Status of Discovery in Denson Lawsuit

[smac97]

15 minutes ago, PacMan said:

I wish this dismissal received the same amount of publicity as the complaint did.  This is a big, big deal.  Denson has made fools of herself and her supporters.

The story was - per the Tribune - originally a "bombshell lawsuit."  The Trib goes on to try to put lipstick on this porcine lawsuit:

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But after a rocky year for Denson in court — which included her own lawyers quitting and the LDS Church seeking court sanctions against her — her lawsuit fizzled out.

Meh.  Denson brought this mess on herself.  She wrecked her own case several times over.  And in the end the Church's attorneys sought "sanctions against her" because she was caught hiding and/or destroying evidence.

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On Thursday, Denson and the church asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. Court papers make it clear that this ending wasn’t any sort of settlement, and the only agreement was that each side pay its own attorney fees.

“The parties shall bear their own fees and costs associated with this action,” a motion filed Thursday read. “The parties have not entered into a settlement and, aside from the agreement to bear their own fees and costs, there are no further agreements between them.”

A federal judge officially dismissed the case Thursday.

And so it ends.  But that doesn't mean the "bombshell" was a complete dud.  It appears that Joseph Bishop really did engage in some serious misconduct.

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The dismissal comes after the lawsuit remained largely in limbo for more than a year after Denson’s lawyers unexpectedly quit the case. She never found another attorney and represented herself in most court hearings.

I don't think their quitting was "unexpected."  It was a dog of a case, and only had settlement value.  Denson destroyed any prospect of settlement, so...

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Most recently, attorneys for the church had sought sanctions against Denson, asking the court permission to file a sealed document that outlined allegations that the woman had destroyed or mishandled evidence in the case. In previous motions, the church had alleged that Denson had “lost” a cellphone and “forgot” her password to several social media accounts, which church lawyers had sought access to as part of evidence in the matter.

I wasn't at all surprised to see the case end on technical/procedural grounds rather than "on the merits."  Denson was a loose cannon.  Her attorneys were only in it for the money via settlement (the chances for which she destroyed), not for any sort of high-minded "principle."  The statute of limitations was a significant legal barrier.  The case was based on facts from 35+ years ago.  No sane attorney would have taken on her case after her attorneys quit.  Denson continued her proclivity of scamming people out of money and other dishonest behavior, the latter of which included hiding/destroying evidence and otherwise not complying with instructions from the court.

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Bishop has denied raping Denson, but in a recorded police interview he recalled going into a small storage room with her and asking her to expose herself because she had recently had a breast augmentation.

“I wanted to see her breasts,” Bishop said, “how the operation [went], etc.”

Denson herself denied that this ever happened.  Either Bishop was conflating/confabulating, or else was making it up.

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He has also said he touched another female missionary inappropriately during a back rub. He told police detectives from church-owned Brigham Young University that he immediately reported his behavior to his ecclesiastical lay leaders and was allowed to keep his position at the MTC.

Hmm.  I actually don't recall this bit.  He confessed to misconduct while he was president at the MTC, but was allowed to stay on?  If so, that is pretty troubling.  I don't think that would happen today.

Thanks,

-Smac

[smac97]

On 12/8/2020 at 9:30 PM, Calm said:

Huh?  This is still going?  How did that happen?  Another appeal? did I miss something or just forget. 
 

Looks like just forgot:

 

I don't think there has ever been an appeal.  The matter has always been before the trial court, the U.S. District Court (including occasional assignments to a magistrate, which is not an appellate thing).

Here is a brief summary of what happened in this case, based on my memory:

1. Denson used lies and false pretenses to locate and "interview" Joseph Bishop.  She recorded the exchange.

2. Denson send the audio file to a number of people, including Ryan McKnight with "MormonLeaks."

3. Denson hired a law firm, who initiated private settlement discussions with the Church.

4. MormonLeaks "leaked" the audio, which blew up the settlement discussions.  MormonLeaks may or may not have had Denson's permission to publish the recording, but she had given it to them (and several others), so there really wasn't a reasonable expectation of privacy.

5. Denson and her laywers announced the filing of the lawsuit, which led to a good amount of publicity and such.

6. The Church and Bishop filed "Motions to Dismiss" which resulted in all claims against Bishop being dismissed and all but one claim against the Church being dismissed.

7. There was a dust-up regarding the release of information the Church's attorneys had collected about Denson, which information was apparently released to the media by Bishop's attorney (his son).  There was much vexation about the release of this information, as if there is something inappropriate about a laywer collecting information about an opposing party in a lawsuit.

