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DeCrescenzo v. Scientology: Motion For Stay During Appeal
DeCrescenzo v. Scientology: Motion For Stay During Appeal
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LAURA ANN DeCRESCENZO, Case No. BC411018
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Plaintiff, Assigned for All Purposes to the
16 Hon. Mark V. Mooney, Dept. 068
v.
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STAY PROCEEDINGS; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
1 TO ALL PARTIES AND TO THEIR COUNSEL OF RECORD:
2 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT on June 8,2018, at 8:30 A.M.. or as soon thereafter as
3 counsel may be heard, in Department 068 of the above-captioned Court, located at 111 North Hill
4 Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, Defendant Church of Scientology International ("CSI") will and
5 hereby does move this Court to Stay Proceedings pending resolution of its appeal of a related
6 federal action.
7 This Motion is made upon the following grounds: CSI has filed a notice of appeal of an
8 order granting a Motion to Dismiss in a related federal case in the Central District of California,
10 the Ninth Circuit. The federal case seeks to enjoin this action as collaterally estopped by a prior
11 judgment of a federal court. If the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reverses
12 the federal District Court's order of dismissal, then this action will not proceed. Accordingly, this
13 Court should not proceed to trial in the matter when there is a real possibility that trial will be
14 unnecessary or, worse, that trial would go forward in a case later enjoined by the federal courts,
16 In granting the Motion to Dismiss, the federal District Court acknowledged the importance
17 and legitimacy of the collateral estoppel issue. The federal District Court, however, failed to
18 consider significant points of law—most notably, the fact that federal, not California, law has
19 always controlled resolution of the collateral estoppel issue in this case. On appeal before the
20 Ninth Circuit, CSI will address these issues, and CSI expects the Ninth Circuit to resolve the
22 This Motion is based on this Notice of Motion, the attached Memorandum of Points and
23 Authorities, the Declaration of Bert H. Deixler filed concurrently herewith, all of the pleadings,
24 files, and records in this proceeding, all other matters of which the Court may take judicial notice,
25 and any argument or evidence that may be presented to or considered by the Court prior to its
26 ruling.
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1 DATED: May 16, 2018 KENDALL BRILL & KELLY LLP
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By:
4 Bert H. Deixler
Attorneys for Defendant Church of Scientology
5 International
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
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3 I. INTRODUCTION 1
4 II. BACKGROUND 1
8 C. CSI Is Likely to Prevail on Appeal And The Ninth Circuit Will Enforce The
Prior Federal Court Judgment 4
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1. Under Federal Law, Judge King's Final Judgment Is Preclusive 5
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2. Judge Wu Granted A Motion To Dismiss Because Of Prior
11 California Court Rulings On The Collateral Estoppel Issue, But
Failed To Recognize That Those Prior Rulings Erroneously Applied
12 Only California, Not Federal, Law 6
13 III. ARGUMENT 7
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1 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
2 Page(s)
3 Cases
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Allen v. Ferguson,
791 F.2d 611 (7th Cir. 1986) 6
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14 City & County ofSan Francisco v. Fair Emp. & Hous. Comm 'n,
191 Cal. App. 3d. 976 (1987), abrogated on other grounds by Richards v.
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CH2MHUI, Inc., 26 Cal. 4th 798 (2001) 10
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City of Waco v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.,
17 293 U.S. 140(1934) 5,6
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Pelleport Investors, Inc. v. Budco Quality Theatres, Inc.,
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Simmons v. Superior Court,
96 Cal. App. 2d 119 (1950) 9, 10
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1 Stevens v. Brink's Home Security, Inc.,
378 F.3d 944 (9th Cir. 2004) 6
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Stall v. Gottlieb,
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305 U.S. 165(1938) 5
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Tahoe Sierra Preservation Council v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency,
5 322 F.3d 1064 (9th Cir. 2003) 5
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Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 82 (1982) 4
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Other Authorities
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Degnan, Federalized Res Judicata, 85 Yale L.J. 741, 749 (1976) 4
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1 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
2 I. INTRODUCTION
3 There is a pending federal appeal which could entirely resolve this case. If the appeal is
4 resolved in favor of Defendant Church of Scientology International ("CSI"), this action will be
5 enjoined. It makes little sense to expend the considerable judicial and party resources necessary
6 for a trial in this matter when the federal appeal could (and likely will) make trial before this Court
7 a dead letter.
