TAMPA — A federal judge has ordered a Pinellas judge and the Church of Scientology to halt their efforts to severely punish Ken Dandar, a Tampa lawyer who is taking the church to court for the second time in his career. The action Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday involves Pinellas Judge Robert Beach, who has said he intends to impose a $130,000 fine on Dandar and possibly suspend his license to practice law. The reason: Dandar allegedly reneged on ...

LARGO — One of the Church of Scientology's most vocal critics, Tampa lawyer Ken Dandar, is in a pickle. Six years ago, he settled a wrongful death case against the church on behalf of the family of Lisa McPherson, who died in 1995 after 17 days in the care of church members in Clearwater. Part of the settlement agreement, approved by a judge in state court, required Dandar to never again represent anyone suing Scientology. But last year, Dandar took on ...

L’Église de scientologie de Québec est toujours à la recherche de 1,5 million de dollars pour terminer la construction de son nouveau lieu de culte, dont le coût total est aujourd’hui estimé à 6 millions, soit 2 millions de plus que ce qui était prévu au départ. Sans le financement nécessaire, l’inauguration des nouveaux locaux de l’Église de scientologie de Québec, situés sur la rue Saint-Joseph au c?ur du Nouvo Saint-Roch, doit être reportée. Initialement prévue à la fin de l’année ...

CLEARWATER — Taking on the Church of Scientology in court is like picking a fight with the Russian army. When attacked, the church defends itself aggressively, wearing down opponents with a barrage of litigation while peering into their personal lives. Ken Dandar knows this better than anyone. In the 7-year-long Lisa McPherson case, the Tampa lawyer and the church waged one of the most grueling, fiercely contested legal battles in Tampa Bay history. The wrongful death lawsuit became intensely acrimonious, with ...

CLEARWATER — Police investigated the role Scientology played in the suicide of a troubled young man two years ago, but did not conclude church members forced him off his antidepressant medication or contributed to his death. Last week, the mother of Kyle Brennan filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Scientology's Clearwater-based Flag Service Organization and three Scientologists, claiming they took away Brennan's medication. The suit names the boy's father, Thomas Brennan, as a defendant; along with Denise Gentile, who is the ...

CLEARWATER — A mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, its Flag Service Organization and three parishioners, claiming they brought about her son's death by denying him access to his antidepression medication. Among the three parishioners named as defendants: Denise Gentile, the twin sister of the church's current worldwide leader, David Miscavige, as well as her husband, Gerald Gentile. The lawsuit stems from the death of Kyle T. Brennan, 20, who shot himself in the head ...

TAMPA - A mother is blaming Scientologists for her disabled son's death, which police ruled a suicide. Victoria L. Britton has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Scientologists, including her son's father, of taking his antidepressant prescription from him and giving him access to a loaded gun. A police investigation, however, concluded that Kyle Brennan, exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia, willingly stopped taking medication before he visited his father and that there was "no evidence they were purposely kept from" him. Brennan, 20, ...

Some residents in Destin are upset about the possibility of another Narconon drug rehabilitation center opening in their neighborhood. There's already one center operating in a residential area, and apparently some homeowners believe the program is too close to home, but the residents may not have a choice in the opening of the new facility. These trees hide the Narconon Gulf Cost a safe haven for recovering addicts. Debbie Ross and her husband converted their home off of scenic 98 into ...

[Picture / Caption: Denis Côté, président du CCDH.] «La psychiatrie, la vérité sur les abus», tel est le titre de cette exposition itinérante et renouvelée qui a séjourné dans 150 villes à travers le monde depuis 2004. Proposée par la Commission des Citoyens pour les Droits de l’Homme (CCDH), «elle veut sensibiliser les gens sur les effets néfastes de la psychiatrie, une pratique qui ne résulte d’aucune démarche scientifique, étroitement liée à l’argent et aux industries pharmaceutiques qui a eu des ...

La Commission des citoyens pour les droits de l'homme (CCDH), un organisme basé à Québec, distribue ces jours-ci dans la capitale une brochure visant à dénoncer le travail des psychiatres qui prescrivent des médicaments aux enfants souffrant d'un déficit d'attention. La CCDH prétend que les troubles de l'attention sont une pure invention de la médecine. Dans son dépliant d'information, la CCDH invite le public à visiter son site Internet pour commander un documentaire sur le sujet. Le document reproche aux psychiatres ...

L’Église de scientologie de Québec s’apprête à déménager ses pénates sur la rue Saint-Joseph, dans des locaux 10 fois plus grands que ceux qu’elle occupe à Limoilou. Un signe d’expansion ? Plutôt d’une volonté de soigner son image, semble-t-il. À l’heure actuelle, ils sont quelque 200 membres à fréquenter l’Église de façon régulière. Pour une organisation implantée dans la ville depuis le début des années 70, le chiffre est plutôt modeste. « Il y a peut-être eu une légère augmentation récemment, ...

