Staff Writer George-Wayne Shelor was talking to Managing Editor Sam Fenton on the phone from Los Angeles, where he was covering a lawsuit brought by the Scientologists against a defector who had taken confidential sect documents. "How many letters (to the editor) have you received so far?" Shelor asked. "None," Fenton replied. "None!" Shelor echoed in amazement. "What's going on?" What, indeed! The silence from the community on the latest revelations of the Scientologists' skulduggery is baffling. While members of the ...

A former personal assistant to Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard testified Thursday that she feared that discovery of documents discrediting Hubbard's background would make her a target of the organization. Laurel Sullivan, 34, who left Scientology in 1981 after 14 years of working directly for Hubbard in a public relations role, described her fears during the fourth week of trial of the church's civil suit against its former archivist, Gerald Armstrong. The church is asking Los Angeles Superior Court ...

Former assistant to L. Ron Hubbard testifies in suit to recover documents. LOS ANGELES — A former publicist for Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard testified Friday that she left the church in November 1981 because she had become "a target" of hostility by church members. Ex-publicist Laurel Sullivan, 34, was cross-examined by church attorney Robert Harris in a lawsuit brought by the church and Mary Sue Hubbard, the founder's wife, seeking to recover allegedly stolen documents from former ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who worked as a publicist for Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard testified Thursday that orders were given in February 1980 to shred documents indicating bard was in control of church management. Laurel Sullivan, 34, said the orders for the massive shredding came as church personnel feared a raid by federal agents. Such raids previously took place in Los Angeles, Boston and Washington in July 1979. Sullivan testified before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ...

Church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth said Wednesday he is pleased that a second restraining order was issued recently against the city's revised charitable solicitation law. "Once again we have been joined by a coalition of religious groups" in the fight against the ordinance, be said, "and we are pleased they are in the (action) with us." Only a week old, the ordinance became the target of a second restraining order from a federal judge Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge William ...

LOS ANGELES—In an extraordinary move, lawyers for the Church of Scientology have asked that parts of the official court transcript of a civil case be destroyed upon the completion of the trial. The motion was railed "unusual" by Superior Court Judge Paul G. Breckenridge Jr., who denied the request. Breckenridge is ruling over the non-jury trial brought by the sect and Mary Sue Hubbard, the wife of its founder. They are asking for the return of 10,000 documents a former Scientologist ...

LOS ANGELES—Scientology lawyers introduced several hundred pages of sealed documents in Superior Court Friday, saying they fracture the defense of a man charged with taking thousands of sect papers when he fled the organization. Letters written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to his children, parents, and wives were submitted by attorney Barrett Litt in an effort to impugn Gerald Armstrong's testimony. Armstrong, a 37-year-old sect researcher, contends he took 10,000 documents in 1981 to defend himself against an anticipated suit. ...

Clearwater city commissioners Thursday quietly put their final stamp of approval on a controversial ordinance regulating fundraising efforts by non-profit organizations. The commission's 4-1 vote made what once was an emergency ordinance a standard law and extended the city's battle with the Church of Scientology one more step. Only Commissioner James Berfield voted against the measure, without comment. The law began life as a temporary measure passed March 15, two weeks before U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich ruled against the ...

LOS ANGELES—Gerald Armstrong steadfastly maintained Thursday that for 11 years he worked only for L. Ron Hubbard, and he refused to acknowledge Church of Scientology lawyers' contentions he was actually a sect employee. Time and again during his Superior Court trial, Armstrong brushed off suggestions of his sect employment, insisting he worked for Scientology founder Hubbard—regardless of the chain of command. "I was a Scientologist, and I worked for Mr. Hubbard," the former Scientology archivist told Superior Court Judge Paul G. ...

Editor: On May 15, 1984, in the Armstrong trial, we heard more testimony concerning Gerald Armstrong's "state of mind." This is, of course, his defense to justify his taking another's property. It is similar to what we see in a criminal case—the "insanity defense"—that one is justified or not responsible for his acts because of his state of mind. This insanity defense brings to mind the attempted assassination by John Hinckley, a loner, a failure and one trying to make a ...

