News RoundUp: Judge Sanctions Scientology's Narconon-Georgia for Lying

wsbtv.com DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The family of a man who died while under the care of a local drug treatment facility won a huge court victory this week. DeKalb County State Court Judge Stacey Hydrick issued sanctions against Narconon of Georgia, finding the program's director lied under oath and hid evidence. "There's really nothing else that a judge can do that's stronger than what the judge has done here," said attorney Jeff Harris. Harris is representing the family of Patrick Desmond, who died in 2008 after trying heroin for the first time.

During our investigation, we even caught Narconon's parent organization, Narconon International, advertising the program as residential on its website. The Desmonds say the Georgia program director, Mary Rieser, lied to them. In September, Rieser disputed that saying, "I will never knowingly accept somebody here if I know they've been ordered inpatient, because we're not." But Judge Hydrick's ruling says in hearings, Rieser's "responses were patently false, that Narconon of Georgia "repeatedly and willfully obstructed the discovery process," and even "falsely denied the existence of clearly relevant, responsive documents and information."

Judge Hydrick's ruling says in hearings, Rieser's "responses were patently false," that Narconon of Georgia "repeatedly and willfully obstructed the discovery process," and even "falsely denied the existence of clearly relevant, responsive documents and information." [continued@wsbtv.com]

DeKalb judge strikes answer by Scientology-linked rehab

Judge Stacey Hydrick

 dailyreportonline.com ~ A DeKalb County judge has struck the answer of a Church of Scientology-linked drug rehab program that's being sued for the heroin overdose death of a man while he was in treatment.

State Court Judge Stacey Hydrick on Monday issued the heavy sanction on Narconon of Georgia, saying the defendant "provided false, misleading written discovery responses and deposition testimony" in response to requests for evidence about claims that the rehab center ran an unsafe and unlicensed facility.

Attorney Jeffrey Harris

The punishment means that allegations contained in the complaint will be deemed to be true when the case goes to trial in February, said plaintiffs attorney Jeffrey Harris.
Harris said Narconon's discovery abuse was "so pervasive and so bad."
"I'm confident there remain documents out there that we still haven't gotten," said Harris, of Harris Penn Lowry Delcampo. "Some of them I know are missing because the documents we have talk about them. The documents we do have make it clear that there are other documents that have not been produced." [continued@dailyreportonline.com]

Court Punishes Scientology For Acting Like…Scientology

 

Mary Rieser Director of Narconon Georgia

ortegaunderground ~ As we reported earlier, documents in the lawsuit suggest that Rieser convinced a Florida court that her rehab center was licensed for in-patient care, when the state of Georgia has never certified the Narconon center there to house patients.

Now, Judge Stacey Hydrick has come down hard on Rieser in the strongest terms for holding back evidence in the case that Desmond’s family was entitled to.

“The Court finds that [Narconon Georgia] repeatedly and willfully obstructed the discovery process both by failures to respond fully to legitimate discovery requests and, even more egregiously, by false responses,” Hydrick states in a sanctions order she signed Monday. [more@ortegaunderground]

click image to read complete Desmond-Suit-Sanctions-Order PDF @ Scribd

Judge Imposes Sanctions on Norcross Drug Treatment Facility

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ~ In a rare move, a DeKalb County state judge has withdrawn a Norcross drug treatment facility’s response to allegations in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a former patient’s parents.

Judge Stacey K. Hydrick said in a court order Nov. 5 that Narconon of Georgia “intentionally, willfully and repeatedly provided false and misleading responses to plaintiff’s discovery requests regarding issues relevant to the resolution of this case.”

Narconon “repeatedly failed to produce, and on multiple occasions falsely denied the existence of clearly relevant, responsive documents and information,” Hydrick wrote.
As a result, the allegations against Narconon will essentially go unanswered, which will be to the suing parents’ advantage.
 “This judicial order is as sharply worded rebuke of a party as one is likely to see in American courts,” said University of Georgia law professor Ron Carlson, calling the sanctions “very uncommon.” [continued@Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Court Sanctions Scientology Rehab – Defence Crumbling

examiner.com ~ Narconon Executive Director Mary Rieser was caught lying under oath in as many as ten depositions. Judge Hydrick concluded that, when she asked Riser on the stand about the omissions and false declarations, Narconon’s leader was simply not credible in her responses - - failing to tell the truth.

Attorney Jeff Harris, representing the family of Patrick Desmond who died in 2008 while enrolled at Narconon of Georgia, says the ruling for sanctions is so strong; lawyers often refer to it as the civil-case version of the death penalty.

Scientology is now facing as many as ten civil cases in the USA and Canada stemming from their Narconon rehab deaths, negligence and human rights abuses. Three recent deaths at Narconon Arrowhead and the death of Patrick Desmond at Narconon of Georgia, have initiated investigations by Health, Sheriff, and other governing authorities, including Senator Ivister in Oklahoma. [more@examiner.com]

more Narconon Georgia news @ WSBradio Narconon archive

More on Narconon
• Ripoff Report: Narconon
• Wikipedia.org: Narconon
• TippingPoint: Narconon