8. Denson apparently raised a decent amount of money for herself by publicizing this matter.  She also tried to keep herself in the public eye by doing interviews, crashing the "Fast & Testimony" meeting at Joseph Bishop's ward in Arizona (accompanied by Mike Norton, who recorded the sordid stunt and posted it online).

9. Denson had a major falling out with many of her supporters - particularly Mike Norton - who eventually got around to reading the information that had been gathered about Denson (see item #7 above) and discovering - shock! - that she has a long history of scams, fraud, lying, etc. for financial gain, and that she had recycled a "someone snuck into my house and poisoned a drink with Drano" claim.  Apparently her supporters stopped supporting her at that point.

10. During or around the same time, Denson's attorneys withdrew from the case.  I suspect this was due to her being a loose cannon, because the case was a dog, and because there was essentially no hope of settlement.  I think they were in it for the moolah, and when Denson destroyed any chance of settlement, they bowed out.

11. The Church's attorneys proceeded with "discovery," the process of sending requests for information, documents, etc. to Denson herself (her attorneys having bowed out).  Denson did not cooperate, and apparently event went out of her way to hide or destroy evidence.  Per the Tribune: 

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Most recently, attorneys for the church had sought sanctions against Denson, asking the court permission to file a sealed document that outlined allegations that the woman had destroyed or mishandled evidence in the case. In previous motions, the church had alleged that Denson had “lost” a cellphone and “forgot” her password to several social media accounts, which church lawyers had sought access to as part of evidence in the matter.

12. I think the Church's attorneys accumulated evidence of Denson's misconduct (relative to discovery), and filed a sealed motion with the Court.  At this point Denson saw the writing on the wall and agreed to dismiss the case.  

13. Per this article, the court's dismissal states: "The parties have not entered into a settlement, and aside from the agreement to bear their own fees and costs, there are no further agreements between them."  This seems a little odd.  Normally the parties leave the terms of a stipulated dismissal undisclosed/opaque.  Here, however, the order specifically states that apart from each party bearing their own costs, "{t]he parties have not entered into a settlement" and "there are no further agreements between them."  So no undisclosed payment to Denson.

Thanks,

-Smac

[Kenngo1969]

33 minutes ago, PacMan said:

I wish this dismissal received the same amount of publicity as the complaint did.  This is a big, big deal.  Denson has made fools of herself and her supporters.

Yeah, unfortunately, that never happens.  Even after Ms. Denson's supporters abandoned her, there was no equally numerous, equally vociferous crowd on the other side of her issues to bring her supporters' abandonment (and the reasons for it) to public attention.

[juliann]

The best unemotional tracking of this case that I saw anywhere was here. We have some very good lawyers who step in and give step by step reasoning. I originally was horrified by these charges and believed her. Within a week or two of our posters methodically going through the case, it became impossible to believe anything but something untoward had probably happened but nothing like was being claimed. 

 

[Calm]

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There was much vexation about the release of this information, as if there is something inappropriate about a laywer collecting information about an opposing party in a lawsuit.

The number one issue was the release of her biological daughter’s name though, which shouldn’t have even been shared with the other attorneys, imo, even if appropriate to mention the birth and adoption (which provides background context if one assumes her lawsuit is based on an unproved and possibly false claim).

[Calm]

3 hours ago, smac97 said:

Hmm.  I actually don't recall this bit.  He confessed to misconduct while he was president at the MTC, but was allowed to stay on?  If so, that is pretty troubling.  I don't think that would happen today.

It was in the released mostly unredacted police interview. 

Iirc, it was on RFM’s show, but I may be confusing it with something else.

I don’t trust his report of his memories. I think there is a high probability  it was a reconstructed false memory (he was trying to remember if he told someone or not and convinced himself he had) or he was lying.  Whether it was dementia or a character flaw, the recording Denson had of him portrayed a self centered, blaming his wives for his issues, self aggrandizing individual imo.  
 

By him believing he told someone in leadership about the “frisky” back rub, he gets to feel free of responsibility. 

Edited December 11, 2020 by Calm

[mgy401]

2 hours ago, Calm said:

It was in the released mostly unredacted police interview. 

Iirc, it was on RFM’s show, but I may be confusing it with something else.

I don’t trust his report of his memories. I think there is a high probability  it was a reconstructed false memory (he was trying to remember if he told someone or not and convinced himself he had) or he was lying.  Whether it was dementia or a character flaw, the recording Denson had of him portrayed a self centered, blaming his wives for his issues, self aggrandizing individual imo.  
 