8 Accordingly, CSI asks this Court to stay trial in the matter pending resolution of the
9 federal appeal. CSI is preparing and will seek forthwith expedited resolution of the federal appeal.
10 As it concerns this Court, trial in this long-cause matter will be a major undertaking. Plaintiff has
11 asserted that the trial—in a first phase alone—will occupy 137 hours of this Court's time. A
12 second-phase trial (if necessary) could occupy months more of this Court's time. Before this
13 Court and the parties embark on that path, it makes sense for the parties to wait until it is clear
14 whether there will be federal-court intervention that would make the parties' and the Court's work
15 on this case moot. Meanwhile, little or no prejudice would result from such a stay—discovery in
16 the case has long since closed, and all applicable pre-trial briefing has already been submitted to
17 the Court.
18 Thus, the Court should stay trial in this matter pending the related federal appeal.
19 II. BACKGROUND
21 DeCrescenzo filed her lawsuit in this Court long after, as DeCresccenzo admits, each of
22 her claims became barred by the statute of limitations. Declaration of Bert H. Deixler ("Deixler
23 Decl.") Ex. K, ECF No. 35, Order Granting Motion to Dismiss at 2. Even though her causes of
24 action were all time-barred, DeCrescenzo amended her complaint to assert a new claim under 18
25 U.S.C. §§ 1589, 1593, 1595 ("the Federal Claim"). Id. CSI then removed this case to federal
26 court, where it was assigned in the Central District of California to then Chief Judge George H.
27 King. Id.; see also Deixler Decl. Ex. B. CSI then moved to dismiss all of DeCrescenzo's claims
2 alleged that she was prevented from asserting her claims because of a variety of alleged acts that
3 occurred while she performed services for CSI and before her claims accrued.. She also asserted
4 that CSI told her (and she believed) that she had waived her legal rights by signing various
6 In federal District Court, Chief Judge King granted CSFs Motion to Dismiss the Federal
7 Claim, holding that the Federal Claim was barred by the statute of limitations and rejecting
8 DeCrescenzo's equitable estoppel argument.1 Id.; see also Deixler Decl. Ex. C. Judge King
9 declined to rule on the remaining state law claims, each of which was time-barred unless equitable
10 estoppel applied, instead remanding the case to state court. Id. Once the case returned to Los
11 Angeles Superior Court, CSI demurred to DeCrescenzo's complaint, arguing that the causes of
12 action were time-barred, and, regardless, that she was collaterally estopped by Judge King's final
13 judgment to assert her equitable estoppel argument. Deixler Decl. Ex. K at 2. The demurrer was
14 sustained with leave to amend, as DeCrescenzo had failed to explain why equitable estoppel
15 applied. Id. at 2-3. She amended her complaint on February 2, 2010. Id. at 3; see also Deixler
17 CSI demurred to the second amended complaint, arguing again that all causes of action
18 were barred by the statute of limitations, and that all claims were barred by collateral estoppel
19 pursuant to Judge King's final judgment. Deixler Decl. Ex. K at 3. The Superior Court sustained
20 the demurrer, finding that the statute of limitations had run on DeCrescenzo's causes of action. Id.
21 The Superior Court also rejected the collateral estoppel argument as, under California law, a
22 federal court dismissal based on the statute of limitations was not considered a decision on the
23 merits under state law (although it is under federal law, which was the law applicable to the final
24 federal court judgment of Judge King), and therefore, did not have any preclusive effect. See id.
25 DeCrescenzo appealed, and the California Court of Appeal reversed and remanded, holding that
26 1 Whether the doctrine of equitable estoppel should apply, and whether the statute of
limitations has run, is the subject of the first phase of the bifurcated trial in front of this Court,
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scheduled to begin August 13,2018. Deixler Decl. Ex. H.
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1 "intimidation and threats of banishment and harassment, if true, may preclude defendants, in
3 The California Court of Appeal, in so doing, improperly applied California law to the
4 question of the federal court judgment. It declined to discuss thefederal arguments under the
5 federal law of collateral estoppel raised by CSI, including that (1) federal preclusion law and
6 federal preclusion law alone applies to a federal court judgment (2) a party cannot escape the
8 "additional" facts that she already knew and could have raised in the original federal court
9 proceeding that concluded in the federal court judgment; and (3) a federal court judgment
10 dismissing a federal claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6) is a final judgment
11 with both claim and issue preclusive effect. Deixler Decl. Exs. E-G.
