re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation ^^Noice... emphasis mine - hawt diggity dawgs, nao unleash the hounds!
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation There should've been no need for this in the first place.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation I wonder if the Tampa Tribune is going to have an update on this, since the motion was in the news last week: Dispute flares again between lawyer and Scientology
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation So the cult loses its favorite legal ploy, delay, delay, delay, until the plaintiff runs out of resources. Huzzah! Every day is a merry day with Judge Merryday!
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Can the federal court be asisted in any additional way ? Federal court rocks.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation There are some recent developments, none promising, but all which bear watching. It's all somewhat confusing, involving as many different courts as it does, so I'll first attempt to make sense of things up to this point, in the hopes of stemming inevitable questions. Attorney Ken Dandar brought a wrongful death suit on behalf of the estate of Kyle Brennan in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against defendants CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., DENISE MISCAVIGE GENTILE, GERALD GENTILE, and THOMAS BRENNAN. Attorneys for defendants have sought to force Ken Dandar to withdraw from the case. While it is not entirely clear by what basis it is seeking Dandar's withdrawal, my educated guess is that it pertains to an existing but undisclosed agreement between Dandar and FLAG, and/or a product of mediation or an order, perhaps arising out of the Lisa McPherson case. Since the terms of any hypothetical agreement, mediation or order isn't discussed in any of the available papers, it's not presently possible to address the merits of Scientology's argument as to why/whether Dandar must withdraw. What we do know is that FLAG went to Florida state court to make the argument that Dandar needs to withdraw from the federal case, and the state court agreed, ordering Dandar to withdraw. In order to comply with the state court order (which was also appealed), Dandar moved to withdraw [PDF] from the federal suit, which withdrawal the federal court denied. Dandar argued that his withdrawal was involuntary and his withdrawal would prejudice his client, the estate, given his experience in litigating against Scientology, and the understandable disinterest from other attorneys in litigating against Scientology. Dandar's withdrawal would most likely end the case, which is what FLAG has wanted all along. As noted, the federal district court saw through it and denied Dandar's withdrawal motion, which kept him on the case. This brings us up to date. --- According to recently filed documents in the federal case, Scientology sought and received an order of civil contempt against Dandar in state court (the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida). Dandar appealed, but the state appeals court apparently issued and then dismissed a stay of the contempt order, which means that Dandar is being fined $1,000 each day he fails to withdraw from the Brennan federal case, even while the contempt order is on appeal. Dandar is attempting to get a hearing date in state court to stay the contempt order until the appeal is resolved, but Dandar alleges that FLAG lawyers aren't cooperating (surprise) in agreeing to a hearing date. This Tuesday, a hearing as to whether Dandar is guilty of criminal contempt will be heard before Judge Beach, which hearing stems from the aforementioned as-yet-unidentified basis/bases. Yes, Scientology is seeking to have Ken Dandar jailed for failing to withdraw from the Kyle Brennan wrongful death suit from which the federal court prohibited Dandar's withdrawal. Frighteningly, the state court appears ready to do this, if the trend thus far holds. Ken Dandar's motion in federal court for an emergency injunction to "prohibit enforcement of a state order or conduct a hearing on the state court order" can be read here: [PDF] Scientology's opposition to Dandar's emergency injunction motion can be read here: [PDF] It's not clear to me what federal court will do with this. Dandar doesn't brief the precise issue, which I would bet is unique, extensively and my initial read on Scientology's brief is that it's somewhat disingenuous as to its representation of the law. I'll try to chime in later.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation What a confusing mess. Could plaintiff even find another attorney to go against the cult? Perhaps that will come into play. Thanks for the update.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation State Court is treading on Federal Toes. The State judge could get his ass thrown in prison if he's not careful. Fedzilla will jealously guard its territory.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation I do not know why the federal court doesn't tell the Florida state courts "NO U" considering, from what it sounds like, the Fed Court said it before when Dandar tried to withdraw. According to US Law, Federal trumps state law. So the Florida Courts shouldn't be able to do anything IF the Federal court said something.