Editor: This is the first of what I hope will be a series of "equal space" reports covering the Scientology vs. Armstrong trial taking place in Los Angeles. I appreciate your paper providing our church this opportunity. In this case, the Church of Scientology of California and Mrs. Mary Sue Hubbard have filed suit against Gerald Armstrong to retrieve valuable materials that he took from the church. Per earlier admissions by Mr. Armstrong, he gave these materials to Michael Flynn for ...

LOS ANGELES—Church of Scientology lawyers began their cross-examination of Gerald Armstrong in Superior Court here Wednesday, trying to prove he continued collecting sect-related documents after a temporary restraining order prevented him from doing so. Sect lawyers also began eliciting testimony from Armstrong, a former Scientology archivist, that he joined the Clearwater-based church not because of his belief in founder L. Ron Hubbard, as Armstrong testified, but because he believed in the organization and its technology. It was Armstrong's fifth day of ...

LOS ANGELES—Bigamy and black magic were a part of the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, according to documents introduced Tuesday as exhibits in Superior Court. And according to a former high-ranking Scientologist, Hubbard wrote a series of "Admissions" in which he acknowledged to himself bis systematic manipulation of the U.S. Navy and the Veterans Administration to increase his disability pension. Basing his testimony on 11 years of firsthand knowledge and thousands of documents under court seal, Gerald Armstrong said ...

LOS ANGELES—According to a former high-ranking Scientologist, L. Ron Hubbard was never a war hero; never commanded a squadron of Navy ships; never saw combat and was not crippled and blinded, later healing himself with his theory of Dianetics. Instead, Gerald Armstrong testified Monday that documents sealed by the California Superior Court will prove Hubbard's career was one of "a recurring pattern of malingering, feigning illnesses and false reporting to his superiors." Armstrong said the documents will prove that widely held ...

SACRAMENTO — The Church of Scientology paid the state $500,000 in back taxes last week and agreed to pay another $500,000 in five monthly installments, the Employment Development Department said. The payment from the organization, which claims tax immunity as a religion, was made as state authorities prepared to seize between 70 and 80 bank accounts belonging to the church. The wealthy church, which claims to teach self-awareness and fulfillment of human potential, was founded in the 1950s by science fiction ...

DENNIS ERLICH, WHO writes about religious cults, has some expertise on the subject. Erlich, 37, born in New York City, says he spent 15 years in a cult in California, rising to leadership positions. He left it two years ago, and says it has taken most of that time to "decondition" himself. He now lives in Omaha, where he describes himself as "an analyst, consultant and troubleshooter." He's writing a book about his cult experiences, and on Page 15 we carry ...

LOS ANGELES — It's 1984, and Big Brother — under the guise of L. Ron Hubbard — is being slowly exposed. Now 34 years after Hubbard created the Church of Scientology, the documents he wrote, the laws he created, the orders he issued, and the people who lied and cheated to protect him are surfacing in a court of law. They all offer evidence of a chilling tale. Since the sect orchestrated its surreptitious "takeover" of Clearwater in 1975, newspapers and ...

LOS ANGELES—Court-sealed tapes reveal that Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard used a myriad of corporations to funnel millions of dollars from the sect into his personal bank account in Liechtenstein, a lawyer representing a man accused of taking thousands of documents and tapes from the church charged in Superior Court here Friday. Michael Flynn, who represents former Scientologist Gerald Armstrong, said the tape recordings of a Sept. 29, 1980, meeting between Hubbard's personal lawyer and legal officials of the ...

A former Church of Scientology archivist described for a Los Angeles judge on Friday his "paranoid" leave-taking from the organization after his realization that church founder L. Ron Hubbard was not the heroic scientist he claimed to be. The church is suing to recover thousands of pages of Hubbard's personal papers that it claims Gerald Armstrong took illegally to use in lawsuits against the group. Armstrong testified for the second day in his own defense in the non-jury trial before Superior ...

