Danny Masterson (That 70's Show) Arrested And Charged With Rape Dating As Far Back As 2003.....

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Danny Masterson Will Have to Stand Trial for Alleged Rape of 3 Women During the Early 2000s
By Halle Kiefer@hallekiefer

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Photo: Anna Webber/Getty Images for Netflix
Almost a year after being initially charged with the alleged rape of three women, That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson has been finally ordered to stand trial. According to Variety, Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo ruled Friday that prosecutors had provided enough evidence at this week’s preliminary hearing for the case to move forward. All three of The Ranch star’s accusers testified beginning on Tuesday, providing grim details of his alleged crimes. According to one woman, when she attempted to resist during an April 2003 assault at Masterson’s Hollywood home, the actor allegedly threatened her with a gun pulled from his nightstand.


Another woman described being allegedly raped by Masterson in late 2003, while the third said the actor had raped her in November 2001 during their six-year-long relationship. Masterson has denied the claims against him and plead not guilty to the charges, which were the result of a yearslong investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. Once the claims of sexual assault and abuse became public knowledge, Masterson was removed from Netflix’s The Ranch in 2017.

Meanwhile, the actor also faces a civil lawsuit, which alleges Masterson and the Church of Scientology launched a campaign of harassment against his accusers as a means to intimidate or punish them for going to police, including one incident in which one accuser’s dog was allegedly poisoned. In December, a judge ruled that four of his accusers would need to enter “religious arbitration” with the Church of Scientology, as they had previously signed an agreement to do so as members of the religion. However, at least one accuser is not a member of Scientology and signed no such agreement. The ruling only affects civil proceedings against the actor.
Masterson is due back in court to be arraigned next month on June 7. If found guilty, he could face up to 45 years in prison.
 

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Danny Masterson Rape Accuser Gives Graphic Court Testimony
By Jennifer Zhan

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Photo: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
One of Danny Masterson’s accusers delivered nearly six hours of tearful testimony on Tuesday, at a preliminary hearing to determine if a trial will be ordered against the actor and practicing Scientologist, the Los Angeles Times reports. Masterson was charged last June with raping three women by force or fear at the height of his fame in the early 2000s. He pleaded not guilty and has denied the allegations. The woman who took the stand alleged that Masterson assaulted her at his Hollywood home in 2003. According to a “Page Six” report on her testimony, the accuser said she and Masterson were in the same social circles because of their involvement with the Church of Scientology. Through sobs, she recalled taking a drink from Masterson and feeling so sick that she could not open her eyes. She alleged that he carried her upstairs, where she vomited and was put in the shower. “When I came to, he was on top of me,” she said according to the “Page Six” report. “The first thing I recall is grabbing his hair to pull him off.” According to her testimony, the That ’70s Show actor then raped her, despite her attempts to resist, allegedly threatening her at one point with a gun from his nightstand. Masterson reportedly took notes throughout the hearing.


The woman also testified that Scientology members attempted to silence her afterward and that she feared excommunication. A spokeswoman for Scientology denied that the church has any policy of suppressing claims of rape or that church members tried to discourage the woman from making a police report. During cross-examination, Masterson’s attorney cited the woman’s accounts in a 2004 police report and a Church of Scientology report filled out the year prior. She acknowledged differences, but said her accounts were truthful. The Times reported that two other accusers are expected to testify this week.

Public sexual-assault accusations against Masterson date back to 2016, when the Los Angeles Police Department investigated him after four women alleged that Masterson raped them in the early 2000s. An ex-girlfriend later came forward as a fifth victim. The allegations, which Masterson denied, did not lead to any legal repercussions at the time, though the actor was removed from Netflix’s show The Ranch and dropped by his talent agency. His accusers are part of a separate civil lawsuit filed in 2019 that names Danny Masterson, the Church of Scientology, and its leader, David Miscavige. The suit lists 14 accusations, focusing on systematic stalking intended to enforce the church’s alleged practices and dogma by intimidating assault survivors from coming forward. One accuser and her spouse said Scientology members poisoned their dog as a form of retaliation for speaking out about Masterson. In December 2020, a judge ruled that several of the civil complaints must be mediated by the Church of Scientology for “religious arbitration,” due to existing arbitration agreements between the parties and the church. The ruling did not affect a complaint from an accuser who was unaffiliated with Scientology, or Masterson’s criminal rape charges (which reportedly did not include two other alleged assaults, due to insufficient evidence and an expired statute of limitations). If convicted of three counts of rape by force or fear, Masterson could face up to 45 years in prison.
 

