
Judges, in this case especially, are forced, by the litigious
conduct of scientology, to always show that they made the effort
demanded by the defendant, in order to avoid any additonal loopholes
that could be used for appeals.
Arnie Lerma
Kudos to the Dandar Brothers and Luke Lirot for their courage and
perseverance in spite of all the BS with which the COS, with the help
of Robert Minton, Jr. and Stacy Brooks, have tried to railroad them
and cover up the wrongful death of Lisa McPherson.
Indeed.
I'd prefer to die speaking my mind than live fearing to speak.
The only thing that always works in scientology are its lawyers
The internet is the liberty tree of the new millennium
Secrets are the mortar binding lies as bricks together into prisons for the mind
Support http://www.lermanet.com - mentioned 4 January 2000 in
The Washington Post's - 'Reliable Source' column re "Scientologist with no HEAD"
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On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 14:28:14 GMT, arnie lerma - www.lermanet.com
<alerma@nospam.bellatlantic.net> wrote:
On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 13:26:20 GMT, ptsc <ptsc@nowhere.com> wrote:
Judges, in this case especially, are forced, by the litigious
conduct of scientology, to always show that they made the effort
demanded by the defendant, in order to avoid any additonal loopholes
that could be used for appeals.
Arnie Lerma
The worst nightmare scenario, would be for a Judge to not hear one
of scientology's silly motions, and then have that refusal used for an
appeal, that forces the appeallate court to remand the issue for a new
trial.
At this time it might be worthwhile to re-read the summary done by
Michael Flynn, in the 82 clearwater hearings, about what went on
during the FDA versus Article or device ( e-meter) litigation.
The original trial decision was set aside on appeal and the whole
nasty mess was sent back for a new trial....
http://www.lermanet.com/82cwcommission/5-001-144.txt
"one of
the last exhibits, perhaps, the last I put before the
Commission was the case of Article or Device, in which
the Article or Device case said, in essence: In any
publication in which Dianetics, auditing, Scientology, at
cetera, at cetera is referred to, in eleven-point leaded
type, you have to put in that all those things are not
capable of curing any disease, pre venting any disease, at
cetera, et cetera. And I won't dig up the exhibit from
that time, but that's basicallywhat it says And eleven-point
leaded type is large type.
MR. CALDERBANK: Is that disclaimer on there?
MR. FLYNN: There is no disclaimer in this publication.
Mr. Johnson mentioned the Kristofferson case in
Oregon and he said that -- one of my cases. I have nothing
to do with the Kristofferson case. That case started before
I ever heard of the Church of Scientology.
5-51
I have absolutely noting to do -- and if I was sworn in
by Mrs. Williams, I would so state under oath that I have
nothing to do with it.
The Kristofferson case has been reversed and, remanded
for a new trial, based on the Article or Device case, which
Mr. Johnson did not tell you. He also didn't tell you that
the Article or Device case was first tried before a jury
and the Scientologists Lost, and though I give their
lawyers and their ability to hire lawyers I give
that whole program incredible credit, because they get
very, very talented lawyers that they pay large sums of
money to who do a tremendous job. They succeeded in
getting that first Article or Device case reversed and
remanded for a new trial.And there was a second
trial, and the Scientologists lost again. And it went
back up to the Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia for the second time, and they lost
again. And the warning that was one of the last exhibits
that I --the judgment, including the warning, was one of
the last exhibits that I filed before you in these
proceedings- was the end result of that case. So, that
case, through the talents of their counsel, was also
reversed and remanded and retried.
And Nathan Dodell, the individual for the government who
participated
5-52
in those proceedings, could give you what -- the five
years of horror he lived through tolitigate those two cases,
one case but two trials. And, perhaps, someone on this
Commission should contact Nathan Dodell in Washington,
D.C. and ask him what he went through to litigate
Article or Device. The Article or Device case is of
obvious significance to this Commission and to the
State of Florida. And as you have seen in something
published this morning, there was no such disclaimer.
I suggest to you the deception continued right up to
the publication of this in the Clearwater Sun edition
this morning and right up to the failure of the Church
of Scientology to present any person before you under
oath to answer your questions. That is alsoa form of
deception in conjunction with this type of a publication."
continues here:
http://www.lermanet.com/82cwcommission/5-001-144.txt
Kudos to the Dandar Brothers and Luke Lirot for their courage and
perseverance in spite of all the BS with which the COS, with the help
of Robert Minton, Jr. and Stacy Brooks, have tried to railroad them
and cover up the wrongful death of Lisa McPherson.
I'd prefer to die speaking my mind than live fearing to speak.
The only thing that always works in scientology are its lawyers
The internet is the liberty tree of the new millennium
Secrets are the mortar binding lies as bricks together into prisons for the mind
Support http://www.lermanet.com - mentioned 4 January 2000 in
The Washington Post's - 'Reliable Source' column re "Scientologist with no HEAD"
I'd prefer to die speaking my mind than live fearing to speak.
The only thing that always works in scientology are its lawyers
The internet is the liberty tree of the new millennium
Secrets are the mortar binding lies as bricks together into prisons for the mind
Support http://www.lermanet.com - mentioned 4 January 2000 in
The Washington Post's - 'Reliable Source' column re "Scientologist with no HEAD"
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