Los Angeles prosecutors will retry “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson on three rape counts after a hopelessly deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in his first trial in November.
The LA County District Attorney’s Office declared prosecutors’ plans in court filings and at a Tuesday hearing, where Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charges.
The move comes despite prosecutors failing to get even half of the previous jury to vote to convict on any of the counts against Masterson, who is charged with the rape of three women, including a former girlfriend, at his home between 2001 and 2003.
“We are pleased that Danny Masterson will not be permitted to simply escape criminal accountability,” two of the three women and the husband of one said in a joint statement released through their attorneys. “Despite suffering years of intimidation and harassment, we are completely committed to participating in the next criminal trial.”
The judge tentatively set the retrial to begin in late March.
The 46-year-old Masterson had no comment to reporters outside court after Tuesday’s hearing, and his attorney did not respond to an email requesting comment.
He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer has said the acts were all consensual.
Actor Danny Masterson must stand trial on 3 rape charges
The Church of Scientology played a major role during the month-long trial, with Masterson a member and all three women former members. Prosecutors said the church dissuaded them from going public for years, which the church has denied.
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The charges date to a period when Masterson was at the height of his fame, starring from 1998 until 2006 as Steven Hyde on Fox’s “That ’70s Show.” The show made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace and is getting an upcoming Netflix reboot with “That ’90s Show.”
The jury was “hopelessly deadlocked,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo declared after inquiring whether there was anything the court could do to move them closer to reaching a unanimous decision.
Jurors said they had voted seven times Tuesday and Wednesday without being able to reach consensus on any of the three counts.
The jury foreman said only two jurors voted for conviction on the first count, four voted for conviction on the second count and five voted to convict on the third count.
The star of the ’90s sitcom That ’70s Show has been on trial since mid-October for the alleged rapes of three women at this Hollywood Hills home in 2001 and 2003.
Masterson, now 46, was one of the stars of the hit sitcom at the time, and pleaded not guilty to the three counts of rape.
On Nov. 28, Olmedo replaced two original jurors with alternates and told the panel to start over with deliberations, after the two jurors came down with COVID-19.
The jurors were returning from a week off after telling Olmedo on Nov. 18 that they were deadlocked and could not reach a verdict on any of the three rape counts against Masterson after nearly three days of deliberations.
The judge told them it was too soon to declare a mistrial and to keep deliberating when they returned from the holiday break.
Wednesday’s result was a serious setback for prosecutors, and for the three women who said they were seeking long overdue justice.
All three accusers and Masterson were members of the Church of Scientology at the time the allegations occurred, and while all three accusers have since left the church, Masterson remains a member.
FILE – Actor Danny Masterson appears at his arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles on Sept. 18, 2020.
Lucy Nicholson / The Associated Press
During closing arguments, defence lawyer Phillip Cohen said the allegations were so riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies that prosecutors implicated the Church of Scientology to help patch holes in its case.
“When there are contradictions and inconsistencies — blame it on others,” Cohen said. “We heard Scientology so often that it really became the go-to excuse.”
“There are no charges against Scientology but you can’t avoid it,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller said in his rebuttal argument.
Actor Danny Masterson charged with three counts of rape
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Mueller said the women were late in reporting the alleged rapes because Scientology rules prevented them from going to law enforcement and if they spoke outside the church about what happened, they would be ostracized.
The women, Mueller said, were afraid to testify because they had been subjected to harassment, intimidation and stalking at the hands of the church after they reported the crimes.
If the statements by the women were all consistent then it would have indicated they were scripted, Mueller said. He said inconsistencies often arise when victims of sexual assault have to relive their ordeals when speaking to police for the first time.
“They’re having to reach inside themselves and pull out that pain and trauma that they’ve had buried inside themselves,” Mueller said. “You may find some inconsistencies there.”
Testimony by the women — all referred to as Jane Does 1-3 — was graphic and emotional. One woman said she had vomited and passed out after Masterson gave her a mixed drink. She said she returned to consciousness to find him having rough and painful sex with her.
A former girlfriend of Masterson said she woke up to find him having sex with her when she hadn’t consented.
