Karen#1
Well-known member
Just what the Danny Masterson victims did not need. Their attorneys with the prestigious firm Boies Schiller Flexner have admitted their “embarrassing” mistake after Scientology accused them of including bogus AI-generated citations in an appeal briefing that was filed in late July.
This is in regards to the civil lawsuit filed against the Church of Scientology, its leader David Miscavige, and church celebrity Danny Masterson by the same three Jane Doe victims from the criminal case that put Masterson in prison. The lawsuit was also filed by the husband of one of the victims and another woman who was not involved in the criminal trials. Those five plaintiffs sued civilly in 2019 over harassment they say they have endured since the women came forward to the LAPD with their allegations about the That ‘70s Show actor.
The lawsuit at one point was forced into Scientology’s “religious arbitration” until an appeals court overturned that decision. Then it was put on hold during Masterson’s two criminal trials. After Masterson was convicted in May 2023, Scientology attempted to gut the lawsuit with anti-SLAPP motions that were denied by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Upinder Kalra. Scientology appealed Kalra’s ruling to the 2nd Appellate Division of the California Court of Appeals. In April Scientology filed its appeal brief. Then in late July attorneys for the plaintiffs from Boies Schiller Flexner filed their “respondents’ brief.” (In appeals court terms, Scientology here is the “appellant” and the Jane Does are the “respondents.”)
After each side has had its say, appeals court procedure calls for the appellant, Scientology, to get one more turn by filing an “appellant’s reply brief.” Then, fully briefed, the case would go to oral arguments and eventually a ruling.
But the appellant’s reply brief Scientology filed this month opens with a stunning allegation: That the Boies Schiller Flexner attorneys included numerous bogus case law citations in their respondents’ brief that Scientology suspected were AI-generated.
“The portions of the brief containing errors bear many of the hallmarks of AI-generated case citations…. multiple sections of plaintiffs’ brief are filled with erroneous citations that mischaracterize holdings and refer to cases on unrelated areas of law. Some cases are mistitled such that it is difficult to determine what cases plaintiffs are intending to cite in the first place. And one case plaintiffs cite is completely made up. At minimum, this court should disregard these sections of plaintiffs’ brief and find the arguments plaintiffs make forfeited.”
A table is attached to the document detailing 17 instances of cases being cited incorrectly by the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
For example, the plaintiffs’ brief cites a 1995 case, Adams v. Paul, to support an argument about the Kalra court being obligated to consider evidence of a conspiracy. Scientology points out, however, that the actual Adams v. Paul decision doesn’t mention conspiracy at all.
Scientology submitted its accusatory filing on September 8, and we obtained a copy of it the next day after receiving an automated email message from the court that it had been filed. When we saw the allegations being made by Scientology, we contacted the attorneys at Boies Schiller Flexner to give them an opportunity to respond. They then asked us to hold off on revealing that Scientology had made these accusations until they could file a response with the court.
That response was filed late on Friday night and we obtained a copy of it yesterday.
Read more:
Scientology catches Masterson victim attorneys with AI-fudged citations in court filing
Just what the Danny Masterson victims did not need.
tonyortega.substack.com