12 B. CSI Brings A Separate Action In Federal Court To Enforce The Collateral Estoppel
14 On December 21, 2017, CSI filed a complaint in federal court to protect the integrity of
15 Judge King's final judgment under the Full Faith and Credit and Supremacy Clauses of the federal
16 Constitution. Deixler Decl. Ex. I.. CSI sought an order under the All Writs Act and the
17 relitigation exception to the Anti-Injunction Act to prevent DeCrescenzo from relitigating the
18 equitable estoppel/statute of limitations arguments that she had already lost. Id. In so doing, CSI
19 sought to avoid the unnecessary and considerable expenditure of time (months) and money
20 (millions of dollars) it would take to re-try in this Court the dispositive issue on which CSI already
22 On February 20, 2018, DeCrescenzo filed a Motion to Dismiss CSI's federal complaint.
23 CSI cross-moved for summary judgment. On May 3, 2018, the Honorable George H. Wu, of the
24 Central District of California, granted DeCrescenzo's Motion to Dismiss in a detailed order, and
26 Judge Wu's detailed order recognized the significance and complexity of the federal
27 procedural issue before the Court. Id. Nonetheless, Judge Wu ignored CSI's argument that the
28 California Court of Appeal incorrectly applied California collateral estoppel law, instead of
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1 federal collateral estoppel law, when it reached its decision. See generally, id. Judge Wu then
2 held that the California Court of Appeal's interlocutory opinion itself precluded CSI from
3 asserting the preclusive effect of Judge King's federal court judgment. Judge Wu did not address
4 CSI's argument that by deciding the issue under California law, the California Court of Appeal
5 applied a different rule of law than that (properly) urged by CSI, and that therefore the California
6 interlocutory opinion could not preclude CSI from raising the issue. Judge Wu also rejected CSI's
7 argument that since the California Court of Appeal's decision was merely interlocutory in nature,
8 it could not have collateral estoppel effect. While recognizing case law to the contrary, Judge Wu
9 found that more recent cases in California had abandoned the requirement of a final judgment to
10 apply collateral estoppel. CSI is appealing these errors to the Ninth Circuit.2
11 On May 14,2018, less than five days after judgment entered in the federal case, CSI filed a
13 C. CSI Is Likely to Prevail on Appeal And The Ninth Circuit Will Enforce The Prior
15 Federal law exclusively governs the question of the preclusive effect of a federal court
16 judgment on a federal claim. See Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 82 (1982) ("Federal law
17 determines the effects under the rules of resjudicata of a judgment of a federal court."); see also
18 Deixler Declaration, Ex. J. The California state courts which confronted this issue following
19 remand were required to apply federal preclusion law to the question of whether Judge King's
20 final judgment rejecting DeCrescenzo's attempt to interpose the doctrine of equitable estoppel
21 precluded her from later pursuing her state law claims in state court. See 18 C. Wright, A. Miller
22 & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 4468 at 53 (2002): Degnan, Federalized Res
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24 2 Judge Wu, in the alternative, also found that he would not exercise his discretion to avoid
enjoining this case. Deixler Decl. Ex. K. As he did not examine the key issue that the California
25 Court of Appeal had never applied the correct legal standard, he misunderstood the scope of his
discretion. There is no comity or other interest that could be served by allowing California to
26 apply its own collateral estoppel law when federal law applies. Had Judge Wu realized that the
California Court of Appeal had failed to apply the correct standard, there is no doubt that his
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comity analysis would be different. CSI plans to appeal this portion of the Court's order as well.
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1 Judicata, 85 YALE L.J. 741, 749 (1976); see a/.vo, e.g., C/j/c/t ATa/w CAoo v. Exxon Corp., 486 U.S.
