His attorney asked for a mistrial over the issue’s inclusion. Masterson was not charged with any counts of drugging, and there is no toxicology evidence to back up the assertion. “He does this to take away his victims’ ability to consent.” “The defendant drugs his victims to gain control,” Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson said in her closing argument. The third, Masterson’s then-girlfriend whose count left the jury deadlocked, said she awoke to find him raping her, and had to pull his hair to stop him. He knew both from social circles in the church. The two women whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction said that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then became woozy or passed out before he violently raped them. Masterson had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” but was written off the show when an Los Angeles Police Department investigation was revealed in December 2017. The charges date back to between 20, a period when Masterson was at the height of his fame as one of the core characters in That 70s Show alongside Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace. The church vehemently denied having any policy that forbids members from going to secular authorities. You have the opportunity to show them there is justice.” “Scientology told them there’s no justice for them. “They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors in his closing argument. The women testified that when they reported Masterson to church officials, they were told they were not raped, were put through ethics programs themselves, and were warned against going to law enforcement to report a member of such high standing. The judge kept limits on how much prosecutors could talk about the church, and primarily allowed it to explain why the women took so long to go to authorities. It is fighting against a civil lawsuit filed by two of the accusers. The Church of Scientology, which counts Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its many celebrity followers, denies engaging in any harassment. “Nevertheless, they soldiered on, determined to seek justice.” For years, they and their families have faced vicious attacks and harassment from Scientology and Danny’s well-funded legal team,” she posted. Remini said on Twitter: The women who survived Danny Masterson’s predation are heroes. Tensions ran high in the courtroom between current and former Scientologists, and even leaked into testimony, with the accusers saying on the stand that they felt intimidated by some members in the room.Īctor Leah Remini, a former member who has become the church’s highest-profile critic, sat in on the trial at times, putting her arm around one of the accusers. Olmedo allowed expert testimony on church policy from a former official in Scientology leadership who has become a prominent opponent. The Church of Scientology played a significant role in the first trial but arguably an even larger one in the second. “I am experiencing a complex array of emotions - relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness - knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior,” said one of the victims, whom Masterson knew as a fellow member of the Church of Scientology. They could not reach a verdict on a third count, that alleged Masterson raped a longtime girlfriend. The jury of seven women and five men reached the decision after deliberating for seven days. Masterson’s wife, actor and model Bijou Phillips, gasped when the verdict on two counts of rape was read, and she wept as he was led away in handcuffs. The 47-year-old, who played Steven Hyde in the comedy series, is facing 30 years in prison over the assaults which occurred at his Hollywood Hills home. Danny Masterson, one of the lead actors in That ‘70s Show, has been found guilty on two counts of rape at a retrial in Los Angeles where questions were also being raised about the Church of Scientology’s role in concealing the crimes.
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