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Kyle's mother could not get anyone else to take the case. Ken Dander is her only hope. She said she died the day Kyle died. She has suffered an almost unimaginable loss in part because of the policies and practices of organized scientology. Organized scientology got her into deposition this summer and did everything they could IMO to break her. She was in tears but she did not break. Now they are trying every dirty trick in the book to ruin Ken Dander utterly as per exact Hubbard policy on that. They know that if they ruin Ken or at least get him off the case they will have "won". Their cruelty knows no bounds as "winning" to them is being able to hide from their responsibilities in Kyle's death. Meanwhile Kyle's mother desperately tries to find any form of justice and organized scientology once again tries to use their money to hide behind the law and religious cloaking. Here are two sites created by/for Kyle's mother to honor Kyle: Kyle Brennan I cannot speak with her or read these sites without being overcome with sorrow for her loss. To all those seeking to avoid legal responsibility for what you have done here I say you may or may not "win" this case but Karma will not be kind to you. It is most certainly time for organized scientology to get out of loves way. The world will be a better place when it ceases to exist. For Kyle! God bless you. May the reckoning to come be swift and may it be thorough. May no more children be lost to this abusive and uncaring cult.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Denise "Miscavige" is David Miscavige's twin sister. She was deposed in this case this summer. She is one of those being sued by Kyle Brennan's estate under her current married name "Gentile". Googling will show what her alleged involvement is.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Many anons and ex's are familiar with the heart of these words from Warren. I hope Dandar is able to keep this in mind and finds value in doing something worthwhile.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Don't federal and state courts ever communicate with each other to avoid messes like this? State court: Hey, you can't work on that ferderal case Federal court: Yes you can, it's in our court. State court: No you can't or we'll fine you $50,000 plus $1000 a day. Attorney: Will you two sort it out coz I'm all like "wtf?" This has WWP e-lawyers confoosed. brb Shatner.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation In the McPherson settlement agreement, the attorneys for the scientology crime syndicate slipped a vague sentence in stating that both parties would "disengage". A state of Florida magistrate has spun it to mean what the crime syndicate attorneys want, the Federal Judge sees through this tactic which has strong overtones of obstruction of justice, issuance of a judicial ruling outside of a judge's jurisdiction, and issuing a fraudulent security. (tl, will not go into the legal basis for that here) The state magistrate may find himself in state prison. I suspect Ken Dandar will ultimately prevail, and the scientology crime syndicate will ultimately fail.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation God I so want you to be right! Do you think Dendar has the financial and mental resources to keep on the fight?
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Is this definitely what it's about? Can you provide a ref or link that Tikk might peruse?
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation State vs. Federal jurisdiction questions can get pretty complicated, and this is no different. In fact it's practically an exam question there are so many competing factors to navigate, and since one of those factors is unknown at this point (although likely has something to do with Scientology's apparent belief that Dandar cannot sue them, an agreement which would appear to violate public policy), I'm not going to attempt to analyze it in significant depth. The state and federal interests differ and can't be negotiated by the courts without prejudicing the parties, they have to be litigated. Here, the state's interest is enforcing whatever it is Scientology is attempting to enforce which they believe Ken Dandar is bound by. The federal interest is in ensuring that the parties appearing before it are adequately represented, and ensuring the integrity of its own rules and ability to mange its affairs. If we knew more facts, the answer might be easier--if Dandar was convicted of murder, the state's interest in incarcerating him would likely trump the Brennan estate's interest in choosing its own counsel. But I'm pretty sure that whatever it is that Scientology is attempting to enforce is only being attempted in order to prevent and confound the Brennan estate's interest in choosing its own counsel, a fact that may or may not have any legal bearing on either proceeding. We'll see.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Is there any matter relating to this before the state court EXCEPT the attempt to prevent Dandar appearing for the estate before the federal court? (Just typing that makes it sound too bizarre for my piddly IANAL mind)
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation nice quote from earl warren think dandar knew what he was getting into and i think you're hopes are justified everyone is good--the roches people just ain't no good---nick cave is it one or the other or both? the hotter the battle the sweeter the victory---bob marley the harder they come the harder they fall---jimmy cliff
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation The federal court denied Dandar's motion for an injunction earlier today [PDF], but the decision, in my opinion, isn't really that bad, because it appears to warn the state court that a line does exist and that should it be crossed (that line being interference with this case, presumably by Dandar's forced/coerced withdrawal), it could bring "disrepute on the courts." One might suggest that this has already occurred with regard to what Dandar has had to endure on the state court side, but motion practice has yet to run its course there.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation The ruling denies Dandar's motion on the presumption of comity between the Florida and Federal courts. Forcing Dandar off the case would violate that comity. If the State court did violate comity, Dandar could file a second motion for injunction based on the new standing.