2 140, 147 (1985); Stall v. Gottlieb, 305 U.S. 165 (1938); Deposit Bank v. Frankfort, 191 U.S. 499
3 (1903). Instead of following well-established law and applying federal law, the California courts
4 incorrectly applied California law and found that collateral estoppel does not apply to an order
5 granting a demurrer if a plaintiff later alleges "additional facts" that she failed to allege in the first
6 proceeding. Deixler Decl. Exs. E-G. Had the California courts correctly followed federal law, the
9 Under federal law (which should have been applied), Judge King's final judgment
10 dismissing the federal claim was a final judgment on the merits. "The Supreme Court has
12 merits." Tahoe Sierra Preservation Council v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 322 F.3d 1064,
13 1081 (9th Cir. 2003) (citing Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc., 514 U.S. 211, 228 (1995)). It also
14 unquestionably was appealable as a final judgment: "if a district court remands a case after the
15 federal claims have been resolved and it has chosen not to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, [as
16 here] its order is reviewable." Carlson v. Arrowhead Concrete Works, Inc., 445 F.3d 1046, 1050
18 The Supreme Court held, in City of Waco v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 293
19 U.S. 140 (1934), that a federal court's decision has preclusive effect on remand to the state court
20 when it reaches any substantive decision on the merits. In Waco, the state court defendant City
21 filed a cross-complaint against a third party, which then removed the entire action to federal
22 district court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. After the district court dismissed the cross-
23 complaint, it remanded the original action to the state court. The City appealed the dismissal of
24 the cross-complaint to the Fifth Circuit, which dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction on the
25 ground that the case had been remanded to the state court. The Supreme Court reversed, holding
26 that appeal was proper because the district court's judgment against the City, unless reversed on
27 appeal, would have preclusive effect on the remand: "[i]ndisputably this order is the subject of an
28 appeal; and, if not reversed or set aside, is conclusive upon the petitioner. " 293 U.S. at 143.
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1 Since Waco, courts uniformly recognize that when, in a removed action, a federal court
2 "reached a substantive decision on the merits apart from any jurisdictional decision," that decision
3 may have preclusive effect on remand to the state court, pursuant to generally applicable
4 preclusion doctrine. Pelleport Investors, Inc. v. Budco Quality Theatres, Inc., 741 F.2d 273,276
5 (9th Cir. 1984) ("Like the dismissal in Waco, the court's decision that the contract clause is
6 enforceable, if not reversed or set aside, is conclusive upon Budco, and, therefore, must be
7 reviewed"); Stevens v. Brink's Home Security, Inc., 378 F.3d 944, 946 (9th Cir. 2004) (quoting
8 Waco); Allen v. Ferguson, 791 F.2d 611, 613-14 (7th Cir. 1986) (reversing district court order
9 dismissing a defendant for lack of personal jurisdiction, destroying diversity jurisdiction, and
10 remanding: "If not reversed or set aside, [the order dismissing the defendant] is conclusive upon
II the petitioner... Following the reasoning of Waco and its progeny, we hold that we have
12 jurisdiction to consider the propriety of the district court's order dismissing Ferguson").
13 As Judge King's decision was a final judgment on the merits, it was entitled to preclusive
14 effect under federal law. The California courts which considered this issue erroneously failed to
15 ascribe the judgment its preclusive effect, precisely because they decided the question on the basis
16 of an inapplicable rule of law. By doing so, the California Court did not decide the question raised
17 by CSI's federal lawsuit, and Judge Wu therefore improperly applied collateral estoppel to that
21 Those Prior Rulings Erroneously Applied Only California, Not Federal, Law
22 In granting the Motion to Dismiss, Judge Wu relied on the fact that California state courts
23 had, in this action, previously considered the equitable estoppel issue. See, generally, Deixler
24 Decl. Ex. K. Judge Wu believed that these state court rulings, in turn, bound his discretion as a
25 federal judge to enjoin this state-court proceeding. Id. But Judge Wu failed to recognize the
26 importance of the rule that federal, not California, law governs the application of equitable
27 estoppel. No California court, at any time, ever addressed the core legal question that CSI's
28 federal action raises—whetherfederal law gives Judge King's prior ruling collateral estoppel
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1 effect. That, in turn, means that prior decisions of the California courts cannot have a preclusive
2 (or even persuasive) effect on the ability of a federal court to stay the proceedings, because they
4 It is hornbook law that collateral estoppel or issue preclusion applies only when the issues
5 decided by the first court are identical to the issues sought to be presented in the second action.
