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
