SCIENTOLOGY HISTORY IN TORONTO, PART TEN (The Trial, 1992)
[This is the last in the series]
As was seen in part 9, Ontario Court Judge James Southey ruled on December
2nd, 1991 that the prosecution could not present any of the
documents seized from the church offices in 1983 as evidence, due to the
manner in which the search warrant was executed. Following on this
ruling, Scientology lawyers applied to extend this exclusion to all
evidence obtained by the Crown subsequent to this search and seizure,
characterized as "secondary" evidence. The _Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms_ allows for the exclusion of evidence which is not
derivative or causally connected to "primary" evidence which was collected
unlawfully. For this reason, the term "secondary" evidence is used as
being more inclusive.
The Scientology claim was for the exclusion of:
"(1) the evidence of five former Scientologists who were discovered by
and gave statements to the Crown after the search and seizure.
Their names are Kathy Smith (formerly, in succession, Kathy
Wilkens and Kathy Gilbert), Emile Gilbert, Marion Evoy, Dianne
Fairfield, and Bryan Levman; and
(2) all evidence derived from the statements of those five persons
and of other former Scientologists interviewed after the search
and seizure, as, for example, the evidence of "target"
organizations whose documents are alleged to have been stolen by
Scientologists." [1]
Among the documents seized by police was a "suppressive persons declare",
dated February 16, 1983, issued by the International Chief Justice
and approved by the Church of Scientology International, declaring eight
persons to be suppressive, and expelling them from the church. Among
those were six people who had held high positions in the church during the
period when the alleged offences occured: Kathy Gilbert, Emile Gilbert,
Bryan Levman, Rosi Levman, Gary Jepson and Donna Jepson. None of these
people had been approached by police before the search -- it was
the S.P. declare that identified them to police as potential sources of
information.
Also included in the seized documents was an undated memorandum signed by
Bill O'Meara, a senior member of the guardian office, requesting
advice on criminal and civil actions which might be taken against Emile
Gilbert. Another document dated February 14th, 1983, contained advice
from a church attorney for action against Emile Gilbert, and remarks that
one proceeding would have the added benefit of "getting Gary Jepson
and Katie Gilbert". [2] Despite the fact that both these documents are
privileged solicitor-client communications, they were apparently used by
police.
The seized "Combat Information" files revealed four additional Scientology
targets which were unknown at the time of the raid: The Ontario
Medical Association, the law firm of Goodman & Goodman, the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, and the Metropolitan Toronto Police
Department.
The judge found that there was a causal connection between the primary
evidence and the secondary evidence, in that the seized documents
identified potential witnesses, and they were used by police to persuade
the witnesses to be forthcoming.
He then had to rule on the exclusion of the secondary evidence. Section
24(2) of the _Charter_ states:
"Where ... a court concludes that evidence was obtained in a manner
that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms guaranteed by this
Charter, the evidence shall be excluded if it is established that,
having regard to all the circumstances, the admission of it in the
proceedings would bring the administration of justice into
disrepute."
The breach of the defendant's _Charter_ rights was a serious one, commented
the judge, and the charges of theft or possession of stolen property
of a value under $200 were not serious. In this case, the secondary
evidence should be excluded, as to include it would bring the
administration of justice into disrepute.
On the other hand, the judge had to weigh the disrepute which would arise
from the exclusion of evidence. He commented:
"The most reprehensible aspect of the alleged conduct, in my opinion,
was the attempt to impair the effectiveness of the law enforcement
agencies that were targeted, namely the Ontario Provincial Police,
Metropolitan Toronto Police, Ministry of the Attorney General for the
Province of Ontario, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This
aspect of the conduct of the accused is expressly dealt with in the
counts of breach of trust. These are very serious charges, in my
view.
...
As to the trial of the more serious charges of breach of trust, I
dismiss the application because to exclude the secondary evidence in
the trial of those charges would, in my judgement, bring the
administration of justice into disrepute, in the eyes of the
reasonable man, dispassionate and fully apprised of the circumstances
of the case." [3]
So the application for exclusion was allowed in part, and dismissed in
part. There was a directed verdict of "not guilty" on the theft charges.
