LOS ANGELES (AP) — “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and will get 30 years to life in jail after a jury discovered him responsible on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, during which the Church of Scientology performed a central function.
Masterson’s spouse, actor and mannequin Bijou Phillips, gasped when the decision was learn and wept as he was taken into custody, whereas a bunch of household and associates who sat stone-faced behind him all through each trials.
The jury of seven ladies and 5 males reached the decision after deliberating for seven days unfold over two weeks. They couldn’t attain a verdict on the third rely, that alleged Masterson raped a longtime girlfriend. They had voted 8-4 in favor of conviction.
Masterson, 47, will probably be held with out bail till he’s sentenced. No sentencing date was set.
“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,” one of many ladies, whom Masterson knew as a fellow member of the church and was convicted of raping at his residence in 2003, stated in a press release.
A second girl, a former girlfriend, whose rely left the jury deadlocked, stated within the assertion: “While I’m encouraged that Danny Masterson will face some criminal punishment, I am devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me.”
A spokesperson for Masterson declined to remark, however his attorneys will nearly actually attraction.
After a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in December, prosecutors retried Masterson, saying he drugged and forcibly raped three ladies in his Hollywood Hills residence between 2001 and 2003. They stated he used his prominence within the church — the place all three ladies have been additionally members on the time — to keep away from penalties for many years.
“We want to express our gratitude to the three women who came forward and bravely shared their experiences,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón stated in a press release after the decision Wednesday.
Masterson didn’t testify, and his attorneys referred to as no witnesses. The protection argued that the acts have been consensual, and tried to discredit the ladies’s tales by highlighting modifications and inconsistencies over time, which they stated confirmed indicators of coordination between them.
“If you decide that a witness deliberately lied about something in this case,” protection legal professional Philip Cohen instructed jurors, going via their directions in his closing argument, “You should consider not believing anything that witness says.”
The Church of Scientology performed a major function within the first trial however arguably a good bigger one within the second. Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo allowed professional testimony on church coverage from a former official in Scientology management who has turn out to be a outstanding opponent.
The church stated in a press release after the decision that the “introduction of religion into this trial was an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment and affects the due process rights of every American. The Church was not a party to this case and religion did not belong in this proceeding as Supreme Court precedent has maintained for centuries.”
Tensions ran excessive within the courtroom between present and former Scientologists, and even leaked into testimony, with the accusers saying on the stand that they felt intimidated by some members within the room.
Actor Leah Remini, a former member who has turn out to be the church’s highest-profile critic, sat in on the trial at instances, placing her arm round one of many accusers to consolation her throughout closing arguments.
Remini stated on Twitter that the 2 responsible verdicts within the retrial are “a relief. The women who survived Danny Masterson’s predation are heroes. For years, they and their families have faced vicious attacks and harassment from Scientology and Danny’s well-funded legal team,” she posted. “Nevertheless, they soldiered on, determined to seek justice.”
The alleged harassment is the topic of a civil lawsuit filed by two of the accusers.
The Scientology assertion stated “there is not a scintilla of evidence supporting the scandalous allegations that the Church harassed the accusers.”
Founded in 1953 by L. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology has many members who work in Hollywood. The decide saved limits on how a lot prosecutors might speak in regards to the church, and primarily allowed it to elucidate why the ladies took so lengthy to go to authorities.
The ladies testified that once they reported Masterson to church officers, they have been instructed they weren’t raped, have been put via ethics applications themselves, and have been warned towards going to regulation enforcement to report a member of such excessive standing.
“They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller instructed jurors in his closing argument. “Scientology told them there’s no justice for them.”
The church referred to as the “testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs” through the trial “uniformly false.”
“The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement,” the assertion stated.
Next week Olmedo will maintain a listening to to find out how a lawyer who represents the Church of Scientology had proof that the prosecution had shared with the protection. The proof concerned hyperlinks that the lawyer by accident included in an e-mail to Mueller.
The Associated Press doesn’t sometimes title individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused.
Testimony on this case was graphic and emotional.
The two ladies whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction stated that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then turned woozy or handed out earlier than he violently raped them.
The third, Masterson’s then-girlfriend of 5 years whose rely left the jury deadlocked, stated she awoke to seek out him raping her, and needed to pull his hair to cease him.
Olmedo allowed prosecutors and accusers to say straight within the second trial that Masterson drugged the ladies, whereas solely permitting the ladies to explain their situation within the first trial.
Masterson was not charged with any counts of drugging, and there was no toxicology proof to again up the assertion.
The costs dated to a interval when Masterson was on the peak of his fame, starring from 1998 till 2006 as Steven Hyde on Fox’s “That ’70s Show” — the present that made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace.
Masterson had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” however was written off the present when an LAPD investigation was revealed in December 2017.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”