Watchtower pays $4000 per day for disobeying Secular Authority

[Srecko Sostar]

DISPOSITION

The order is affirmed. Padron is awarded his costs of appeal

[Noble Berean]

2 hours ago, Anna said:

Someone already posted this at the beginning of this thread.

It is up in the air because it can be appealed. Which no doubt it will be...until it reaches the US supreme court. They have always treated us fair. Ok, most of the time. So there is a possibility this will come to nothing at all.

So this is going to a higher court?

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

5 hours ago, Noble Berean said:

So this is going to a higher court?

I strongly suspect that it has ALREADY gone to the Highest Court, and Jehovah is not pleased that the Brotherhood's hard earned money, contributed to His service, is being used to pervert Justice ..... for the god Mammon.

 

 

[Evacuated]

26 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

I strongly suspect that it has ALREADY gone to the Highest Court,

Understand the reference as to Jehovah's view.

But has it been to the highest "earthly" court? Or is there a further appeal pending?  Can't work out where it is from these postings.

[Anna]

1 hour ago, Noble Berean said:

So this is going to a higher court? 

@Gone Fishing   According to the link for the appellate court case information Srecko provided, a remittitur has been issued on 01/08/2018 which means it has been handed back down to the lower court. I am no lawyer so I don't know what this means for WT, whether it will be appealed again, or whether the lower court will close the case.....or what...one would need to ask someone who knows what they are talking about.

 

[Evacuated]

5 hours ago, Anna said:

01/08/2018

2017 do you mean?

[Anna]

2 hours ago, Gone Fishing said:

2017 do you mean?

No, they really mean 2018. January. Don't forget as well the Americans write their dates in the month/day/year format. It's under "scheduled actions" and it's due 30 days from when it is issued. So I said it wrong. It was evidently issued 8th December 2017 and is due 8th January 2018

http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/scheduledActions.cfm?dist=41&doc_id=2150357&doc_no=D070723&request_token=NiIwLSInLkg9WzApSSFNXE1IQEw6UkxbJCJeWzhTQCAgCg%3D%3D

[Srecko Sostar]

11 hours ago, Anna said:

remittitur

Anna, i found this explanation of term;

In the context of appellate procedure, it refers to an appellate court sending a case back to the trial court so that the case can be retried, or so that trial court can enter an order that conforms to the findings of the appellate court. Remittitur is a process by which jurisdiction is transferred back from the appellate court to the trial court. Remittitur divests the appellate court of the jurisdiction after it has resolved the appeal, and permits full jurisdiction over the judgment to be returned to the trial court.

https://definitions.uslegal.com/r/remittitur/

but you never know what and how lawyers can play the game :))))

[Srecko Sostar]

I just found this interesting comment on YT

Regarding the court fines: I just read something interesting today from the book "Defending and Legally Establishing the Good News" (WTBTS 1950). It says on page 81, last paragraph under "FINES": If, after appealing a criminal court fine related to your JW membership or JW's doctrine, "then instead of paying the fine, discharge it by going to jail, if allowed to do so by law". "If it is his (Jehovah's) will that you go to prison and there give further testimony after failing on appeal, that should be done joyfully. Trust in Jehovah for protection". So which JW will be going to prison over the $4000 daily fine from the court? I think these fines are against the WTBTS, not the elders or congregation. In Los Angeles County, jail time is typically used to pay off court fines at the rate of $38 per day. (each day of $4000 fine would equal 105 days in jail) Maybe they can send the entire Governing Body to prison? Wouldn't that be fun to see. I'm sure they can delay the fines for a few more years, but eventually they will have to pay. If WT pays this fine instead of choosing jail, they would be in violation of their own command.?

source; 

 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

I still have a copy of "Defending" ... which guided me when I was faced with prison for refusing military service during the Vietnam War, when I was 18 years old.  I have no objection to any principles outlined in it ... at all.

Unfortunately, the "Truth" during the 60's was defined by principle, and refined by the fire of circumstance ... and the "Truth" we have today is defined by the Society's Lawyers, and Accountants .... even the "Blood" Issue ... crystal clear and unambiguous ... has been perverted by the accountants and lawyers so the SOCIETY WILL NOT BE SUED INTO OBLIVION.

