We’ve been telling you how after Leah Remini filed her August 2 lawsuit against Scientology for what she says is a yearslong campaign of harassment, Scientology hit back with a motion to strike much of the lawsuit’s material.
Since then, both legal teams have submitted numerous attacks on the other, with Leah’s lawyers, for example, debunking Scientology’s claim that she had “blood on her hands” for a 2019 death of a Taiwanese church security guard in Australia, and accusing one of Scientology’s attorneys, Kendrick Moxon, of witness tampering in an unrelated criminal manner. Scientology has answered those salvos with a declaration from Moxon and from a Taiwanese staffer, answering Remini’s accusations.
And all of it was submitted — hundreds of pages of material — ahead of what was supposed to be a January 9 hearing.
On Friday, however, Judge Randolph Hammock threw up his hands, accusing both sides of submitting filings that may not even be legal, and telling them to stop burying him with more material. He also moved the hearing back a week so he can review all of the lengthy briefs already in the file.
From Hammock’s minute order on Friday…
This Court has begun its extensive review and consideration of the voluminous pleadings which have been filed on both sides in connection with the pending special motion to strike, currently set for hearing for January 9, 2023.
Suffice it to state, this motion presents a vast complexity of legal and factual issues and procedures. Unfortunately, the parties have compounded these inherent complexities by unilaterally and recently filing various pleadings and motions which may or may not be authorized by law, and which, at the very least, are not typically filed in connection to a standard special motion to strike.
See, e.g., Plaintiff’s Motion to Strike Portions of Defendants’ Reply (1/3/24); Plaintiff’s Objection to Declaration of Kendrick Moxon in Support of Reply (1/3/24); Plaintiff’s Objection to Declaration of Lynn Farny in Support of Reply (1/3/24); Plaintiff’s Objection to Declaration of Yi-Chen Wan in Support of Reply (1/3/24); and last, but not least, Defendants’ Objection to Plaintiff’s Various Motions to Strike (1/5/24).
Enough is enough.
Judge Hammock probably has enough on his hands deciding some of the more basic issues in the case: Remini says her ability to make a living has been impacted by Scientology’s incessant campaigns against her television shows and podcasts. Scientology doesn’t deny that it has harangued the studios and networks carrying her work, but they say she asked for it by attacking the church since she left it in 2013. She started it, they claim, and what they say about her — calling her a bigot and a racist and a rape apologist — are opinions that are protected by free speech.
But if that wasn’t a large enough question to deal with, the two sides have been filing documents arguing over whether, for example, a Midwest man making threats against Scientology leader David Miscavige was motivated by Remini’s TV show, or whether a man arrested in 2022 for allegedly trying to run over a Scientology security guard in Los Angeles was “inflamed” by Remini. Both sides have used court filings to argue one way or the other, but Judge Hammond clearly isn’t pleased.
We have to admit, the documents have been fascinating, and we’ve spent some time examining them in detail: For example, the declaration by the Taiwanese woman submitted by Scientology didn’t seem to bolster Scientology’s argument at all.
So we’ll have to wait until January 16 for Judge Hammond to wade through it all, and we’re really anxious to see what he comes up with. It sure seems like it will be a crucial early assessment of Leah’s lawsuit.
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Now I am annoyed because I had Jan 9 off work and was making popcorn for the hearing, and now we have to wait until the 16th when I have to work.
Where do I file my pleading?
If you can't baffle them with brilliance, baffle them with bovine excrement. I expect any $cieno paid lawyer to act like a petulant child, but Remini's lawyer should be a bit more professional. Then again, one good wedgie deserves another wedgie. The hearing on the 16th will be contentious and I expect some 'grow up and act professional' words from the judge.