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State
of Florida v. Jesse Prince
In
May of 2001, Jesse Price stood trial in Clearwater,
Florida for possession of a marijauna plant. Jesse could
have accepted a plea bargain and paid a small fine but
he decided to fight the charge to uncover Scientology's
involvement in the case.
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The
trial was expensive and in some ways embarrasing but ultimately
we were able to show just how far Scientology will go to
attempt to destroy it's critics.
Several
of Scientology's Private Investigators were forced to take
the stand and testify. One of them, Brian Raftery, testified
that he is paid $187,000 a year for following members of the
LMT.
Furthermore,
Scientology admitted to the press that they set out to damage
Jesse's reputation through these investigators so they could
undermine Jesse's testimony in the Lisa McPherson wrongful
death civil suit. This is a very serious example of witness
tampering.
Ultimately,
Scientology's effort backfired as the local media condemned
them for the set-up.
Judge
Michael F. Andrews presided over the trial and allowed LMT
Media to record the audio
of the proceedings.
LEGAL
DOCUMENTS:
May 15, 2001 --
Deposition of Jim Patterson, a private investigator
hired by the defense, along with Ray Emmons, to locate Scientology
PI's for this trial.
May 15, 2001 --
Deposition of Ray Emmons, a private investigator hired
by the defense, along with Jim Patterson, to locate Scientology
PI's for this trial.
May 15, 2001 -- Deposition
of Brian Raftery, Private Detective hired by Scientology
to surveil Jesse Prince. (Also, on this
record is Scientology Attorney, Helena Kobrin, attempting
to attend the deposition without identifying that she represents
Scientology.) PDF
version 2.2 megs
May 15, 2001 -- Deposition of Barry Gaston, Private Detective
hired by Scientology to surveil Jesse Prince. Gaston
befriended Jesse and Dee at a local pool hall and claimed
to be Rinzi Trinidad. PDF
version 2.4 megs
May 18, 2001 -- Deposition
of Joseph Fabrizio, Private Detective hired by Scientology
to surveil Jesse Prince. Fabrizio worked with fellow PI,
Barry Gaston. (Also, on this record is Scientology
Attorney, Helena Kobrin.) PDF
version 7.24 megs
May 15, 2001 --
Deposition of Howard Crosby, Sergeant, Largo Police.
PDF
version 2.3 megs
May 18, 2001 -- Deposition
of Deneen Phillips, Jesse's partner.
May 23-24, 2001 -- Trial Transcripts
- Part 1xx
Part 2 xxPart
3 xxPart
4 xxPart
5
IN
THE PRESS
Aug
12, 2000 -- St. Pete Times article, Scientology
critic faces drug cultivation charge
May 19, 2001 -- St. Pete Times article,
Church critic trailed, arrested
May 23, 2001 -- Tampa Tribune article, 'Testimony:
Church of Scientology spurred critic's arrest'
May
24, 2001 -- St. Pete Times article, Scientology
is a key player in marijuana case
May 25, 2001 -- Tampa Tribune story, Scientology
critic's jury hung
May
26, 2001 -- St. Pete Times editorial, Church behavior? ... Scientology
set out to destroy Jesse Prince.
May
26, 2001 -- St. Pete Times story, Scientology
critic won't face retrial; Prosecutors decide to drop marijuana
charge
May
26, 2001 -- Tampa Tribune article, Hung
jury induces prosecutors to drop their pot-growing case
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Report 1