By E. Scott Reckard November 17, 2004 in print edition C-2 Federal prosecutors announced tax-evasion charges Tuesday against former Grateful Dead road manager Ronald L. Rakow and his girlfriend in connection with a scheme to conceal Rakow’s income, much of which he earned working for convicted Ponzi scheme operator Reed Slatkin. Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael R. Wilner said Rakow diverted $5.2 million that he received from Slatkin and other sources to his girlfriend, Denise Del Bianco, from 1998 through 2001. At ...

To the disappointment of some outsiders, those mired in the Scientology case were ready for the draining episode to end. CLEARWATER — The recent settlement of the 7-year-old Lisa McPherson wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology was a shocker for many, seemingly coming out of nowhere. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision at all, but rather a resolution that had been simmering more than six months in quiet negotiations at the St. Petersburg law offices of mediator Michael Keane. It ...

Months of interviews and thousands of pages of court papers show the effect that influential church members had on a Clearwater company that was a darling of the dot-com boom. It was New Year's Eve 1997 when Digital Lightwave's chief, Bryan Zwan, made his biggest deal: a $9-million contract for his signature product, a 10-pound device that tests telephone lines. At 5:30 p.m., Zwan phoned his production staff and gave them a tall order: Ship the 308 units right away. It ...

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, STATE OF FLORIDA GENERAL CIVIL DIVISION Case No. 00-5682-C1 Section 11 ESTATE OF LISA McPHERSON, by and through the Personal Representative, DELL LIEBREICH Plaintiff, vs. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC.; JANIS JOHNSON; ALAIN KARTUZINSKI; and DAVID HOUGHTON, Defendants. —– APRIL 2002 AFFIDAVIT OF JESSE PRINCE STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF HILLSBOROUGH BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared JESSE PRINCE, who after being duly sworn ...

CLEARWATER – No angry swarms picketed the Church of Scientology last week. No candlelight vigils. No TV cameras. No extra police patrols. For the first time in six years, the anniversary of the death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson passed quietly. The McPherson maelstrom, which brought nightmarish publicity for the church, has ebbed dramatically, now that the high-profile criminal charges against the church were dropped and a raucous group of church critics recently left Clearwater. But one critical battle remains, one so ...

Prosecutors decide to drop a marijuana charge after jurors, concerned about church influence, deadlock. CLEARWATER — When the two-day misdemeanor trial of Scientology critic Jesse Prince ended Thursday, jurors had little doubt he had possessed marijuana as the state charged. What bothered some of them, according to two jurors, was the possibility that Prince had been set up by the Church of Scientology. They heard testimony about how Prince, once a high-ranking church member, was watched, videotaped and trailed for months ...

The defense is bringing the church into the case, saying that the arrest was tied to the church's relentless surveillance of a critic, the defendant. LARGO — Five lawyers helped fill the courtroom Wednesday in a misdemeanor trial that included poster-board-size charts, a video recording, expert scientific testimony, five other witnesses and repeated references to the Church of Scientology. After five hours of courtroom proceedings, the marijuana possession case against strident Scientology critic Jesse Prince still was not over at the ...

CLEARWATER — For months, a high-profile attorney for a prominent critic of the Church of Scientology has tried to show the church is behind a minor drug charge against his client. Now, on the eve of Jesse Prince's trial on a misdemeanor charge of growing marijuana, defense lawyer Denis de Vlaming has hit what he considers pay dirt. Pinellas County Judge Michael Andrews still must decide whether jurors get to hear how private detectives working for the church shadowed Prince for ...

The Church of Scientology investigated critic Jesse Prince, then passed information along to police. Last spring, a private investigator working for the Church of Scientology went to Largo police with a tip: A vocal critic of Scientology named Jesse Prince was involved with illegal drugs. Prince, 47, is a former church member and a key witness in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the church. Police investigated and arrested Prince, who is charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. The case is set ...

The blow to her credibility could make it difficult for Joan Wood to do her job, lawyers say. Although prosecutors said her "serious forensic error" ruined their case against the Church of Scientology, Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Joan Wood said Monday she has no plans to resign. But veteran lawyers predicted the case – and particularly the 31-page memo from prosecutors that blasted Wood as "illogical" and "inconsistent" – will dog her every time she takes the witness stand. That could make ...

Robert Minton intends to buy property in downtown Clearwater. Meanwhile, a restraining order against him is extended to Nov. 29. The Church of Scientology came to court Monday hoping its No. 1 enemy, Robert S. Minton, would never again be allowed near church properties in Clearwater. Instead, church officials learned that Minton, a 53-year-old New England millionaire, plans to be much too close for their comfort. Clearwater lawyer Denis de Vlaming told Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Thomas E. Penick Jr. that Minton ...

"I think there was a sense that this was a senseless death," said [Bob] Heyman, whose boss, State Attorney Bernie McCabe, was only beginning to examine the case of Lisa McPherson. Heyman, now in private practice, was preparing to end a 15-year career as a prosecutor. Among McCabe's options: Be aggressive and level a serious charge such as manslaughter, but risk a bruising legal battle with the Church of Scientology, which had taken on much bigger fish than McCabe. He eventually ...