Lawyers for Scientology objected, unsuccessfully, that too much time had
elapsed since the charges were first laid. They then challenged the array
of the jury panel, contending that it was unrepresentative because the
_Juries Act_ requires jurors to be Canadian Citizens. According to
Scientology lawyers, any permanent resident should be eligible. The court
ruled that citizenship was a reasonable requirement. Scientology also
made some other rather silly objections, based on occupational categories
and the use of a computer to select jurors. They accused the Sheriff,
who administers the jury, of "wilful misconduct", because he used a
computer. All of these objections were dismissed by the trial judge. [5]
On April 21, 1992, the prosecution and defense outlined their evidence.
James Stewart, acting for the Crown, told the jury that former
Scientologist Bryan Levman would be the prosecution's main witness. Levman
had become interested in Scientology as a 20-year-old student, and
rose quickly through the ranks to become Deputy Guardian for Canada. Mr.
Stewart also said he planned to call police officer Barbara Taylor, to
describe her undercover work within Scientology, and other former
Scientologists who had knowledge of the crimes.
Defence lawyer Clayton Ruby did not deny that crimes had been committed,
but he maintained that the wrong people were at trial. He used
organization charts to underline his assertions that "the Guardian's Office
could give orders to the Church of Scientology, Toronto, but the Church
of Scientology, Toronto, could never give an order to anyone in the
Guardian's Office". [6] Ruby said the prosecution witnesses could not be
believed, because they had all taken special training in how to lie.
Bryan Levman testified for five days. After his promotion to the position
of Deputy Guardian Canada by Mary Sue Hubbard, Levman travelled to
England in 1973 for a briefing from Jane Kember, head of the Guardian
Office Worldwide. He testified that he was shown a secret policy directive
from L. Ron Hubbard outlining how members of the Guardian's Office
Worldwide should "deal with Scientology's enemies". These techniques
included "ripoffs", described as a "break and enter", and the use of
"agents" -- having Scientologists get a job within a targeted organization.
According to the policy, information was to be used to get enemies of
Scientology removed from their jobs. He was told to get the information
"any way you can". [7] "Jane Kember ... knew the attorney general, the OPP
and Metro Police were investigating us and she wanted the files --
that was my mandate, to get those files." [8] He said he was given a list
of 12 agencies that he was expected to infiltrate. [9] As the operation
proceeded, the target list grew to "probably a few dozen" agencies and
individuals, he said. [10] Levman testified that after every successful
operation, the Guardian's Office in England would be informed by telex
through an elaborate code system. Levman said no money was ever taken
in the "ripoffs", only photocopies.
Former Scientologist intelligence bureau chief Dianne Fairfield told the
court that she had recruited three people -- "two plants and one agent" -- to
work in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police headquarters and Revenue Canada
taxation offices. The agent developed a cover, befriending people
in certain agencies and groups. The plants tried to get secretarial or
janitorial jobs in target organizations. [11]
Marion Envoy, formerly Canada's top official with Scientology, said [Ron]
Hubbard believed there was a world-wide conspiracy against his
church run by a band of former Nazis who had overtaken Interpol -- the
European-based International police organization. She said that Hubbard
ordered a world-wide spy operation, code-named "Snow White". Envoy said
that as part of her spy training she was put in a closet with a set of
lock picks and told to unlock the door. Defense council Ruby showed Envoy a
document he suggested was the basis for the Snow White program
and pointed out it specified using only legal means. She said it appeared
to be a version of the program intended for the legal department.
Former Scientology agent Kathy Smith testified about safe houses referred
to as "the garden", where secret information was amassed and filed.
She said she wrote a letter to Hubbard outlining all the illegal activity
she was involved in and received a note of congratulations back, signed
Ron.
[9]
A number of witnesses testified about being planted in police offices and
stealing or memorizing information from confidential files. Many of the
witnesses said they had been on Hubbard's yacht, or in his place in England
or Florida during their years with the church.
The defence called Jane Kember as a witness. Mrs. Kember, then 55, said
that as Scientology's "Guardian", she authorized break-ins and "plants"
in governments and police forces "despite" orders from L. Ron Hubbard to
avoid illegal means of gathering information. She said the Guardian's
Office had no direct links with the Church of Scientology. She told the
jury her actions led to her spending two years in a U.S. federal prison.