LOS ANGELES — Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard put more than $200-million in church funds into Swiss bank accounts while keeping secret control of the church, an attorney for a former church member said Friday. Attorney Michael Flynn said at the trial of Gerald Armstrong, a former member and archivist accused by Scientology officials of stealing documents from the church, that the documents will show Hubbard received more than $200-million from various Scientology corporations while claiming he was receiving ...

A disillusioned former member of the Church of Scientology, accused of taking documents belonging to the church and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, testified Thursday that he had been lured into the organization by the "promise of truth" but repeatedly encountered lies. Gerald Armstrong began what is expected to be several days of testimony in the non-jury trial of the church's civil suit to retrieve the documents, which is being tried before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Paul G. Breckenridge Jr. ...

LOS ANGELES—The horror, the degradation, the humiliation and the pain all caught up with Gerald Armstrong Thursday when he broke down in tears while testifying in Superior Court here about his 11 years within the Church of Scientology. The former sect archivist and subject of a suit Charging him with taking personal papers of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Armstrong shook with sob while recalling his 17-month term in the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), a form of Scientology punishment where he ...

[Picture / Caption: Big Actor: Ted, a three-story high balloon, has been appearing around Hollywood heralding the production of two films based on L. Ron Hubbard's novel, "Battlefield Earth." Producer William Immerman, left, and director Ken Annakin, right, join in the stunt making.] When independent producer William Immerman announced months ago he would be filming L. Ron Hubbard's best selling science-fiction saga, "Battlefield Earth," as two back-to-back productions (each costing $20 million), he immediately notified all the science-fiction conventions to start ...

LOS ANGELES—An author hired to write a biography of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard testified Wednesday that he is not "an image maker" and he refused to write a "puff piece" on the reclusive 72-year-old. Omar Garrison described himself as "an honest reporter (and) biographer (to whom) anything about the subject is grist for the mill" during the trial of a former Scientology archivist accused of stealing 10,000 documents the Clearwater-based sect contends it owns. "The Church (of Scientology) has provided ...

LOS ANGELES—The lawyer representing a former Scientologist who took thousands of sect documents began chipping away at the prosecutions's case Tuesday by trying to show the documents were not personal or private. Rather, Michael Flynn claims the secret documents contain damning evidence of an elabortate scheme to defraud Scientology members through the misrepresention of the background of sect found L. Ron Hubbard. Flynn, who represents former Scientology archivist Gerald Armstrong in the non-jury Los Angeles County Superior Court case, used the ...

LOS ANGELES—The wife of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard testified in Superior Court here Monday that a 37-year-old California man stole thousands of sensitive documents which belong to her and the Clearwater-based sect. Mary Sue Hubbard also testified she has been "mentally raped" knowing that others have seen the papers. Mrs. Hubbard, wife of the reclusive Scientology founder and science-fiction author, said Gerald Armstrong, a former Scientologist and sect archivist, has no right to the documents. She also testified Armstrong's attorney, ...

Mary Sue Hubbard, wife of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, testified Monday that she considered the taking of the couple's personal letters and other documents by a former church archivist akin to "mental rape." The church and Mrs. Hubbard, former controller of the worldwide organization, are suing the archivist, Gerald Armstrong, for return of some 20 boxes of personal papers now in the custody of the Los Angeles County clerk pending outcome of the trial. She testified on the ...

With $175 and a small box of books under his arm, Martin Samuels brought Scientology to the Sacramento area in the 1960s. He soon built a $10 million empire. The church rated his missions in Davis and Sacramento the best in the world. Then, in 1982, it all collapsed. Samuels left the church with nothing more than a suitcase half full of clothes. Samuels charges in a lawsuit that the Church illegally took it all away from him. The suit, being ...

The Church of Scientology, despite shrinking membership, still wields power in Sacramento — openly through its church and missions, and not-so-openly through other organizations. Some buildings — a church on 15th Street near Memorial Auditorium and branch missions in Carmichael and Davis — are obviously part of Scientology. Other holdings, including a shopping center called Fulton Square that the church bought through another business entity, are less conspicuous. The Flag Service Organization Inc., a Florida branch of Scientology, bought the $1.5 ...