Church of Scientology of California v. Armstrong

California Court of Appeal · Evidence

Evidenceconversioninvasion of privacybreach of fiduciary dutybreach of confidencejustification defenseconditional privilegestate of mind evidence

Facts

The Church sued Armstrong, a former Church worker, for taking and disseminating confidential archive materials, and Mary Sue Hubbard intervened with related claims including conversion and invasion of privacy. The trial court found plaintiffs had made out prima facie cases, but also found Armstrong's conduct justified because he believed the Church threatened harm to him and his wife and that taking and keeping the documents was necessary to prevent that harm. The evidence showed Armstrong had been subjected to Church accusations, threats of litigation, surveillance, and later physical incidents involving investigators, leading him to send documents to his attorney for protection. After Armstrong's cross-complaint was settled and dismissed, the record was sealed by stipulation, but a successor judge later unsealed it on motion by a third party.

Issue

Whether Armstrong could invoke a justification or conditional privilege defense to plaintiffs' claims arising from his taking and disclosure of Church documents, and whether evidence about Church practices and Armstrong's relationship with the Church was properly admitted to prove his state of mind. The court also considered whether a successor judge could vacate a prior final sealing order long after the time for reconsideration or statutory relief had expired.

Rule

A defendant may be privileged to commit acts that would otherwise constitute conversion, invasion of privacy, or breaches of duties of confidence or agency when he reasonably believes the plaintiff intends to cause him harm and reasonably believes the threatened harm can be safely prevented only by taking or disclosing the materials at issue; the court adopted the Restatement approach to conditional privilege and agency privilege. Evidence of surrounding conduct and practices is admissible for the limited purpose of showing the defendant's state of mind and the reasonableness of that belief. A successor superior court judge may not vacate another judge's final order absent statutory authority or a proper showing such as inadvertence, mistake, or fraud.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Nina Alvarez worked in the archives department of Redwood Forum, a private advocacy organization in Sacramento. After the group publicly labeled her disloyal, sent repeated threats of ruinous civil litigation, and hired investigators who followed her and her spouse, Nina removed internal files corroborating her account of the group's conduct and delivered them only to her lawyer for safekeeping.

If Redwood Forum sues Nina for conversion, breach of confidence, and invasion of privacy, which is the strongest argument for Nina under the governing rule?

Explanation. The majority adopted Restatement-based privileges allowing conduct that would otherwise amount to conversion, invasion of privacy, or breach of duties of confidence when the defendant reasonably believes the plaintiff intends harm and reasonably believes the threatened harm can be safely prevented only by taking or disclosing the materials. The defense is not absolute, is not limited to criminal-fraud documents, and can extend to documents when necessary for lawful protection. (Derived from Church of Scientology of California v. Armstrong (n.d.).)