By him believing he told someone in leadership about the “frisky” back rub, he gets to feel free of responsibility. 

I hope (and trust) it is untrue that LDS leadership knew what Bishop was up to.  Growing up in the 1980s when President Kimball’s ministry was in recent memory, I was always taught that a Melchizedek Priesthood holder who committed adultery was going to get excommunicated—end of story, do not pass “go”, do not collect $200.  

I understand that the Church handles such situations differently today, and that’s fine.  But the high Church leadership of the mid-1980s allowing Bishop to keep, not only his membership, but his position at the MTC after confessing to such an act, would be shocking to me.

[provoman]

On 12/11/2020 at 4:41 PM, Calm said:

The number one issue was the release of her biological daughter’s name though, which shouldn’t have even been shared with the other attorneys, imo, even if appropriate to mention the birth and adoption (which provides background context if one assumes her lawsuit is based on an unproved and possibly false claim).

I still think someone connected to her released the full document into the wild. For a time the document sure served a purpose to garner favor on her behalf.

 

It was not until her former "friends" sat down down and actually read it that people became appaulled by the information and largely withdrew their support for her.

[smac97]

3 hours ago, provoman said:

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The number one issue was the release of her biological daughter’s name though, which shouldn’t have even been shared with the other attorneys, imo, even if appropriate to mention the birth and adoption (which provides background context if one assumes her lawsuit is based on an unproved and possibly false claim).

I still think someone connected to her released the full document into the wild. For a time the document sure served a purpose to garner favor on her behalf.

From this article by the Trib dated April 3, 2018:

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The LDS Church turned to Salt Lake City attorney David Jordan to investigate the woman’s allegations and to communicate with her Idaho lawyer Craig Vernon, who was seeking a financial settlement on her behalf.

Jordan, who did not return a request for comment made to his office, launched an inquiry. In a nine-page letter to the woman’s attorney, he notes “inconsistencies” in her story and details a string of episodes in the accuser’s life, ranging from the church discipline she had previously faced to her criminal record, and from failed relationships to lawsuits, even job firings.

A bulleted timeline begins with the woman’s teenage pregnancy and includes the name of the daughter she gave up for adoption.
...
Jordan shared his letter with Bishop’s son, Greg Bishop, who is acting as his father’s attorney, to use in any settlement efforts. Jordan did not share his letter with reporters, but Greg Bishop, who declined to comment for this story, copied some of the information about the victim — omitting mention of the adopted daughter’s name — and sent it to various news outlets as a way to defend his dad.

The full letter has since leaked out.
...
Jordan “did extraordinary research on this woman … to make it clear that the church was not going to settle,” said Salt Lake City attorney Greg Skordas. “I am sure he did not intend for Greg Bishop to share it {or part of it} with the media.”

But none of the parties did anything “unethical, illegal or improper,” Skordas said. It is reasonable for all three parties — the LDS Church, the accuser’s attorney and the alleged abuser’s lawyer — to share information about the case.

Huh.  So Jordan did not publish his letter, and Greg Bishop redacted the adopted daughter's name before sending out portions of the letter to news outlets.

This sounds like these two attorneys were being appropriately cautious in the dissemination of sensitive information.  And yet the "full letter" eventually "leaked out."

Now is there anyone in this whole messy story who has a history of "leaking" information?  Well, yes: McKenna Denson.

Thanks,

-Smac

[esodije]

 

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Could you elaborate?

Thanks,

-Smac

Yes. This was a claim arising from events that allegedly happened 30+ years earlier. What reason would Denson have had to believe a claim that old would have significant settlement value, or that a lawsuit arising from it would not immediately be ruled to be time-barred, if her lawyers hadn’t told her so? I’ll grant you that she undermined her case in multiple respects, beginning with her involvement or  acquiescence in the disclosure of the recorded December 2017 Bishop interview However, I think the lawyers were more interested in creating a scandal than in their client’s interests.

[Calm]

I assume lawyers do background checks on their clients and even if they hadn’t, they apparently were given the opposition research by the Church’s attorneys pretty quickly, so I am thinking they knew of her history as a scam artist prior to the big press conference, if not before they approached the Church.

They had to know her credibility was shot, but they could have been hoping with the publicity more would come out about Bishop. There were rumors of others, but nothing solid was ever reported in the media, iirc. Just on Social Media. 
 

I think they were interested in getting more clients and Denson was free advertising with all her antics. 

Edited December 31, 2020 by Calm