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PASTOR GENERAL'S
REPoRT
TO THE MINISTRY OF THE
WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
VOL.4, N0.2
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
LEGAL UPDATE
Another Victory in Church/State Related Case
JANUARY 8, 19 82
When the state of California lawsuit against the Worldwide Church of God
was dismissed in October,
1980,
the Church's attorneys noted that the bat
tle would not be over until side issues were cleared up. With God's help,
more progress has been made.
Hillel Chodos, as reported in the December
11, 1981
PASTOR GENERAL'S
REPORT, lost his lawsuit asking that the Church pay his legal fees while he
was serving the state and dissidents. (He still has the right to petition
the State Supreme Court for a hearing, however.) Now Mr. Chodos has lost
another lawsuit, this time before a different judge and in a different
court. Chodos was suing the Church and others for, ironically, defaming
him!
Following is a report from Mr. Helge detailing the Church's latest
victory in court.
I am pleased to be writing you again about another God-given
victory in the State y. Worldwide Church of God case.
If you recall, Hillel Chodos was the attorney for the relators in
that case. Early in the litigation the Church placed an adver
tisement in the LOS ANGELES TIMES which described Mr. Chodos'
conduct in connection with the suit. The Church also caused to
be produced and broadcast a telecast in which Mr. Chodos was men
tioned.
Additionally, a church official sued Mr. Chodos for
defamation. That official subsequently dismissed his suit.
Mr. Chodos then sued Mr. Armstrong, the Church, the church offi
cial and his attorneys for defamation and malicious prosecution.
Demurrers were filed against the complaint.
A demurrer is a
legal means which admits all the facts in the complaint, for the
sake of argument, but denies that the complaint states any legal
wrong. In short, it has been described as saying, "so what."
The general rule is that if a demurrer is granted, the court will
customarily permit the attorney to amend his complaint and have
another chance to restate the facts to see if he can state a legal
wrong.
I am pleased to announce that the judge has not only dismissed
Mr. Chodos' case on demurrer, he also did not permit Chodos to
amend.
The judge in his opinion, in referring to the comments Mr.
Armstrong made, stated: "the alleged defamatory statements are
absolutely privileged as true and an accurate report of judicial
proceedings."
--Ralph K. Helge, Legal Office