6 Not only must the basic facts at issue be the same, but so too must be the applicable rule of law.
7 [T]here are several factors that should be considered in deciding whether for
purposes of the rule of this Section the "issue" in the two proceedings is the same,
8 for example: Is there a substantial overlap between the evidence or argument to be
advanced in the second proceeding and that advanced in the first? Does the new
9 evidence or argument involve application ofthe same rule of law as that involved
in the prior proceeding? [emphasis added.]
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Restatement (Second) of Judgments. Section 27, Comment C (2017). Here, the prior California
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judgments plainly did not "involve application of the same rule of law," and neither could nor
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should limit Judge Wu's ability to enjoin this state-court action.
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Judge Wu missed this key point, and did not address it at all. Instead, he applied the
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California standard, without determining if that was appropriate, and then conducted a thorough
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analysis of this legal issue under California law. See id. at 8-11. Given Judge Wu's error, CSI
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believes its appeal to the Ninth Circuit of this issue will be successful.
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III. ARGUMENT
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This Court has the inherent authority, as a matter of sound discretion, to stay an action
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before it in favor of another pending court action when principles of comity and judicial economy
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make it appropriate to do so. Thomson v. Continental Ins. Co., 66 Cal.2d 738, 748 (1967); Landis
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v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1939) ("The power to stay proceedings is incidental to the
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power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy
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of time and effort for itself, for counsel and for litigants"). The California Supreme Court
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instructs that in determining whether to grant a stay, a court should consider the importance of
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avoiding unseemly conflicts with courts in other jurisdictions, whether the federal action is
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pending in California, as well as "whether the rights of the parties can best be determined by the
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1 court of the other jurisdiction because of the nature of the subject matter...." Thomson, 66 Cal.
2 2d at 746-48.
3 Here, these factors all favor a stay. Staying this case would (1) avoid unnecessary,
4 duplicative litigation; (2) prevent inconsistent judgments on the estoppel issue; and (3) allow
5 CSI's federal arguments to proceed in the only forum, California federal court, in which they can
7 As all of these factors weigh in favor of staying this case, CSI requests this Court stay the
10 CSI will request that the Ninth Circuit, in deciding the federal appeal, reconsider the
11 collateral estoppel arguments, which should result in a finding that that collateral estoppel should
12 bar this litigation. If the Ninth Circuit finds that the California Court of Appeal should have
13 applied federal preclusion law, then it necessarily follows that Judge King's final judgment, which
14 held that DeCrescenzo's claims were time-barred and that the doctrine of equitable estoppel
15 should not apply, will collaterally estop DeCrescenzo from further asserting her causes of action.
16 A ruling from the Ninth Circuit would entirely end the case before this Court. And, it
17 deals with precisely the same issue before this Court in the first-phase trial: whether the doctrine
18 of equitable estoppel bars CSI from asserting an otherwise-valid statute of limitations defense.
19 The first phase of trial concerns whether DeCrescenzo's claims are time-barred, and whether the
20 doctrine of equitable estoppel should apply. Deixler Decl. 19, Ex. H. As the appeal raises a
21 related issue, the result would be duplicative and potentially unnecessary. Before this Court
22 devotes months of its resources to this matter, this Court (and the parties) should be confident that
23 no other court will disturb its judgment. If both were to proceed concurrently, then a substantial
24 amount of resources ultimately could be wasted. See Schneider v. Vennard, 183 Cal. App. 3d
25 1340, 1350 (1986) ("[D]uplicative litigation ... does not serve the public interest.").
26 Permitting the state and federal actions to proceed in two separate courts would
27 unnecessarily drain the parties' and the state's resources. According to the parties' joint estimate
28 for the first-phase trial alone, Plaintiffs case is expected to occupy 99 hours of court time, and
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1 Defendants' 38, for a total of 137 Court hours for the first-phase trial alone, or approximately a
2 full month of trial. Deixler Decl. Ex. N. The second phase of trial could last longer still. With
3 that in mind, it is clear that if the trial were to proceed unnecessarily, the burden would be
4 extraordinary. This Court would devote a substantial amount of time and a substantial amount of
5 resources preparing for the lengthy trial, diverting resources from other cases on its docket,
6 hearing witness testimony and argument, and issuing a decision in the first phase of the trial. If
7 this case were to proceed to the second phase of trial (which it should not), this Court would have
8 to impanel a jury, with the jurors selected taking a significant amount of time away from their
9 lives to serve on the jury. This drain on resources is completely unwarranted when the federal