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The shit Scientology is allowed to get away with legally is mind blowing.

No religion should hold that type of power particularly over ex-parishioners. :smh:

Mandating that arbitration be overseen by arbitrators who are also affiliated with Scientology is obviously biased and ensures any plaintiff against them will lose.
 

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I wonder if they're going to take that 70 show off the air like they did The Cosby Show
 

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Danny Masterson Accuser Breaks Down in Tears While Recounting Rape

By Gene Maddaus
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LUCY NICHOLSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The first witness in the Danny Masterson trial broke down in tears on Wednesday as she told jurors that the actor had raped her in April 2003.
The woman, who prefers to be identified as Jane Doe #1, testified that she remembered waking up in Masterson’s bed, with him on top of her and penetrating her. She said she tried to shove him away with a pillow, but he grabbed her wrists with one hand and grabbed her throat with the other.
“I just couldn’t breathe,” she said, crying and daubing her face with a tissue. “He squeezed really, really hard.” She added that she felt “that I was going to die.”


“I can’t do this,” she said, a moment later, shaking her head. “I can’t do this.”


The court took a recess. Jane Doe #1 returned to the stand after the break and continued to testify.
Masterson is on trial for three counts of forcible rape that could send him to prison for 45 years to life. The trial began on Tuesday with heated conflict over how much the witnesses will be allowed to delve into issues relating to the Church of Scientology.
Masterson and all three of the accusers in the case were Scientologists at the time of the incidents. Judge Charlaine Olmedo has allowed limited discussion of the church to show the relationships between witnesses and their motivation.
But she has also tried to exclude testimony that would be, in legal terms, “more prejudicial than probative.” She drew the line on Tuesday when Jane Doe #1 testified that Scientology warns its members against “fraternizing with the enemy” — meaning non-Scientologists — and that the goal of Scientology is to “clear the world.”
Before testimony resumed Wednesday morning, Olmedo advised Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller to keep a tight rein on such testimony.
“This is a rape case,” the judge said. “Go to the incidents.”
Jane Doe #1 testified on Tuesday about her initial sexual encounter with Masterson in September 2002, in which she alleged that he anally penetrated her against her will.
On Wednesday, she testified that after that incident, she was sent to speak with a church ethics officer and was “forced to make peace” with Masterson. She also said she was required to complete a few weeks of “ethics programs,” and was given to understand that she was responsible for the encounter.
“My understanding, my entire life, was that you can never be a victim,” she testified. “Nothing ever happens to you that you didn’t cause. No matter what condition you find yourself in life, no matter how horrible, you are responsible. You created that.”
She went on to testify about the subsequent sexual incident from April 2003. She told the jury that she went to Masterson’s house, he gave her something to drink and then threw her into the jacuzzi. She said she began to feel like she would throw up, and she had trouble seeing.
She said Masterson volunteered to take her to a bathroom upstairs and put his fingers down her throat to get her to throw up. She said she resisted — saying “no” — but that Masterson picked her up and brought her up the stairs.