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Masterson chose not to testify and his lawyer, instead of providing defence evidence, instead focused on how the women’s stories had changed over time, arguing that the acts were consensual.
Danny Masterson outside of court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.
TNS via ZUMA Wire/AP Photo
“The key to this case is not when they reported it,” Cohen said. “It’s what they said when they reported it. What they said after they reported it. And what they said at trial.”
He said prosecutors’ depiction of Masterson as a “commanding scary, abusive monster” was undermined by testimony by his former girlfriend who said she willingly had sex with him after the alleged rapes.
“I get the theme: Paint Danny as a monster. But when you look at the actual testimony it tells us something different,” Cohen said. “This is the problem when you start veering from the truth.”
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Mueller told the jury to stick to the evidence and not to be swayed by the defence.
He mocked a statement Cohen made when he told jurors they could acquit Masterson if they thought he “actually and reasonably believed” the women consented to having sex.
Mueller said nobody would believe the acts described were consensual. He reminded them that one woman repeatedly told Masterson “no,” pulled his hair and tried to get out from under him.
Another woman said Masterson helped her throw up by putting his finger down her throat, then told her she was disgusting and made her shower because she had vomit it in her hair, Mueller said.
“Then he puts her in bed, flips her over and has his way with her,” Mueller said. “There’s not a reasonable belief (she) consented. Absolutely not.”
The charges date to a period when Masterson was at the height of his fame, starring from 1998 until 2006 as Steven Hyde on Fox’s “That ’70s Show.” The show made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace and is getting an upcoming Netflix reboot with “That ’90s Show.”
Masterson had reunited with Kutcher on the Netflix comedy “The Ranch” but was written off the show when an LAPD investigation was revealed in December 2017.
The King of Queens actor, a former Scientologist, urged her followers to keep a close eye on the trial in which Masterson is facing charges for the alleged sexual assaults of three women in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003.
Remini created and co-hosted a hit show about the Scientology, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which ran for three seasons on A&E Network. The show told the unheard stories of people who managed to leave the religious organization — many who said they suffered dire and ongoing consequences in the church and beyond.
Remini’s latest thread revisited many of the themes explored on the show.
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“Did you know that if you are a Scientologist, you are forbidden from contacting law enforcement when another Scientologist has committed a crime against you?” Remini’s first tweet read. “If you do, you will be declared a suppressive person and lose your family, friends, and livelihood overnight.”
1. Did you know that if you are a Scientologist, you are forbidden from contacting law enforcement when another Scientologist has committed a crime against you?
If you do, you will be declared a suppressive person and lose your family, friends, and livelihood overnight.
Her second tweet directly addressed the Masterson trial, saying it’s “not getting enough attention on social media.”
She went on to claim that Scientologists are “controlled” and that the organization’s policies, which were written by founder L. Ron Hubbard, “can never be altered and must be interpreted literally, allowing this criminal (organization) to control members and insulate itself from bad PR.”
3. First, let me explain how Scientologists are controlled.
Scientology’s policies, written by founder L. Ron Hubbard, can never be altered and must be interpreted literally, allowing this criminal org to control members and insulate itself from bad PR.
She then dove into a multi-part explainer of what happens when someone in the organization accuses another member of a crime, noting that “most” of the women who have accused Masterson were at one point Scientologists and first reported their alleged rapes to top ethics officials in the church.
She said that these ethics officials immediately turn around and report what they’ve been told to Scientology’s leader, David Miscavige.
6. Everything shared with these officials is always reported to Scientology’s leader David Miscavige.
These women did this in the immediate aftermath of when they were raped.
She said once the reports get to Miscavige, these accusers are essentially abandoned by the organization.
“Most people would be too frightened to move forward if the cost of reporting the rape meant their entire life, from their family to their livelihood, would disappear overnight,” she continued, calling Scientology a “totalitarian cult.”
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8. The reason for this Scientology law is simple: Scientology is a totalitarian cult, and like all totalitarian states, any justice is handled within.
Scientology and Scientologists believe they are above the law outside of Scientology law.
