Danny Masterson was found guilty in a retrial of the rape case.
A jury found Masterson guilty of two counts of raping two women but was deadlocked on the third count. On the latter, after more than a week of deliberations, the jury still voted 8 to 4 in favor of conviction. The actor could face a sentence of 30 years to life in prison.
Masterson was arrested in 2020 and charged with drugging and raping three women at his Los Angeles home between 2001 and 2003. At a previous trial in late 2022, jurors previously had reservations about all three counts and declared a mistrial.
“Like all predators, defendant scouted for his prey,” Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson said in closing arguments. “Defendant drugged his victims to control them. When he drugged them, he was able to control them … and he did it over and over again.”
Anson hints that Masterson has a good “The Hunting Ground” For his victims, trust the Church of Scientology to protect him and deport his accusers if they try to get law enforcement involved. Controversial information about the sect of Scientology led to a deadlock in the initial trial last November. On 10 May, the trial ran into trouble again when it was revealed that a lawyer with ties to the Church had obtained evidentiary material.
This was first discovered when attorney Vicki Podberesky emailed the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, expressing frustration and dissatisfaction with the way Scientology has been discussed so far in the retrial that began in April. Podberesky attached 12 documents to the email that were found to contain information that violated the victims’ rights under the Marsy Act. Judge Charlaine Olmedo, who oversaw the retrial, could be barred by the LAPD and/or the state for the violations.
This is a developing story…