More adventures serving legal papers on the elusive Scientology leader David Miscavige!
Tomorrow in court Jane Doe 1’s legal team will attempt to prove to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that they have made adequate attempts to serve the defendants in her new lawsuit, which was filed in December but only unsealed in June.
When the lawsuit was unsealed, we learned that Jane Doe 1, one of the Danny Masterson victims, alleges that years earlier she had been subjected to sexual abuse as a minor by Sea Org recruiter Gavin Potter, and that she was then given the choice either to go into the Sea Org’s prison detail or to marry Potter. She chose the latter, but alleges that any sexual contact she had with him subsequently over the years 1991 to 1997 she considered non-consensual.
There are four defendants that are named in the case besides Potter. They are the Church of Scientology International, Bridge Publications Inc., the Religious Technology Center, and Scientology leader David Miscavige.
In a lengthy new court brief ahead of tomorrow’s hearing, attorney Graham Berry has assembled an exhaustive collection of records showing what the plaintiffs have done to locate and serve papers on the five defendants or their agents.
We’re most interested in Miscavige, of course, because his evasion of service became a national story when a Florida court ruled that he’d been dodging process servers intentionally, and named him a defendant in a case there.
Will the same happen here? Will the court rule that Miscavige is still evading service, and that the legal team in Jane Doe 1’s case has done enough to declare Dave a defendant in her case? We thought you’d be interested in the specific experiences of the process server that Berry and his team hired to try and find Miscavige.
They were apparently mindful that in the Florida case, Miscavige’s attorneys ridiculed efforts to find him there since, they said, Miscavige has been a resident of California for 40 years. So the process server focused mainly on the location that is associated with Miscavige in legal documents, the Hollywood Guaranty Building at 6331 Hollywood Blvd and (confusingly) 1710 Ivar Avenue.
Here are the best excerpts from the dogged efforts of the process server who ultimately did, the legal team hopes, do enough to declare Dave served…
June 23: 1710 Ivar Ave. The doors were locked. They have a ring doorbell-like system. I rang the intercom and there was no answer to the point that the call disconnected. I rang again and again and again (a total of 10 times). By the seventh time, they were disconnecting the call. I walked around the corner to the 6331 Hollywood Blvd. address of the same building. Same thing happened — locked doors. I rang a total of ten times and no one answered.
June 26: As I was approaching the door, a couple of gentlemen were also approaching the door from a location across the street. I tried to enter behind the second person, and he turned around and stopped me. I told him I had something for the legal department. He instructed me to go to the Hollywood Blvd. address. I proceeded to do so. I rang the “ring-like” bell several times. A young woman approached me without saying anything. I asked her if she worked in the building, and she said no. I continued to ring the bell, there was no answer. She asked if I had a delivery to which I said yes. She walked away.
July 4: 4810 W. Sunset Blvd. I registered online and went to the 4th of July party. After I checked in at the front desk, a security guard on a bicycle approached me, said hi and asked how I was doing. We made small talk about bikes for a few minutes. We exchanged names, his name is Odo. I proceeded into the event as we parted ways. About ten minutes later Odo approached me and asked me if I was there to serve papers, he said he saw me at the other building last week. I told him yes, for David Miscavige, is he here? He said no, this is not the right address, he neither has an office or residence there. Odo asked me to leave, I said I would stay until I confirmed my information. He was OK with that and stayed near me while I had a coffee. I walked the entire event then left at 1 pm.
July 14: At 7:25 am a security guard with a dog came out of 6331 Hollywood and walked the area just before an unmarked church bus arrived. About 25 members exited the bus and entered 6331 Hollywood. The security guard and dog followed them in. I observed the comings and goings of what appears to be many different ranks of members and workers, to and from both addresses. I did not see our subject come from or go into the location. Stakeout concluded at 10 am.
July 20, 9 am: 6331 Hollywood Blvd. Substitute Service to John Doe Caucasian man, mid to late 50’s, 5’7″, 145 pounds, light complexion, dark eyes, balding dark hair, wore glasses. He was about to enter the building but turned around when he noticed me behind him. I told him he was being sub served on behalf of David Miscavige and dropped the documents in front of him. He left the documents there and walked around the corner to the Ivar entrance.
July 20, 9:10 am: 1710 Ivar Avenue. Substitute Service to John Doe – Security Guard, Hispanic male, late 20’s, 5’8″, 160 lbs, light complexion, dark hair parted to the side, dark eyes. I asked him if he could direct me to the mailroom or legal department, I have legal documents to serve David Miscavige. He said you will have to serve the agent. I informed him that Miscavige is being sued as an individual and his address is here. I announced that I was substitute serving him with a summons and complaint on behalf of David Miscavige. I tried to hand the documents to him, but he stated that he could not take them so I dropped them at his feet.
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A security guard and K-9 patrol the area before buses arrive ... like at a prison?
1710 Ivar is literally just the mailroom. It has an elevator that goes down to the basement to access the rest of the HGB building.
What about Gavin Potter. Has he been served?