Tampa Tribune; November 27, 1986

"Court disbars lawyer for spying on ex-Clearwater Mayor Cazares"

Tallahassee- A lawyer accused of spying on former Clearwater Mayor Gabe Cazares and infiltrating the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office for the Church of Scientology was disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday.

The court voted 5-2 to immediately bar Merrill G. Vannier from the practice of law in Florida and ordered him to pay $5,976 in legal costs. Justice James C. Adkins and Joe Boyd dissented, saying the punishment was too severe.

"The evidence shows that Vannier voluntarily actes as spy and agent provocateur for the church and its officials who were attempting to destroy or subvert their critics and that Vannier's conduct violated his oath and the Code of Professional Responsibility," the court majority said.

"Under these circumstances, disbarment is the only remedy that will serve the public interest," they said.

Court records said Vannier was part of a systematic attempt by church leaders to diffuse public criticism after the church moved into Clearwater headquarters bought through front organizations in 1975.

According to Morton J. Hanlon, a Hillsborough County circuit judge who acted as referee in the disbarment proceedings, Vannier acted under the church's "fair game" policy that allow members to trick, cheat and lie in the church's interests.

Cazares was a leading critic of the church and by 1976 was involved in lawsuits and countersuits with church leaders. In March of that year, Vannier and his wife moved to Clearwater from Missouri at the request of church officials.

The records said Vannier was a member of a church intelligence section and operated under the code name "Ritz."

Vannier secured a volunteer job with State Attorney James Russell, who was conducting a criminal investigation of church activities. He was dismissed after two months when he was caught intercepting a telephone call and instructing a police officer to return certain state attorney's files to the Scientologists.

Cazares hired Vannier in December, 1976 and Vannier ultimately convinced Cazares to drop his lawsuits. The suit was later reinstated under different counsel.

In late 1977 - after an FBI raid on church headquarters in Los Angeles turned up evidence of the spying - Vannier quit his job with a Clearwater law firm.

* * * * * For f**k sake if Scientology can be rated a religion then Pythology ought to qualify under any decent tax system. [Eric Idle]

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