Its not a nice thing.. "Try as Masterson's team might to keep that evidence out, I think it's inevitable that it will become an element in the trial, and the prosecution will likely use this to their benefit to explain the extremely long delay in reporting these allegations to law enforcement," Joshua Ritter, a defense attorney and former Los Angeles County prosecutor, said in a statement to Us. The alleged incident took place withthree women between 2001 and 2003 in his home, which functioned as a social hub when he was at the height of his fame. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. Actor Leah Remini, a former Scientologist who has become the church's most prominent detractor on social media and through a TV series she hosted featuring dissident ex-members, sat in the front row of the courtroom in support of Mastersons accusers. Cohen was not allowed to refer to testimony from the first trial something Olmedo admonished him several times for doing but he said he expected testimony this time would show that one of the women Masterson is charged with raping watched him make the allegedly drugged drink her gave her. If youre a member of the church and you have an issue (like a rape) with another member you are not permitted to go to law enforcement, Mueller said of the churchs internal justice system. The prosecutor explained that if Christina B, or any church member for that matter, went to the police to report such an alleged crime, she would be declared a suppressed person and promptly excommunicated from Scientology. He argued the restrictions were needed because of religious bias that investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department and Mastersons accusers harbored against Scientology. This is an ongoing article that was originally published in January 2022 and last updated in April 2023. Credit: LUCY NICHOLSON/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock. Actor Danny Masterson is arraigned on three rape charges in separate incidents in 2001 and 2003, at Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles, California, Pledging no sidebars and other occasions that could eat up time in the retrial, Olmedo got to a place today that it took her more than a week to reach in the last trial and she made sure the courtroom knew the rules. Three of the five alleged victims were Scientologists, which is a church that Masterson has been a part of since he was a child. In May 2021, a judge ordered Masterson to stand trial on the rape charges made against him. Joining the returning Cohen at Mastersons table is the high-profile Holley, who took a leading role right away today. The brief says that sometime between October and December of 2003, Masterson raped a third woman, identified only as N. Trout, who occasionally saw him at parties and gatherings and, like him, was in the Celebrity Centre branch of Scientology. His arraignment hearing was set for September of that year and could face up to 45 years to life in a state prison if convicted. Mr Masterson, 46, was charged in 2020 with raping three women, who were all in their 20s, between 2001 and 2003. LOS ANGELES (AP) Actor Danny Masterson drugged then raped three women at his Hollywood-area home between 2001 and 2003, a prosecutor told jurors Monday in his opening statement in the retrial of the star of That 70s Show.. "And while there was disagreement as to the ultimate vote, on one thing the jurors all appeared to agree no reasonable jury was ever going to come to a unanimous finding on guilty on any count," Masterson's attorneys wrote. According to a supplemental trial brief filed by the district attorneys office in March, prosecutors indicated that they might call to the stand an additional accuser who did not testify in the first trial, whom they identified only as Kathy J. But prosecutors wrote that her testimony and that of another accuser who testified at the first trial bolster the credibility of the women in the case by showing that Masterson performed similar acts on other women. The prosecutions opening statement is anticipated to concluded after the courts regular morning break, with the defense set to beginning their opening statement later today. A different outcome at a retrial is at least a possibility.. A retrial date has been set for March 29, beginning with jury selection. Did you encounter any technical issues? The Times generally does not name victims of alleged sexual assault unless they choose to fully identify themselves. Following his arrest in June 2020, Mastersons attorney Tom Mesereau told CNN: Mr. By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and that you have read our Privacy Policy. There is no drug charge, the lawyer said, ripping into the date-rape drug claims that Mueller put front and center in his own opening statement. CNN has reached out to Mastersons attorney for comment. Testimony at Mastersons preliminary hearing at times was as much an explanation of the churchs processes and cryptic vocabulary as an accounting of the actors alleged sexual abuse. His attorney, Tom Mesereau, entered a plea of not guilty on all charges on his behalf during a court hearing. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? She reached for his hair to try to pull him off and attempted to push a pillow into his face, it states. Four women claimed in March 2017 that the That 70s Show alum sexually assaulted them in the early 2000s. The case will be retried in April 2023. In a one-on-one meeting, a church ethics officer told her not to use the R-word and said it would be a high crime to report another Scientologist to law enforcement, the woman testified. The defense denies such evidence exists. The District Attorneys Office declined to file charges for two of the five alleged assaults due to insufficient evidence and statute of limitations. Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo had ordered jurors to take Thanksgiving week off and keep deliberating after they said on Nov. 18 that they could not reach a consensus. In November, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked on all three charges. 2. Discovery.). Part of the a360media Entertainment Group.Powered by WordPress VIP, Please note that this form cannot be used to reset your Google, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window). Danny Masterson will not discover his fate on three counts of forcible rape until at least after Thanksgiving. The trial brief says that Masterson raped a second woman, identified only as Christina B., who had been in a relationship with him and had lived with him for six years. Masterson could face up to 45 years to a life sentence in state prison if convicted. She spoke to her mom about how her date with Masterson went, she spoke to her friends, she did not ever say to one person, I was drugged. Never, Cohen said. Once again, his use of the courtroom video monitor amplified his remarks with photos of the alleged victims, Masterson himself, timelines and venues in question, as well as Scientology officials. While cross-examining one woman, he read from an O.W. "The contradictory nature of their trial testimony is not going to credibly change. Former girlfriend of Danny Masterson shares disturbing testimony in retrial. That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson pleads not guilty to rape charges. She testified she had set boundaries and was clear there was to be no sex. 1. With that said, and a very brief delay for an alternate juror to make it back to the courtroom, the former model barely had time to describe first meeting Masterson in the late 1990s before Judge Olmedo called an end to todays proceedings at 4 PM. The rape trial of Danny Masterson, seen here while being arraigned in 2020 in Los Angeles, has been declared a mistrial. 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", During the hearing Tuesday, Olmedo pointed out that prosecutors only called 16 out of 36 potential witnesses and thus "a different outcome at a retrial is at least a possibility," the judge said, per Variety. The charges came after a three-year investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. Both prosecutors and church lawyers opposed the strategy to involve Scientology in the case, but a judge allowed it. I find the jurors hopelessly deadlocked, Olmedo declaredafter inquiring whether there was anything the court could do to move them closer to reaching a unanimous decision. Mr Masterson, who is best known for his role in the sitcom That 70s Show, was accused of raping three women at his home in Hollywood in the early 2000s. He had denied the charges, saying he was being persecuted for his membership of the Church of Scientology. Mastersons attorney, Thomas Mesereau, initially tried to minimize Scientologys place in the case, asking Olmedo to issue an order limiting mentions of the church or its practices in court. The three women who have accused Masterson of rape were identified in court by their first names and initials of their last names. Three women took the stand to recount sexual assaults allegedly committed by the celebrity Scientologist, and each told similar stories of how church officials tried to stop them from reporting Masterson to police. All three women testified at the preliminary hearing, where the judge ruled that prosecutors had enough evidence for the case to go to trial. I asked her to do the right thing by these girls, and I told her that the world is watching., The Dracula 2000 actors rep issued a statement denying all claims of sexual assault that same month. I stayed quiet long enough. Masterson was, however, accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman between January and December 2001, a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and a 23-year-old woman between October and December 2003 in his home. Get the day's top stories on Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more. As his criminal case continued to be investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, Masterson was sued by four of his sexual assault accusers in civil court. Mastersons accusers allege the actor sexually assaulted them at his Hollywood Hills home after plying them with alcohol. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. Scroll down for more details on Mastersons sexual assault case, trial and his ongoing civil lawsuit: Sign up for Us Weekly's free, daily newsletter and never miss breaking news or exclusive stories about your favorite celebrities, TV shows and more! Updated Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Masterson would co-star with Kutcher again on Netflixs The Ranch. He also had a role on TBSs Men at Work. (TBS, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Like other rapes cited by the D.A., Jenkins was handed a drink by Masterson and supposedly became light head and confused soon afterwards. Todays proceedings followed a week of jury selection, motions and other housekeeping. Unlike the past trial, former Scientologist Leah Remini was also in attendance today and that was a problem for the defense. 2023 Cable News Network.
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