A lawyer representing three jailed Scientologists says he will appeal to the state Supreme Court after losing another bid to free his clients on grounds their imprisonment is illegal. Harold De Young, Philip Deland and Donald White, of the Riverside Scientology mission, have been in jail since Friday for refusing to answer questions before the county grand jury. Attorney Howard Gillingham on Tuesday made an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Court of Appeal in San Bernardino to free the three on ...

CLEARWATER — Church of Scientology guardian Douglass Sadwick avoided a second possible jail sentence for contempt Friday by agreeing to cooperate in a criminal investigation of activities of church members. Only moments before Sadwick was scheduled to face a contempt-of-court hearing, Sadwick's attorney, William Plowman, told Circuit Judge John S. Andrews that his client was willing to talk, despite his contention that the questions violate Sadwick's constitutional rights. Prosecutors had asked Andrews to find Sadwick in civil contempt for refusing to ...

For the second time, Circuit Judge John S. Andrews has ordered Church of Scientology guardian Douglas Sadwick to appear in court to face possible contempt charges. Friday's order stemmed from Sadwick's continued refusal to cooperate in a criminal investigation of members of the Church of Scientology. On Monday, Andrews sentenced Sadwick to 90 days an jail for contempt of court. Sadwick is appealing the decision. Now Sadwick faces another possible jail sentence for his refusal to answer a series of questions ...

CLEARWATER — Church of Scientology spokesman Milt Wolfe went to jail Thursday for refusing to cooperate in an investigation involving alleged racketeering, infiltration and harassment by church members. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge John S. Andrew, found Wolfe in contempt of court and sentenced him to 45 days for repeatedly refusing to answer a question put to him by investigators from State Attorney James T. Russell's office. ANDREWS ALSO refused to set bail for Wolfe, pending his appeal of the contempt citation, a ...

CLEARWATER — Facing possible contempt charges, Church of Scientology spokesman Milton Wolfe and a colleague submitted Friday to questioning by Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney James T. Russell's office. Wolfe and Ted Froyland, an officer of the church's Ministry of Legal Affairs, were jailed briefly Thursday afternoon for refusing to respond to subpoenas issued by Circuit Judge David Patterson. Russell said he wanted to question the two about a complaint they lodged against Clearwater City Commissioner Richard Tenney and in connection with a ...

The Church of Scientology is apparently pulling out all the stops in a worldwide effort to block publication of a forthcoming Reader's Digest article critical of the church. Fearful that such an article in an 18-million circulation magazine would be damaging to Scientology, church officials have: * Instituted legal action against Reader's Digest in South Africa and reportedly in West Germany in an effort to block distribution of the may issue in those countries. * Threatened to sue Reader's Digest offices ...

CLEARWATER — Church of Scientology spokesman Milt Wolfe and another church official were jailed Thursday for failing to respond to subpoenas by Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney James T. Russel. Wolfe and Ted Froyland, an official of the church's Ministry of Legal Affairs, were taken into custody by detectives from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office at 3 p.m., according to sheriff's spokesman Merrill Stebbins. After spending less than two hours in custody, the two Scientologists were released on their own recognisance by Circuit ...

Toronto ON — L. Ron Hubbard, the former science fiction writer who publicly resigned in 1966 from leadership of the Church of Scientology, continued to give orders to its leaders into 1977, a Washington court has been told. Evidence obtained in 1977 in raids on U. S. offices of the cult by the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed there was a detailed program to cover up Mr. Hubbard's involvement in the leadership of Scientology. Called Operation Bulldozer Leak, it was part ...

About 100 agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned on July 6, 1977, that they would be participating two days later in an operation unprecedented in the United States. The notification, described two years later in a Washington court room, said the agents would be raiding offices of an organization that some governments, in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, officially classified as a religion — the Church of Scientology.

Confidential documents from various Ontario Government offices including an attorney-general's communication about police intelligence operations have been found in U.S. Church of Scientology files. The documents were part of the evidence submitted by federal attorneys in the Washington prosecution of U.S. leaders of the cult on charges of conspiring to steal government documents and obstruct justice by cover-ups and by kidnapping an informer. Of 12 indicted, including two in Britain and the informer, nine have been tried, convicted and sentenced by ...

The Church of Scientology plotted to purchase or otherwise "control" the Clearwater Sun by attempting to cut the paper's advertising revenue, discredit reporters and editors and rally readers against it, according to sect documents released Friday.

WASHINGTON — Government attorneys said Thursday that Church of Scientology documents cannot he kept sealed because, among other reasons, a federal grand jury in Tampa needs them. Carl S. Rauh, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and four of his assistants asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District to reject the church's request that the documents be kept secret. The documents were among 48,000 seized in raids on church headquarters in Los Angeles on July 8, 1977. They ...

WASHINGTON — There was a temporary lid imposed Tuesday on further public release of documents seized by the government from the Church of Scientology for the prosecution of nine church leaders. The lid could become permanent. Among those documents made public have been some that revealed a church plan to maneuver government officials and news media to "take control" of Clearwater, as well as programs to discredit public officials and private individuals in Pinellas County whom church officials regarded as enemies ...

WASHINGTON — Top officials of the Church of Scientology considered Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney James T. Russell a major enemy because he pressed for an investigation about a gun found in Dunedin that may have belonged to sect founder L. Ron Hubbard. An April 14, 1977, memo between two sect "guardians," on file in the U.S. Courthouse in Washington, shows that Russell was dubbed a "suppressive person" making him a potential target for Scientology espionage and character assassination aimed at removing him ...

CLEARWATER — Documents released Thursday by a federal judge in Washington indicate an effort to "take over" the city of Clearwater by the Church of Scientology, but most of the persons and organizations listed in those files said Friday they are not aware of any effort by church members to infiltrate or discredit their offices. The documents were part of a mountain of paper siezed by the FBI in raids on Scientology offices in Washington and Los Angeles in July, 1977. ...

WASHINGTON — Believe it or not, the Church of Scientology once wanted to be friends with Gabe Cazares. The former Clearwater mayor find that amusing today, having endured years of legal battles with the sect and waged bitter campaigns against its presence in Clearwater. In December 1975, when Scientology was establishing itself in the city under the guise of the United Churches of Florida, top sect officers thought Cazares would a good man to have on their side. Thus, according to ...

WASHlNGTON — Documents revealing a Scientology espionage campaign against government agencies ranging from the IRS to the Clearwater City Commission were declared open to further public inspection Friday afternoon by a federal judge. Scientology attorneys had argued strenuously that the papers should be sealed because they would cause "irreparable injury" to the church. The public availability of the dozen cartons of government-seized documents — the basis of last week‘s conspiracy conviction of nine top church officials — was in doubt until ...

WASHINGTON — The Church of Scientology of California had big plans for the unsuspecting community of Clearwater when it arrived there in November 1975. In essence, the sect wanted to control the city's politicians, media and religious groups. To that end, the Scientologists have evidently failed. Hardly any Clearwater resident is not skeptical of the sect’s proclaimed goals and "reforrn" activities. Nevertheless, the church has purchased $8 million in Clearwater buildings and land and continues to work for the potential to ...