As Dorothy said to her dog in the "Wizard of Oz" .... "we're not in Kansas, anymore, Toto".

I do not mind at all following Jehovah's Chariot ... but I do check the route and weather before following the Circus Clown Car.

 

[The Librarian]

It is still unclear to me if we are still paying $4,000 every day to this court. Anyone know what happened to that fine? Or did we satisfy the judge by providing what he/she wanted?

[Srecko Sostar]

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2018/jan/12/ticker-jehovahs-witnesses-settle-sex-abuse-case/#

 

Jehovah's Witnesses to settle sex-abuse case

 

Victim filed lawsuit six (6) years ago

By Dorian Hargrove, Jan. 12, 2018

 

A lawsuit is now settled between a former victim of sexual abuse and Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the court's website, the case is under a "conditional settlement." The terms and conditions of the settlement are not public.

José Lopez filed the lawsuit back in 2012, nearly 20 years after church elder Gonzalo Campos molested him and several other young children who were members of the Linda Vista congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

As reported by the Reader, Campos, who fled to Mexico to escape criminal charges, admitted to committing the acts to Lopez’s and another victim's attorney, Devin Storey, while giving testimony in one of the cases.

“I touched him in his private parts,” Campos testified.

Attorney Storey: “Did you touch his penis?”

Campos: “Yes.”

Storey: “Did you penetrate him?”

Campos: “Yes. Yes.”

Storey: “How many times?”

Campos: “More than once. I don’t know.”

In 2009, five other alleged victims sued the Watchtower and Bible and Tract Society of New York, the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses, over the molestation by Campos and the Watchtower's refusal to act.

That case settled for an undisclosed amount in 2012, the same year that Lopez filed his lawsuit and a year before another victim, Osbaldo Padron, filed his.

Then, in 2015, a state court judge ruled that the Watchtower had failed to cooperate with discovery in the Lopez case. The judge awarded a $13.5 million judgment in favor of Lopez.

The Watchtower later appealed the decision and managed to get the decision rescinded and promised to produce the requested documents.

Meanwhile, a fight over documents was also occurring in Padron's case, the one filed shortly after Lopez’s lawsuit.

At issue was Watchtower’s refusal to turn over a letter from headquarters that asked for the names of alleged sexual abusers in the church.

But at the same time other documents had been released by the Linda Vista congregation, which showed the congregation and headquarters were aware that Campos had sexually assaulted young boys and a girl but still considered him eligible to return to the congregation.

“In our meeting with him he said he was very repentant for what he did,” wrote an elder at Linda Vista's congregation to Watchtower headquarters in New York in 1999.

“He stated that he wanted to return to Jehovah. He is willing to face the victims and ask their forgiveness. He now wants to obey Jehovah. Before, when he would speak to people on the platform he would not meditate on what he was doing. Although he needed to confess, he felt shameful and had fear of mankind. He would deceive himself thinking that he could continue serving as an elder. Now he realized that he could not change without help. Ever since his expulsion he has not abused anyone. He has read articles of the publications regarding his sin. He says he does not see or read pornographic information. He stated that ever since expulsion he has worked on having a relationship with Jehovah and the expulsion has served to strengthen him spiritually. He does not miss meetings, and he even takes notes of the program. He also said that he is willing to continue accepting Jehovah’s discipline.”

While the two sides continued to fight over discovery in the Lopez case, another judge issued sanctions against the Watchtower for refusing to turn over documents in the Padron case.

The Watchtower also appealed that decision as well.

As covered by the Reader, in November a state appellate court rejected the appeal, sending the case back to state court and keeping the $4000-per-day sanctions in place.

Meanwhile, as the Padron case was heading back to state court, attorneys for Lopez and Watchtower agreed to settle the Lopez case.

Lopez’s attorney, Irwin Zalkin, did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication of this article.

There is no word yet whether Padron's case has also been settled. A hearing is scheduled for next month.

 

More stories by Dorian Hargrove

Jehovah's Witnesses to settle sex-abuse case — Jan. 12, 2018