“This policy permits Scientologists to do horrific things to protect Scientology and makes Scientologists unreliable witnesses.”
Remini said she’s hoping people pay attention to Masterson’s trial, as she believes his lawyer Philip Cohen “is doing everything he can to strip the involvement of Scientology from this trial.”
“Scientology has obstructed justice in covering up Danny’s crimes,” she wrote, calling those who came forward to accuse Masterson “courageous” due to the repercussions they may face.
Remini claimed that Scientologists who go to law enforcement to report crimes about another Scientologist are declared a “suppressive person” and that the organization then gives its members “permission to do whatever they have to do to destroy your life.”
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15. You will be declared a suppressive person, which means that no Scientologist in good standing can ever have anything to do with you again.
You will be considered “fair game.”
Scientologists will have permission to do whatever they have to do to destroy your life.
This includes the loss of family, friends, and job if you work within the organization, she said.
“You will lose everything and everyone.”
She said these consequences are dire enough to keep people from reporting crimes such as rape.
She also encouraged people to follow the trial and post about it on social media, especially “if you’re frustrated that Scientology has never been truly held accountable for its crimes.”
36. And while some media outlets have covered this trial, it’s time for more reporters to give it the attention it deserves.
It’s not just about a Hollywood celebrity.
It’s about what a multi-billion dollar cult does to cover up horrifying sex crimes.
“It’s not just about a Hollywood celebrity,” she concluded. “It’s about what a multi-billion dollar cult does to cover up horrifying sex crimes.”
In May of this year, the three women accusing Masterson each took the stand in a preliminary hearing to share the details of their allegations.
After the three-day hearing, which included graphic and emotional testimony, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo determined that the actor would head to trial.
The trial began mid-October. The first woman to take the witness stand broke down in tears while testifying that Masterson pushed her face into a pillow in 2003, smothering her to the point where she couldn’t breathe. She also said he choked her and she thought at the time “that he was going to kill me. That I was going to die.”
She said she was in and out of consciousness that night after she drank about half a glass of a fruity vodka drink that was given to her by Masterson. She also testified that Masterson pulled out a gun when he heard commotion outside the door.
Masterson, 46, who at the time was a star of the Fox TV sitcom That ’70s show, has pleaded not guilty to the counts of rape.
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Actor Danny Masterson must stand trial on 3 rape charges
All three of Masterson’s accusers were members of the Church of Scientology at the time they claim the rapes happened, but have since left. Masterson remains a member. Judge Olmedo said before the trial that she would not allow Scientology to become a de facto defendant but would allow limited discussion of it.
Scientology did come up. The woman testified that some of her mutual friends filed so-called “knowledge reports” signalling their unhappiness with her after she told them about the initial incident with Masterson, and she was summoned by an ethics officer who forced her to make peace with him and take responsibility.
“You can never be a victim,” the woman said. “No matter what happens, you’re always responsible.”
Asked if she still feared retaliation from anyone for coming forward about Masterson, she replied “about half this courtroom.”
She testified that she signed a non-disclosure agreement with Masterson in 2004, and accepted $400,000 over the course of a year, because the church was going to tar her as a “suppressive person” otherwise. She said she had violated the agreement “about 50 times” since signing it.
Last week, another accuser took the stand, saying she was in a relationship with Masterson for approximately six years, beginning in 1997. She said that in 2001 she woke up to find Masterson having sex with her.
“I told him I didn’t want to have sex, and he wouldn’t stop,” she said, as reported by E! News. He pinned her arms, she continued, making her feel “trapped … I was screaming at him to get off of me.”
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She also testified that he was “very sexually aggressive” and that he would often call her “fat.” She said she would have sex with him despite not wanting to, because otherwise he would become mad at her and refuse to talk to her until she apologized to him.
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She said when she reported the alleged assault to a church ethics officer in 2003, she was told not to use the word “rape.”
“She explained to me that you can’t rape someone you are in a relationship with,” the witness said. She said the officer told her she “had done something to cause it … We’re all responsible for the condition we’re in.”
Further testimony is expected this week. If convicted, Masterson faces 45 years to life behind bars.
— With files from The Associated Press
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