$1.56-Million Award Upheld in Church Suit

The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday left intact a $1.56-million award to a former member of the Church Universal and Triumphant, a formerly Calabasas-based sect led by a woman who claims to be in contact with “ascended masters” including Jesus and Buddha.

The court, without comment, rejected arguments that the award to former church member Gregory Mull for fraud, emotional distress and involuntary servitude violated the organization’s religious freedom.

Mull, who died in 1986 at age 64, was a San Francisco architect who began taking part in church activities in 1974. He was expelled in 1980 after he became disenchanted with its doctrine and embroiled in a disagreement over money.

When the church sued him over a disputed $32,000 loan to him, he countersued and asked for $235 million in punitive and compensatory damages for ruining his health and personal life.

In his suit, Mull charged that church leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet, known to thousands of her followers as Guru Ma, enticed him to move in 1979 to church headquarters in Calabasas, which church members called “Camelot,” by promising to let him design buildings for a $33-million “New Jerusalem” there.

But he said the church had secretly abandoned the project and was using his architectural plans as a fund-raising gimmick to attract millions of dollars in donations.

Mull also alleged that Prophet--who claims to be God’s chosen earthly messenger and the reincarnation of Guinevere, wife of the legendary King Arthur, and Queen Marie Antoinette of France--violated the sanctity of the confessional by revealing the contents of a letter he wrote admitting to homosexual experiences.

He also said he was subjected to thought-control techniques and to threats and harassment from other church members that prevented him from thinking clearly.

On April 2, 1986, after hearing seven weeks of testimony and deliberating for more than 40 hours, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded Mull $1.56 million in punitive and compensatory damages.

But in their appeal to the Supreme Court, church lawyers argued that the verdict should be overturned because the jury was presented with a barrage of irrelevant yet prejudicial evidence, such as the testimony of Prophet’s ex-husband, who had had an adulterous affair with her while she was married to a previous husband.

The church’s lawyers also argued that the case was a trial of the church’s beliefs, which were ridiculed in court by Mull’s attorney, Lawrence Levy. Much of the testimony dealt with Prophet’s teachings, a blend of Eastern and Western philosophies, and with church practices, such as the use of a “spiritual” enema.

A California appeals court, in upholding the $1.56-million award last April, said Mull was subject to “constant and shameful pressures” to part with his money. While a church member, Mull became so destitute that he foraged for food in supermarket waste bins.

After reviewing the appellate court’s decision and briefs written by counsel for both sides, the Supreme Court let the verdict stand.

Mull’s award will go to his heir, Linda Mull Witt of Thousand Oaks.

Levy--Mull’s attorney--said that the court’s decision “proves to me that the system works.”

“The highest court in the land has affirmed that they will uphold the First Amendment and protect your belief system, but when you violate the laws of the land and you damage other people, we are going to examine your conduct,” Levy said.

The Supreme Court has rejected two similar appeals in recent months. In October, it left intact a ruling that an evangelical Christian group must return $5.5 million donated by a department store heiress when she was a member.

Last May, the court refused to shield the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church from being sued by two former California members who said they were brainwashed into joining it.

Several months after the trial concluded in 1986, the Church Universal and Triumphant sold the 260-acre Calabasas estate and relocated to Montana, where members are now constructing a bomb shelter the size of two football fields and stockpiling weapons.