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Unrelated to the previous Federal vs. State dispute, the federal court today issued an Order related to discovery. The whole thing is shaping up to be pretty interesting, so I'll just paste the whole thing below. The PDF can be found here. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION ESTATE OF KYLE THOMAS BRENNAN, Plaintiff, v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., et al., Defendants. ____________________________________/ CASE NO: 8:09-cv-264-T-23EAJ ORDER The plaintiff, Kyle Brennan's estate, sues Kyle's father, Thomas Brennan; the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc., ("Scientology"); Denise Miscavige Gentile; and Gerald Gentile for wrongful death. The complaint alleges that on February 6, 2007, Kyle Brennan, while in some degree of emotional and other distress, arrived in Clearwater to visit his father and that on February 16, 2007, Kyle Brennan died in his father's apartment from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The plaintiff claims that the defendants caused the death of Kyle Brennan (1) by depriving him of his prescribed psychotropic medication and (2) by negligently and recklessly leaving a gun available to Kyle Brennan in the apartment. The plaintiff moves (Doc. 92) to compel the production of certain documents identified by Scientology in a "privilege log."1 Most of the documents at issue in this motion pertain to Scientology's practice of "auditing," which consists of an "auditor's" asking scripted questions to a Scientology member and memorializing each answer in a report that next travels through the ranks to others, including an "ethics officer." The ethics officer sometimes recommends to the member through the auditor a "list of actions" based on the ethics officer's evaluation of the report.2 The plaintiff claims that consequent upon Thomas Brennan's audit, Scientology prescribed to Thomas Brennan a series of steps for the management of Kyle Brennan, which steps led to the death of Kyle Brennan. Specifically, the complaint alleges, among other things, that Thomas Brennan locked Kyle Brennan's psychotropic medicine in Thomas Brennan's truck (Doc. 1 at 3). The defendants Thomas Brennan and Scientology object to discovery of the contents of the audit and assert (Docs. 95 and 99) the priest-penitent privilege, based on Section 90.505, Florida Statutes.3 The parties dispute whether each communication during "auditing" qualifies for the priest-penitent privilege. The parties also disagree on many facts informing the application or waiver of the asserted privilege. For instance, the plaintiff alleges that these communications are disclosed outside of the normal "reporting up the ranks," which allegation the defendants dispute.4 Conflicting and ambiguous assertions cloud the issue of how these communications are disseminated and generate knotty fact issues, especially concerning "waiver." The plaintiff claims that Denise Gentile, the auditor in this case, lacked proper credentials at the time of her sessions with Thomas Brennan, and that Ms. Gentile's lack of credentials preempts any claim of privilege. The defendants assert that although Ms. Gentile was working toward a higher rank, her rank was sufficient for her to audit Thomas Brennan and that the privilege was not destroyed by the fact that the auditing occurred during Ms. Gentile's training. Also, the plaintiff asserts that each session occurred in a "classroom" convened for training. Uncertainty also attends the number and character of other persons, if any, who participated in the "classroom" setting and whose participation may waive any privilege otherwise available. In all events, the plaintiff claims that Thomas Brennan received specific and unprivileged instruction from Scientology on the treatment of Kyle Brennan. Conflicting assertions of predicate fact and applicable law (including, among others, whether Scientology is a "church" and whether Denise Gentile or another is a "member of the clergy" within the meaning of Section 90.505) cloud the issue of the priest-penitent privilege in this instance and commend an in camera review to determine, as a threshold matter, whether the disputed documents are, first, relevant and, second, if so, whether the documents contain matter subject to a privilege, for example, under Section 90.505(b), which extends a privilege to: A preliminary, in camera review may avoid the necessity for expensive, time-consuming, and difficult resolution of contested issues of fact and law. CONCLUSION On September 3, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. in Courtroom 15A of the United States Courthouse, 801 N. Florida, Avenue, Tampa, Florida, Scientology shall produce for in camera review each document included in the "privilege log" and dated between February 6, 2007, and February 16, 2007, inclusive. Counsel for the parties are directed to appear for another status conference at the same time and place. The plaintiff's motion (Doc. 102) for leave to file a reply to the defendants' responses to the motion is DENIED, and the reply (Doc. 101) is STRICKEN. ORDERED in Tampa, Florida, on August 31, 2010. ______________________ STEVEN D. MERRYDAY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Footnotes: [1] The plaintiff also seeks to depose a Scientology officer and a Scientology staff member, but that part of the motion remains unresolved for the moment. [2] The plaintiff's counsel asserted at oral argument that an ethics officer, an individual who apparently receives information about auditing sessions, is a "disciplinarian" within Scientology and does not provide spiritual counsel. [3] The last entry in the privilege log asserts attorney-client privilege for various documents created after Kyle Brennan's death. Those documents are not discussed in this opinion. [4] The plaintiff alleges that Scientology sometimes displays or publishes communications, either within the Scientology community or to "public persons." (Doc. 97 at 3).
