No decision on Piecemakers case

Andrew Glazer

SANTA ANA -- The lawyer for a Costa Mesa man being sued for allegedly

harassing a religious sect argued before an Orange County Superior Court

judge Wednesday that the group did not have enough evidence for a trial.

But Judge Sheila Fell, who previously held the trial four times for that

reason, seemed to be ready to move ahead with the case.

“I want you to be aware, courts in general have a preference to allow

plaintiffs and defendants to have their day in court,” she said, adding

she would decide whether to proceed with a trial in coming weeks.

But Joseph Donahue, attorney for Thomas Halliburton -- whose mother

joined the Piecemakers more than 20 years ago and since has cut off all

contact with him -- said he is baffled by Fell’s decision.

“The conclusion of the hearing is that regardless of the inadequacy and

ineptness of a complaint, it’s the policy of the court to go forward,”

Donahue said. “In my 25 years of practice, this has not been the case.”

Piecemakers’ attorney Stuart L. Wallach, outside the hearing, said the

group’s four prior complaints, while valid, needed to be reworded in

order for a judge to allow the case to go to trial.

But in the hearing, Donahue said Wallach merely “regurgitated the

complaint and scrambled facts.”

Last summer, Halliburton picketed in front of the Piecemakers’ Mesa Verde

crafts store with signs describing it as a cult.

The group alleges that e-mail messages Halliburton sent to their

customers, which also labeled the group as a cult, hurt business.

The Piecemakers, who live communally and shed traditional family

structure, also accused Halliburton of making threatening phone calls to

their homes.