Paulette Cooper - False Indictment

In this usenet post, the author first quotes Cooper's deposition where she claims that the Church of Scientology (CoS) stole data pertaining to her from the office of her lawyer. The claim could not have been true, since the burglary happened before she retained him as lawyer. The author then quotes the Bast tapes to show that Cooper lied knowingly and with premeditation because this was one of the only incidents she could use.

Post from alt.religion.scientology :

Usenet post from the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.

Source: Nan's Stupid Honesty

Author: Diane Richardson

1996/10/27

Email: referen@bway.net
Forums: alt.religion.scientology
Message-ID: <54vo79$d6f@clark.zippo.com>

Paulette Cooper claimed that the "Church" of Scientology[tm] had harassed her by "stealing data pertaining to her from offices of her lawyer." This claim was made in Cooper's 1978 lawsuit against the CoS New York, her 1978 counterclaim to the CoS lawsuit against her for breach of contract, and Cooper's 1982 lawsuit against the CoS Boston.

When questioned about this cause of action in deposition on 7 December 1978, Cooper made the following statements:

ISAACS: What about data allegedly stolen from the office of your lawyer? Which lawyer are you referring to?

COOPER: The law firm of Wier and Folds.

ISAACS: How did it come to your attention that such data had been stolen from the offices of your lawyer?

COOPER: Two Scientologists were arrested.

ISAACS: Which two Scientologists are you referring to?

COOPER: Coulson and Chopornsky.

ISAACS: And when were they arrested?

COOPER: I don't know. Did you ask when they were arrested or when I learned about it?

ISAACS: How did the arrest of these two men lead you to the conclusion that this data had been stolen from the office of your lawyer?

COOPER: It was an attempted burglary on which they were caught.

ISAACS: I prefer for you to give me your best recollection. If you have any notes you can refer to them afterward. Were these two men arrested in the course of burglarizing your lawyer's office?

COOPER: That's correct.

ISAACS: At the time of their arrest, did they have in their possession records pertaining to you?

COOPER: No.

ISAACS: Then specifically what happened that led you to believe that they were attemping to steal records with respect to you?

COOPER: It was my attorney, and they admitted they were going after that.

ISAACS: They admitted they were going after the law firm of Wier and Folds, did they specify that they were interested in you in any way?

COOPER: No.

ISAACS: What led you to the conclusion that they were attempting to steal the records with respect to you?

COOPER: I believe they were attempting to steal records with respect to me and Nan McLean.

The problem with Cooper's claim of harassment was that the attempted burglary by the Scientologists[tm] occurred before Paulette Cooper retained Wier and Foulds as her Toronto attorneys, and Nan McLean knew this.

BAST: Yeah, Paulette says she gives these Scientology lawyers a fit. They can't keep up with her, because she knows how to lie so well. They can't catch her.

McLEAN: I heard her lie in that deposition.

BAST: What? You were at that deposition?

McLEAN: Yes.

BAST: Oh. You went with her?

McLEAN: Yes.

BAST: Oh! So, she, how did so do? Did she lie effectively?

McLEAN: No.

BAST: Oh. They caught her in a lie?

McLEAN: No. But she doesn't do it very well.

BAST: Oh, I see.

McLEAN: One thing that she told me she was going to do, which I wrote her a letter at the time, I have a copy of the letter, and she did it under that deposition. And I wanted to leave the room I was so upset.

BAST: You know she was lying. But they didn't know she was lying, though.

McLEAN: She was lying about something she had absolutely nothing to do with.

BAST: Like what, what was it she was lying about?

McLEAN: Two men, Michael Churnepski and Alan Coulson. I don't know if you've heard of them or not.

BAST: No.

McLEAN: They were Canadians that were caught breaking and entering or attempting to break and enter my lawyer's office, Wier and Foulds, in Toronto. They were caught in an elevator shaft and behind a locked door with lock-picking tools. And they had mentioned Scientology. And then they shut up. It turned out, I know both of them. I had audited one of them. I knew they were there on a mission. They were caught. They were convicted, but as first-time offenders. . . .

BAST: What did Paulette have to do with them?

McLEAN: Well, that's what I'm getting to now. She, when she was sued in Toronto, asked me for a lawyer. I referred her to my lawyer, Wier and Foulds.

BAST: Who?

McLEAN: Wier and Foulds. Prestigious law firm, but very conservative. I'm no longer with them. She joined that firm on the 29th, she had her first conversation with my lawyer on the 29th of April. This business occurred on the 17th of April. The night of the 16th of April. She is claiming that this law firm was her law firm at the same time and that they were trying to break in for her.

BAST: She wan't even a client of theirs?

McLEAN: She wasn't even a client of theirs at that time, and I said, "Paulette, I will never back you on that. This is my lawyer's firm, they were attempting to get my documents. You have nothing of your own, you are nothing.

BAST: Why was she trying to claim that they were her lawyers?

McLEAN: Because it's one of the only incidents.

Information to be found on critical sites about anti-Scientology hero Paulette Cooper is quite incomplete. Critics, who boast that contrary to the CoS they link to opposite viewpoint, deliberately omit anything that badly reflects on their Sacred Icon. When the issue is brought up in ARS or on IRC, they launch in an unending stream of verbal abuses and personal attacks in an attempt to squash the whole thing and brush it under the carpet (a typical cultic behavior).

What is it, thus, that critics are so desperate to hide? Find out what's the "other story".

The False Indictment page shows how Cooper did not hesitate to perjure herself in court to paint herself victim. The Nan Stupid Honesty page is indicative of Cooper's mentality, which is further confirmed in her support to Forcible Deprogramming. Cooper's Declaration is the affidavit that started the whole controversy in ARS. The Bomb Threat page questions what is often falsely presented as a fact by critics. The ARS Lynch Mob, Biased Journalism, and Censorship pages gives a small ideas of the cultic reactions of critics on the Cooper issue, while the humor page is a lighter approach.