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation I guess COS wants to use the "priest penitent privi-ledge" scam concerning auditing files content when they don't want certain things to be brought out into the open, but then when they want to write their RFW rags, or use it for fair game.... the files are wide open. SO ridiculous. To bad this can't be brought up in court, or can it? And since when are auditors priests? OR anyone in COS. yeah I know they have fake "reverends". Reverends my ass.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Any one of the people who have recently had their auditing files revealed publicly could write a amicus brief to the court to inform the court that indeed the auditing files are not sacred/privileged information. if those files haven't already met the shredder they would as soon as the court ordered them released..either way the Mom looses.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Meh, they've got a few days to produce a decent forgery... Doubt they'd shred anything - it might come in useful to the cult if Brennan Sr ever gets twitchy.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation It sounds like they are saying that they won't do anything against the state court because, so far, the state court hasn't been stupid enough to try to carry out "an unlawful order or interfere with the orderly administration of the federal court". I imagine if the state court makes it criminal contempt and jails Dandar, the shit will hit the fan.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation This is probably a state judge in the cult's pay thinking they can mess with Fedzilla. Bad idea to get into an argument with the side that has nuclear warheads. Much shitstorm will be raining down on the state court if they try to get Fedzilla from playing with its squeaky toy.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation How is the court to know if the documents produced are the actual documents or forgeries to reduce/eliminate culpability on the part of the person/people being ordered to produce said documents?
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation imho priest-penitent privilege applies only to religious confessions and the purpose is to protect the one who is confessing, not the priest, who is giving him advice.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Lawyer in Scientology case is stuck between state and federal judges By Craig Pittman and Curtis Krueger, Times staff writers In Print: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Lawyer in Scientology case is stuck between state and federal judges - St. Petersburg Times get those comments in before the clams
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation The osabots have already started their brainwashed comments.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Hope that lawyer dude fights this tooth and nail. What a crock of shit, being held up by the gonads by the two separate rulings. Sounds like the 'law' is confused. My humble knowledge is that the federal level prevails?
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation As much as i would like to see Dandar keeping the case, isn't the state judge in the right, when he says that Dandar is violating his agreement? Why did Dandar even take on another case against Scientology, when he knew that he is not allowed to do so per the settlement agreement?
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Sounds to me like the 'agreement' has been interpreted by Scn, Inc. to mean Dandar can't ever represent another client against it. Has anyone seen or read the actual settlement - I'm under the impression it's sealed.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation Lets assume. for a moment, that KD has no defence against the contracted agreement. Then their is a breach of contract, which the cult could sue him for. Fine - maybe he knew that would be the case, and fully expected to be sued, and have to deal with the consequences - perhaps even having to pay some recompense to the cult. But that's a totally different thing to finding himself charged with contempt, with a daily $1000 fine, just for breaking the terms of an out-of-court settlement. It's an interesting scenario - I'm sure KD went into it with his eyes wide open, and fully expecting some comeback for breaching the terms of the deal - but quite apparently, he chose to accept that risk. He may have even expected something like this scenario, minus perhaps the daily fine. People CAN choose to break contractual agreements - but they equally choose in doing so to live with the consequences. All strength to him for choosing the moral path.
re: Fed Judge ENJOINS FL judge in Kyle Brennan Litigation The St. Pete Times has not seen the agreement and is thus relating what it has been told, likely by Scientology's lawyers. I doubt that Dandar would characterize the agreement in the same way. No one except the parties have seen the Agreement at issue, so it's difficult to talk about it except in hypothetical terms. My guess, though, is that the agreement is more ambiguous than how the St. Pete Times characterizes it, and the sides disagree as to how it should be interpreted. That Judge Beach apparently sided with Scientology's interpretation of it shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with Beach, but Beach's interpretation shouldn't be given much weight given that he's routinely reversed by the appeals court. All that said, an agreement restricting whom an attorney may sue is contrary to public policy and explicitly prohibited by state legal ethics Code and Rules, and any such clause within such an agreement should be declared void. To the extent there exists an ambiguity in such a clause, a court errs where it chooses the interpretation which violates public policy. +++ Model Rules of Professional Conduct Law Firms And Associations Rule 5.6 Restrictions On Right To Practice A lawyer shall not participate in offering or making: (a) a partnership, shareholders, operating, employment, or other similar type of agreement that restricts the right of a lawyer to practice after termination of the relationship, except an agreement concerning benefits upon retirement; or (b) an agreement in which a restriction on the lawyer's right to practice is part of the settlement of a client controversy.
