A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld the conviction of former “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, who is serving a state prison sentence of 30 years to life for raping two women at his Hollywood Hills home.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that Masterson’s conviction should be reversed for nearly a dozen reason, including a delay in prosecuting the actor
on one of the charges and the jurors being allowed to hear evidence about the Church of Scientology during his trial.
The appellate court justices found in their 89-page opinion that evidence was relevant “to understand the victims’ behavior toward defendant and their interactions with him; their initial reports to Scientology; their delay in reporting the crimes to law enforcement; their initial acceptance of defendant’s behavior, and their families’ and friends’ subsequent reactions.”
The panel also noted that the defense cited several statements by the trial court that Mastrerson claimed demonstrated a lack of neutrality and even hostility toward Scientology, while the panel found that “those statements, viewed in context, evidence no animus or departure from neutrality regarding Scientology.”
Masterson, now 50, was found guilty May 31, 2023, of two counts of rape by force or fear involving attacks that prosecutors said occurred in the early 2000s at his Hollywood Hills home.
The jury deadlocked on another rape charge involving a third alleged victim, who was a former longtime girlfriend of Masterson. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office opted not to retry the actor on that charge, resulting in that count being dismissed.
At his September 2023 sentencing, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo told the actor that she knew he is “sitting here steadfastly on your claims of innocence.”
“Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here,” the judge said, telling him that his actions had taken away another person’s voice and choice and that the victims each reported the rapes to someone shortly afterward.
The judge called Masterson’s actions “criminal,” and subsequently called him back into court to order him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life upon his release from state prison.
“You relish in hurting women,” one of the women, identified in court as “Jane Doe 2,” said in directly addressing Masterson at his sentencing.
“You lived your life behind a mask as two people. But the real one sits here …”
She said the world is “safer” with Masterson behind bars and believes that it never dawned on him that he would be “held accountable.”
“I forgive you,” she told the actor, saying that his “sickness” is no longer her burden.
The other victim, identified as “Jane Doe 1,” said she wished that she had “reported him sooner” to Los Angeles police.
“I knew he belonged behind bars,” she told the judge.
In a statement read by Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson, Masterson’s ex-girlfriend wrote that she entered the relationship as an “extremely naive” and “trusting” 18-year-old.
The judge turned down the prosecution’s request to allow three other women, including two who had testified about alleged uncharged crimes, to speak at Masterson’s sentencing.
The jury was the second to hear the case against Masterson, who was charged in 2020 with three counts of rape by force or fear involving the three women on separate occasions.
During the first trial, jurors leaned in favor of acquittal on all three counts — voting 10-2 on one count, 8-4 on another and 7-5 on the third — but they were unable to reach a unanimous decision, leading to a mistrial being declared on Nov. 30.
Jurors in Masterson’s retrial convicted the actor of the two rapes, but could not reach a verdict on the charge involving his ex-girlfriend.
In a statement she read outside court after the sentencing, one of Masterson’s attorneys, Shawn Holley said a team of appellate lawyers has been reviewing the trial’s transcripts and has identified “a number of significant
evidentiary and constitutional issues which they will address in briefs to both state and federal appellate courts.”
“Mr. Masterson did not commit the crimes for which he has been convicted and we and the appellate lawyers — the best and the brightest in the country — are confident that these convictions will be overturned,” Holley said.
In his closing argument of the retrial, Mueller told the jury, “This defendant drugged and raped each one of these victims. … It is time to hold Mr. Masterson accountable for what he has done.”
Mueller said the three women were — like Masterson — members of the Church of Scientology, and told jurors that the church retaliated against them.
“What happened after they were drugged — they were raped by this man over here,” the prosecutor said, pointing across the courtroom at Masterson. “You have an opportunity to show there is justice. It does exist.”
Masterson’s trial attorney Philip Kent Cohen urged jurors during his closing argument to acquit his client, questioning the credibility of the women.
The defense attorney also questioned why the panel had heard “so much about Scientology,” asking jurors if there could be problems with the government’s case against Masterson.
Masterson’s lawyer said he was not alleging that there was some “grand conspiracy” against his client, but told jurors the alleged victims had spoken with each other despite an LAPD detective’s admonition and that their accounts have been tweaked throughout the years.
He said there was no forensic evidence to support the prosecution’scontention that the victims’ drinks had been drugged by Masterson.
Outside the jury’s presence during the trial, the judge rejected Cohen’s requests for either a mistrial, another chance to argue before the jury or a special jury instruction as a result of the prosecution’s repeated references to the women allegedly being drugged.
The Church of Scientology issued a statement criticizing the prosecution’s characterizations of the church’s actions.
“The church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone, Scientologists or not, to law enforcement,” according to the statement. “Quite the opposite, church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land. All allegations to the contrary are totally false.”
A civil suit filed in August 2019 against Masterson and the Church of Scientology by the three women involved in the criminal case and one woman who was not a member of the church alleges they were stalked and harassed after reporting sexual assault allegations against the actor to Los Angeles police.
Regarding the lawsuit, the Church of Scientology issued a statement saying, “The church denies the allegations of harassment as obvious, cynical and self-serving fictions, and the church knows it will be vindicated.”
In December 2017, Netflix announced that Masterson had been fired from the Emmy-winning scripted comedy “The Ranch” amid sexual assault allegations.
The actor said then he was “very disappointed,” and added that “it seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused.” He also “denied the outrageous allegations” and said he looked forward to “clearing
my name once and for all.”
Masterson is behind bars at California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, according to records from the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation.