11 B. A Stay Will Prevent Inconsistent Judgments and Promote the Principle of Comity.
12 Beyond its importance for conservation ofjudicial resources, a stay is important for other
13 reasons. A stay could prevent this Court from reaching a decision (after months of trial) on the
14 equitable estoppel/statute of limitations argument which could conflict with Judge King's final
15 judgment. When there is a possibility that two courts could reach decisions that necessarily
16 conflict with each other, courts routinely stay one of the pending actions. See, e.g., Am. Home
17 Assur. Co. v. Vecco Const. Co., Inc. ofVa., 629 F.2d 961, 964 (1980) (reversing a denial of a
18 motion to stay when an arbitration was proceeding simultaneously with a state court action);
19 Thomson v. Con. Ins. Co., 66 Cal. 2d 738, 746 (1967) (holding a court may stay a case where
20 parallel proceedings are substantially similar); Berg v. MTC Elec. Techs. Co., 61 Cal. App. 4th
21 349, 355-56 (1998) (affirming stay of state court case in light of pending federal case asserting
22 similar claims).
23 In such situations, "[t]he potential for 'unseemly conflict' is great, unless both forums
24 should reach the exact same resolution of the issues." Caiafa Prof. Law Corp. v. State Farm, 15
25 Cal. App. 4th 800, 807 (1993). The principle of comity between the courts calls for the refusal of
26 this court to proceed before the appeal, which goes to the merits of the first phase of the trial, is
27 resolved. Simmons v. Superior Court, 96 Cal. App. 2d 119, 125 (1950) (holding the court abused
28 its discretion in not staying, as a matter of comity, the California state court action until the
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1 resolution of a federal case, which involved a similar issue); City & County ofSan Francisco v.
2 Fair Emp. & Hous. Comm 'n, 191 Cal. App. 3d. 976,992 (1987) (staying case to prevent creation
3 of'state' and 'federal' authorities), abrogated on other grounds by Richards v. CH2M Hill, Inc.,
4 26 Cal. 4th 798, 813-14 (2001). The multiplicity of actions creates the possibility of conflicting
5 judgments, confusion and ultimately a "unseemly" controversy between the litigants and the
6 courts. Simmons, 96 Cal. App. 2d at 125. A stay of this action permits the federal case to proceed
7 to conclusion in an efficient and effective manner, without the possibility of reaching a decision
8 which may ultimately conflict with this Court's decision on the equitable estoppel/statute of
9 limitations arguments.
11 Procedurally, at this stage in litigation, this argument can only be heard by the Ninth
12 Circuit. CSI previously sought relief by petitioning for rehearing in front of the California Court
13 of Appeal and the California Supreme Court. See, supra section II. A. Both petitions were denied.
14 Accordingly, before this Court and the parties devote months of time and significant amounts of
15 resources to this trial, CSI should be heard on this argument in front of the Ninth Circuit.
16 As this argument can only be heard in front of the Ninth Circuit—and as CSI is likely to be
17 successful, obviating the need for a trial in its entirety—this weighs in favor of a limited stay in
18 this case until the appeal has been heard in front of the Ninth Circuit.
20 DeCrescenzo will suffer no prejudice if this action is stayed. The requested stay is for a
21 limited period, and it will only be in place until the Ninth Circuit has ruled on the appeal. Beyond
22 this, CSI will seek an expedited briefing and argument schedule in the Ninth Circuit. Deixler
23 Decl. lj 16. Given that this action has been repeatedly delayed, one additional limited stay will not
25 On the other hand, if the Ninth Circuit reverses Judge Wu's order (which CSI expects it
26 will), CSI (and DeCrescenzo) will have wasted months of time and extensive resources trying a
27 case unnecessarily. If the Ninth Circuit does not reverse, however, the parties can set a new trial
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Kendall Brill 603112251.1 Case No. BC411018
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10100 kirna K'ora 3 *1 NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION OF DEFENDANT CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL TO
STAY PROCEEDINGS; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
1 date, based upon the availability of this Court and proceed to trial. As no prejudice will result, a
3 IV. CONCLUSION
4 For the foregoing reasons, this Court should grant the Motion to Stay pending the appeal of
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By:
10 Bert H. Deixler
Attorneys for Defendant Church of Scientology
11 International
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Kendall Brill 603112251.1 11 Case No. BC411018
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