The documents were brought as exhibits attached to a declaration by Steven Fishman on 9 April 1993 as part of Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz. Along with Kendrick Moxon and Laurie Bartilson, Timothy Bowles was one of the lead attorneys for the Church of Scientology in the case.
Fishman told the court that he had committed crimes on behalf of the Church. He also attested that he was assigned to murder his psychologist, Dr. Uwe Geertz, and then commit suicide.
As evidence, Fishman submitted course materials he said that he purchased from Ellie Bolger, a fellow Scientologist, and Richard Ofshe, an expert witness for his defense. The Church says the documents were stolen and considers them to be copyrighted and a trade secret. Among other materials, the affidavit contains 61 pages of the allegedly trade-secret and copyrighted story of Xenu.
The Fishman Affidavit contains much text from the old versions of the Operating Thetan levels. The versions of OT I to OT VII in the Fishman Affidavit are considered authentic as the church's Religious Technology Center (RTC) brought copyright lawsuits over their release on the Internet. Fishman's description of OT VIII contains the accusation that Jesus was a pedophile. After initially asserting copyright to all the OT level descriptions in the affidavit, RTC amended its claim to remove the OT VIII description, calling it a forgery. Fishman stated that he had obtained his copy of OT VIII from Ofshe, a different source than his copies of the other OT Levels, purchased from a fellow Scientologist.
The Church of Scientology dropped its libel case against Fishman and Geertz in 1994.
An important side aspect of the case was the fact that several high-ranking Scientology officials and lead attorneys for the organization and former high-ranking Scientologists submitted declarations on their activities for the Church of Scientology, giving thereby insight into the internal ongoings of the Scientology management.
Among others, declarations were submitted by:
- Richard Aznaran & Vicki Aznaran, former executives of the Religious Technology Center
- Jonathan Epstein, at that time "International Finance Director" of the Church of Scientology International
- Guillaume Lesevre, at that time Executive Director International of the Church of Scientology International
- David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center
- Raymond Mithoff, at that time "Senior Case Supervisor International" of the Church of Scientology International
- Thomas Spring, tax attorney for the Church of Scientology International
- Norman Starkey, at that time Executive Director of Author Services Inc.
- André Tabayoyon, Ex-Scientologist and former security official of the Church of Scientology International
- William Walsh, attorney for different organizations of the Church of Scientology
- Marc Yager, at that time Chairman of the "Watchdog Committee" of the Church of Scientology International
- Monique Yingling, tax attorney for the Church of Scientology International
- Robert Vaughn Young, former spokesperson for the Guardian's Office and Author Services Inc.
- Stacy Brooks Young, former official of the U.S. Office of Special Affairs
Read more about this topic: Fishman Affidavit
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