Defendant fires back at Piecemakers

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- A South County man being sued by a religious sect for

allegedly harassing its members countered with his own accusation that

the organization is smearing him with lies on its Web site.

According to the Costa Mesa-based Piecemakers’ Web site -- o7

www.piecemakers.comf7 -- Tom Halliburton “has a restrainer on him [from

the group] at the present.”

Halliburton, 26, and his attorney, Joseph Donahue, said the posted

statement is nonsense.

“It’s another one of their series of head trips,” Donahue said. “They’re

desperate to do anything to assert their self-righteousness.”

Halliburton blames the Piecemakers because his mother, Donna, did not

attend his college graduation a couple years ago. His mother joined the

group 20 years ago and has since severed all family ties.

Marie Kolasinski, the Piecemakers’ unofficial leader, denied she did

anything wrong by posting the statements on the Internet.

On Wednesday -- after delaying the lawsuit four times because the

Piecemakers had insufficient evidence against Halliburton -- Superior

Court Judge Sheila Fell ruled the trial should proceed. The Piecemakers

initially accused Halliburton of slander -- an allegation omitted in the

most recent court filing.

The Piecemakers allege that Halliburton threatened their members and

drove away many customers from their Adams Street crafts store by

picketing in front and sending e-mail messages to their Web customers. He

is accused of portraying the group as a mind-controlling cult in his

e-mails and picket signs.

Kolasinski said members felt threatened by Halliburton’s campaign against

the group.

The Piecemakers, also known as the Body of Christ Fellowship, are a group

of 31 adults who live communally in six Mesa Verde homes. They reject

marriage, abstain from sex and have a history of violating city health,

fire and building codes.

Kolasinski recently posted the Web statement that condemned Halliburton.

In addition to calling attention to the “restrainer,” she apologized for

“the harassment some received from a very disturbed individual.”

Kolasinski, 78, said Thursday she wasn’t sure Halliburton actually had a

legal restraint against him. But she denied the Web site was misleading.

“His lawyer said he better stop writing the e-mails,” she said. “To me,

that could be considered to be a legal restraining order.”

But Donahue said Kolasinski deliberately posted the false statement to

portray Halliburton as a villain.

“First, I would never restrict my client’s First Amendment rights,”

Donahue said. “And even if I did, she would never know about it. That’s

attorney-client privilege.”

Donahue said Thursday the Piecemakers still don’t have enough evidence

against his client. He will argue against proceeding with a trial

Wednesday.