Everyone wants this law suit to end. More specifically, everyone wants it to end in a way favorable to them; everyone wants to win.
At the same time, no one wants a trial to begin. NTM is confident that they would not prevail. The plaintiff knows that NTM, through the agency of its attorneys, will do everything it can to humiliate, confuse and discredit her. The attorneys on both sides, all of whom are working very hard already, will have to work much harder if there is a trial. The State of Florida does not want to empanel a jury or utilize the judge's time for this case if it can avoid it; these things cost money.
This sounds like a situation ripe for compromise and, indeed, most civil suits are settled "out of court." This would be the very best outcome for NTM; what are they doing to bring it about?
They are putting as much pressure on Jane Doe 7 as they can. They would like to wear her down, deprive her of hope, drive her crazy if need be. Then, they could say, "Well, we were only doing what we had to in order to protect the assets of our missionaries, the majority of whom are not guilty of these sins or a cover-up thereof. If she had been obedient to the Word of God, this would never have happened."
They also seek to hide behind the actions of their attorneys, as if they are powerless to influence the conduct of their defense. "We didn't tell them to do that; it was just part of the normal legal defense strategy used by the Boy Scouts, the Roman Catholic Church and Girls Gone Wild."
And, of course, they are praying. I remember when I pressed criminal libel charges against NTM in Thailand, a Field Committee member sent out a newsletter asking his prayer partners "to pray that the judge would throw these charges out as frivolous." When I objected to calling a violation of criminal law "frivolous," he clarified that he didn't think that… he just wanted the judge to!
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