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dmdec
---
title: "Court Declaration — dmdec"
source: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/Declaration/dmdec.txt
retrieved: 2026-06-28
---
William T. Drescher
23679 Calabasas Road, Suite 338
Calabasas, California 91302
(818) 591-0039
Michael Lee Hertzberg
740 Broadway
New York, New York 10003
(212) 982-9870
Attorneys for Non-Party
DAVID MISCAVIGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY
INTERNATIONAL, a California Non-
Profit Religious Organization,
vs .
Plaintiff,
STEVEN FISHMAN and UWE GEERTZ,
Defendants.
CASE NO. CV 91-6426 HLH(Tx)
DECLARATION OF DAVID MISCAVIGE
I, DAVID MISCAVIGE, declare and say:
1. I am over 18 years of age and a resident of the State of
California. I have personal knowledge of the matters set
forth in this declaration and, if called upon as a witness I
could and would competently testify thereto.
2. I am not a party in the above-referenced case. nor am I
affiliated in any corporate capacity with the plaintiff,
Church of Scientology International ("CSI"). I make this
declaration for several reasons. First, until January 4,
1994, the date on which I was informed that my deposition had
been ordered in this case by Magistrate Judge Tassopulos, I
had no idea that I would be required to testify in this case.
I was never served with any subpoena for such testimony, I
have never had any contact whatsoever with either defendant,
and I had nothing whatsoever to do with this case until now.
In fact, it was not until January 6, 1994, after my
deposition had been ordered, that I first read the outrageous
papers filed by Geertz's counsel when he sought to have my
deposition ordered. Second, upon reading those papers, I
discovered that Geertz's counsel made arguments to the
Magistrate Judge that gave her the absolutely false
impression that I was evading service of subpoena. It caused
me great concern to learn that the Magistrate Judge had
asked, "Why has Mr. Miscavige avoided service?" I did no such
thing, and were it not for the baseless allegations which
Geertz's counsel proffered, I believe the Magistrate Judge
would instead have asked Geertz's counsel, "Has Mr. Miscavige
been served?" The truthful answer to that question is "No."
Third, my lawyers' efforts to arrange for my deposition to be
taken have been rebuffed by Geertz's counsel, who, at the
same time, is threatening to move for a contempt citation
against me for not appearing at a deposition he has refused
to schedule. It is inconceivable to me that Geertz's counsel
can seriously contend that I am to blame for a deposition not
going forward when he has refused to depose me. Finally, in
the course of these proceedings, Geertz's Counsel, Robert
Vaughn Young and Stacy Young have made a number of
allegations about me and about the Scientology religion which
require a response, so there can be no doubt that those
allegations are false.
3. I have read the vile declarations filed by Vaughn and
Stacy Young in this case. It is clear to me that the false
allegations they have filed have been offered solely for the
purpose of making me the centerpiece of this litigation, and
that their motivation is to forward a litigation tactic of
harassment to the point of a hoped-for default by the only
plaintiff to this action, CSI. The foregoing is based on the
falsity of the claims they have made, my personal knowledge
that both of these individuals are not qualified to testify
to the matters they have addressed by declaration, and
because I have seen the same litigation tactics used before
in instances where Vaughn Young would have learned this
"technique." Therefore, this declaration is submitted to
demonstrate that I have no knowledge of the defendants in
this case, to set the record straight concerning the false
allegations of Vaughn and Stacy Young, and to comply as fully
with the court order concerning my deposition as Geertz's
counsel's actions permit, since Geertz's counsel has declined
all opportunities to do so. I also submit this declaration
because I feel the Court has been poisoned into believing
that I have had some role in this litigation by the
statements of the Youngs and counsel for Geertz, to which I
have neither responded nor even had the opportunity to
respond.
BACKGROUND
4. I have been a practicing member of the Scientology
religion since 1971. In 1976, I joined staff of the Church of
Scientology of California (and the Sea Organization -- the
Scientology religious order). During my tenure in this
corporation, I held many positions. In 1977, I had the
opportunity to work directly with L. Ron Hubbard in many
different capacities. In 1978, Mr. Hubbard was engaged in the