[12]
Defence witness Caroline Taylor testified that during the period she served
as secretary to Ron Hubbard she screened mail to him, but saw no
letters alleging crimes were being committed by the Guardian's Office. [13]
The defence called David Miscavige, the head of the Church of Scientology.
Miscavige said that when he first saw a document outlining dirty tricks
and harassment in a project called "Operation Freakout" in 1981, "I was
shocked". He said that in July, 1981, when he and other top officials
investigated the dirty tricks, they discovered that Scientologists in the
Guardian's Office were committing crimes. The Guardian's Office was set up
in 1966 by L. Ron Hubbard to gather information and deal with external
matters, he said.
Miscavige said that although he lived for a time in the complex with Mary
Sue Hubbard and her staff, he knew nothing about their covert activities.
After learning about the crimes committed by the Guardian's Office,
Miscavige and colleagues decided they would have to bring it under the
control of the main church, he said. They devised a plan in which trusted
teams of Scientologists would fan out to various Guardian's offices
worldwide, poised to await word that Mary Sue Hubbard had resigned as head
of that branch.
Miscavige told the court that his mission was to get Hubbard's wife to
quit. When they confronted each other in a Los Angeles hotel room, Mary
Sue Hubbard called him "some pretty nasty names" and held a large ashtray
close to his face. But he persuaded her it was futile to hang on to
power.
The church tried unsuccessfully to reform the Guardian's Office and finally
disbanded it in 1983, he said. [14]
The trial continued for two months, until June 25th, 1992. In his
summation, Crown attorney J. Stewart told the jury that the Church of
Scientology was trying to hide behind its members, but that it must take full
responsibility for the spy activities of its agents. Mr. Stewart said
secrecy is "just a function of intelligence operations. It can't be used as an argument that
there was no authority to conduct" spy activities. [15]
The jury deliberated for a day and a half, and returned the verdicts noted
in part 4 of this series. On September 11th, 1992, the Church of
Scientology of Toronto was found guilty on two counts of breach of trust of
a public officer. Jaqueline Matz, Janice Wheeler and Donald Bryan
Whitmore were also found guilty of breach of trust. The church was fined a
total of $250,000 and the others were fined $2000 to $2500 per
offence.
Judge Southey said that he was satisfied the Guardian's Office was "subject
to the control of founder L. Ron Hubbard and his wife, Mary Sue
Hubbard". He noted that the Guardian's Office was only disbanded after
incriminating documents had been seized by the U.S. FBI, and he
described the large fine as required for general deterrence.
On September 14th, 1992, the Church of Scientology of Toronto announced
that it had filed suit against the Ontario Provincial Police and the
Attorney General of Ontario for illegal and unconstitutional search and
seizure, in connection with the March 1983 raid on its headquarters. The
church is seeking $18 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in
punitive damages.
Reference:
1."R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto", Canadian Rights Reporter (2d), vol. 9, p. 223.
2.Ibid., p. 226.
3.p. 230-231.
4."R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto", Canadian Criminal Cases (3d), vol. 74, p. 341-353.
5."R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto et al.", Canadian Rights Reporter (2d), vol. 9, p. 232.
6."Ruby outlines case for Scientologists", Globe & Mail, April 22, 1992, p. A13.
7."Church wanted files, trial told". Globe & Mail, April 23, 1992, p. A17.
8."Scientologists infiltrated RCMP, Ontario government, trial told", Winnipeg Free Press, April 23, 1992, p. A9.
9."Scientology trial hears of intrigue and 'plants'", Toronto Star, May 16, 1992, p. A19.
10."Scientology spies had many targets", Halifax Chronicle Herald, May 2, 1992, p. D27.
11."Scientologists planted moles in RCMP, trial told", Globe & Mail, May 5, 1992, p. A15.
12."Scientologist takes responsibility", Globe & Mail, May 28, 1992, p. A15.
13."Allegations outrageous, court told", Globe & Mail, 29 May 1992, p. A15.
14."Crimes outraged church trial told", Toronto Star, May 29, 1992, p. A26.
15."Organization hiding behind members, court told", Globe & Mail, June 20, 1992, p. A17.
16."Church of Scientology fined $250,000 for espionage", Globe & Mail, Sept. 12, 1992, page 1.