Kendrick Moxon

Kendrick "Rick" Moxon, born Kendrick Lichty Moxon, is an American Scientology official and an attorney with the law firm Moxon & Kobrin. He practices in Los Angeles, California, and is a lead counsel for the Church of Scientology. Moxon received his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1981, and was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1984, and the State Bar of California in 1987. Moxon's early work for the Church of Scientology involved legal affairs, and he also held the Scientology title of "reverend". He worked at Scientology's intelligence agency known as the Guardian's Office (GO), and was named as an unindicted co-conspirator after the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into criminal activities by Scientology operatives called "Operation Snow White". He was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar on September6, 1984, and the State Bar of California on June17, 1987.

In 1979, Moxon and his wife Carla Smith had a son and daughter who both went to Delphi Academy. Daughter Stacy Grove Meyer had worked for two years at Golden Era Productions in landscaping and maintenance, when she died of electrocution on June25, 2000, after touching a 7,200-volt wire in an underground electrical transformer vault on the premises. Golden Era Productions was cited by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health for improper wiring precautions near a vault where Meyer had been working, but their investigation of the death determined that Stacy's death was not related to the safety violations at the facility.

Guardian's Office In 1977, Moxon served as an official of the Church of Scientology, and held the title of "reverend". His role within the organization in 1977 was called "Director of the Ministry of Legal Affairs of the Founding Church of Scientology". Along with Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and nineteen other Scientologists, Moxon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator after the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into criminal activities by Scientology operatives called "Operation Snow White". Operation Snow White was the name coined by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard for a mission by the organization's intelligence division to illegally obtain documents from the United States government. The stipulation stated Moxon was "directed to supply the government with fake handwriting samples". According to the Guardian's Office letter, Moxon was prevented under penalty of a $50,000 fine from disclosing his knowledge of the church cover operations. According to Moxon the former Scientologists included some members who were subject to excommunication, and they requested the return of donations they had made to the organization, as well as payment for time working on its behalf. "The actions taken by the IRS in this case are typical of the agency's harassive treatment of religious groups," said Moxon in a statement in The Fresno Bee. Private investigator Michael L. Shomers said he set up a dummy operation called "Washington News Bureau", posed as a reporter, and attempted to collect material on Scientology critics.

Cult Awareness Network litigation Moxon assisted Scientologists in filing 50lawsuits against the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), which eventually led to the bankruptcy of the organization. Moxon confirmed to the St. Petersburg Times that his firm assisted the Scientologists with their litigation against CAN for mostly no charge, and that Scientology churches "helped a little bit, but very little" with the case. Deprogrammer Rick Ross had been referred to Scott's mother by a local volunteer for CAN, and Moxon represented Scott in a lawsuit against Ross and CAN. According to a 60 Minutes report on Scientology's actions against the Cult Awareness Network, two affidavits used by Moxon in the case were false. Scott won a jury judgment of US$5 million including $1.8million against CAN, and CAN later declared bankruptcy. "Basically, Jason said he was tired of being the poster boy for the Scientologists. My son has never been a member of the Church of Scientology. When he was approached by Moxon, he was lured by his promises of a $1million settlement, so he went for it," said Scott's mother Katherine Tonkin in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. "He's really been abused by CAN and disgustingly abused by this guy Berry," said Moxon in a statement in The Washington Post. Jason Scott stated he felt he had been a "pawn" in Scientology's "whole game". Individuals that had confided in the prior version of the CAN organization expressed anxiety about their confidential files being sold to other groups, but Moxon stated: "People who have committed crimes don't want them to be revealed." The paper, titled "CAN, We Hardly Knew Ye: Sex, Drugs, Deprogrammers' Kickbacks, and Corporate Crime in the (Old) Cult Awareness Network", was presented at the 2000 meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Houston, Texas. The publication, authored by Scientology official Kurt Weiland, stated: "A civil case was filed by the victim against [Rick] Ross and the Cult Awareness Network. This time he had an attorney who knew what he was doing and understood PTS/SP tech! The attorney was a Scientologist and OT [Operating Thetan] Rick Moxon." Moxon had argued that Henson was dangerous based on comments critical of Scientologists he had posted on the Internet, and his knowledge in the fields of cryonics and explosives. but the Riverside Superior Court judge refused to make the restraining order permanent. The Unification Church and Seventh-day Adventists members claimed that their constitutional rights were violated and described the "Task Force to Study the Effects of Cult Activities on Public Senior Higher Education Institutions" as a "religious inquisition". They claimed that the prosecution held an "extreme religious bias" and a "narrow-minded concept of a church". Moxon said that the wrongful death lawsuit filed by members of McPherson's family against the Church of Scientology was "nothing more than a vehicle to say bad things about the church". The criminal prosecution in the Lisa McPherson case was dropped due to issues with record-keeping by the medical examiner; a wrongful death civil suit was settled in 2004.

According to Scientology general counsel Elliot Abelson, the bulk of Moxon's legal work is Scientology-related. According to a CCHR press release from 2001, Moxon represented CCHR International as its Commissioner.

In 2014, Moxon sought arbitration through the National Arbitration Forum to have the Internet domain name, KendrickMoxon.com, transferred from Donald Myers to Moxon's ownership. Moxon successfully demonstrated to the Forum arbitrator that Myers "registered and used the domain name in bad faith", and Moxon's petition was granted.

In 2013, Private Investigator Dwayne Powell was arrested on obstruction and prowling charges related to following Ron Miscavige. During the arrest, police found firearms and a homemade silencer. After his arrest, Powell claimed to have been paid $10,000 per week by Scientology through an intermediary. According to the Los Angeles Times, Moxon's firm paid Powell $16,000 and kept Powell on the payroll two years after his arrest.

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