May 19, 2001
By DEBORAH O'NEIL
� St. Petersburg
Times
Abstract:
The effort to conduct surveillance on Prince included hiring a black private investigator from
Lake Wales named Barry Gaston, Raftery said in his deposition. Prince also is black. Gaston
was hired in February 2000 by another private investigator, Joseph Fabrizio, who worked for
[Helena Kobrin]'s firm.
The depositions show Fabrizio supplied Gaston with a photograph of Prince and information
about where Prince might show up. Gaston hung out in those places for weeks before he
finally spotted Prince and his girlfriend at Wilson's Lounge on Belcher Road. As Prince was
leaving, he stopped and introduced himself to Gaston.
Gaston introduced himself as "Rinzy Trinidad," a name he made up. Eventually, Prince
invited Gaston to his house, where Gaston saw Prince smoke marijuana, according to
Gaston's deposition.
Full Text:
Copyright Times Publishing Co. May 19, 2001
Last spring, a private investigator working for the Church of Scientology went to Largo police with a
tip: A vocal critic of Scientology named Jesse Prince was involved with illegal drugs.
Prince, 47, is a former church member and a key witness in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the church.
Police investigated and arrested Prince, who is charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. The case is set to go to trial Wednesday.
Depositions in the case taken earlier this week show private investigators hired by Church of
Scientology lawyers watched, videotaped and trailed Prince virtually every day for at least four
months, following him "almost wherever you can think of in the area," said Brian Raftery, the private
investigator.
Another private investigator involved in the case said they were looking for "immoral activities and
the possibility of illegal activities."
The elaborate surveillance effort involved at least three private investigators, one of whom befriended
Prince, using a false name.
Church attorney Helena Kobrin, who has offices in Clearwater and Los Angeles, said her firm hires
private investigators to protect the church from people such as Prince, a man she said has harassed
parishioners and has a history of criminal behavior.
"We have hired for the church people who are former law enforcement who are involved in security
for the church," Kobrin said. "If
Mr. Prince is one of those people harassing the church, their security efforts may sometimes be
directed in his direction."
Prince's Clearwater attorney, Denis deVlaming, says it's clear the church wants to intimidate his client
and label him a criminal.
"Everything we've learned about this case was the Church of Scientology was behind it from the very
beginning," deVlaming said Thursday in court.
Kobrin said that whether private investigators were following Prince has no bearing on the drug
charges.
"I don't really see why you're trying to focus attention on the something else," said Kobrin, who is a
Scientologist. "It's his actions that are significant, not the something else."
She said her firm wanted Prince investigated because he is being offered as an expert witness against
the church in a civil lawsuit stemming from the 1995 death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson. Such
investigations are standard in litigation, she added.
Ken Dandar, the attorney handling the lawsuit against the church, says Prince was once a top
Scientology official who will testify about the church's inner workings.
Kobrin said Prince worked as a janitor and a film technician, among other positions.
On Thursday night, Kobrin delivered to the St. Petersburg Times a black binder full of personal
information about Prince, dating back to 1975.
Among the 28 pages of documents in chronological order were copies of police and legal records
from around the country, a 1997 jail mug shot of Prince and an affidavit signed by a Minnesota
Scientologist that alleges Prince admitted to drinking excessively, using drugs and having extramarital
affairs.
"He's being offered as a witness. We think he has absolutely no credentials as a witness," Kobrin
said. "Would we want to discredit him? Yeah, we'd want to discredit him. If there's something there
that discredits him, you'd want to bring it to the attention of the court."
The effort to conduct surveillance on Prince included hiring a black private investigator from Lake
Wales named Barry Gaston, Raftery said in his deposition. Prince also is black. Gaston was hired in
February 2000 by another private investigator, Joseph Fabrizio, who worked for Kobrin's firm.
The depositions show Fabrizio supplied Gaston with a photograph of Prince and information about
where Prince might show up. Gaston hung out in those places for weeks before he finally spotted
Prince and his girlfriend at Wilson's Lounge on Belcher Road. As Prince was leaving, he stopped and
introduced himself to Gaston.
Gaston introduced himself as "Rinzy Trinidad," a name he made up. Eventually, Prince invited Gaston
to his house, where Gaston saw Prince smoke marijuana, according to Gaston's deposition.
In the meantime, Raftery went to the authorities and the detective decided to go undercover and visit
Prince's house with Gaston. Prince was arrested in August 2000.
|