She said she vomited in the bathroom, and Masterson then dragged her into the shower and turned the water on. At some point, she realized Masterson was in front of her, soaping her breasts with his hands. She said she took a swing at him, but she felt weak and the punch did not land with much force.
Then, she said, Masterson picked her up and put her on the bed, where she passed out. When she awoke, she testified that Masterson was on top of her, with his full weight, penetrating her.
In the subsequent struggle, she said Masterson reached into a drawer in a nightstand and pulled out a gun. She said he held it up and said, “Shut the fuck up.”
“What did you feel?” Mueller asked.
“Fear,” she answered.
In the afternoon, Jane Doe #1 testified about her response to the incident. She said that at one point, she went to see her ethics officer, Julian Swartz. She said she understood that it was against church policy to report a Scientologist in good standing to the police, and that she could be declared a “suppressive person” for doing so.
“My understanding is I would immediately be guilty of a high crime. A high crime comes with a penalty of expulsion from Scientology,” she said. “My life would be over. My parents would have to disconnect from me. My daughter couldn’t go to her school… I wouldn’t have anywhere to work or live. I wouldn’t have anywhere to go.”
In April 2004, about a year after the alleged rape, Jane Doe #1 wrote a letter to the church’s International Justice Chief, who was responsible for overseeing all judicial matters for the church. She asked for permission to bring criminal charges against Masterson.
About a week later, the official wrote back, referring her to Scientology policies and saying that she must “apply LRH technology” to any problem.
On the witness stand, she said she interpreted that as denying her permission.
“He chose to point out that policy that said I can’t go to the police,” she testified.
In June 2004, she went to the LAPD anyway and filed a report against Masterson for rape. A short while later, she got a call from Swartz, the ethics officer. Swartz wanted to know why the LAPD had called him, and she said that she had given them his number.
“He said, ‘You’re fucked,'” she testified. “‘You have no idea how fucked you are.'”
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office opted not to press charges at the time — a decision that Jane Doe #1 said left her feeling “scared.”
Jane Doe #1 ultimately received $400,000 in a settlement with Masterson. She testified that she felt compelled to sign a settlement agreement, which included a non-disclosure provision. She said that had she not done so, church officials were preparing to declare her a suppressive person.
“I could enter into the NDA, or go get a declare,” she said.
Philip Cohen, Masterson’s attorney, began his cross-examination late Wednesday afternoon, and began to probe discrepancies between Jane Doe #1’s testimony and her initial account to the LAPD in 2004. Cohen is expected to resume cross-examination on Thursday morning.
Marty Singer, the attorney who negotiated the civil settlement on behalf of Masterson, is on the prosecution’s witness list for Thursday.
 

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The American actor Danny Masterson, star of the hit sitcom That '70s Show, has been charged with forcibly raping three women in the early 2000s.

The 44-year-old was arrested by detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's robbery and homicide division on Wednesday and later released on bail.

Police opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations made against Masterson by four women in March 2017.

As a result of the allegations, he was written out of the Netflix comedy show The Ranch in December 2017. At the time, the actor said he was "very disappointed".

The allegations emerged at the height of the MeToo movement as powerful figures in the entertainment industry, including Harvey Weinstein, were accused of sexual assault and harassment. Masterson was dropped by his talent agency after the allegations became public.

He now faces charges that he raped a 23-year-old woman between January and December 2001. He is also alleged to have raped a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and a 23-year-old woman between October and December of that year.

Prosecutors say all of the incidents are alleged to have happened at Masterson's home.

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The American actor Danny Masterson, star of the hit sitcom That '70s Show, has been charged with forcibly raping three women in the early 2000s.

The 44-year-old was arrested by detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's robbery and homicide division on Wednesday and later released on bail.

Police opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations made against Masterson by four women in March 2017.

As a result of the allegations, he was written out of the Netflix comedy show The Ranch in December 2017. At the time, the actor said he was "very disappointed".

The allegations emerged at the height of the MeToo movement as powerful figures in the entertainment industry, including Harvey Weinstein, were accused of sexual assault and harassment. Masterson was dropped by his talent agency after the allegations became public.

He now faces charges that he raped a 23-year-old woman between January and December 2001. He is also alleged to have raped a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and a 23-year-old woman between October and December of that year.

Prosecutors say all of the incidents are alleged to have happened at Masterson's home.


Danny Masterson Rape Trial Jury Deadlocked On Trio Of Charges; Judge Sends Panel Home For Thanksgiving Week

By Dominic Patten

November 18, 2022 2:21pm

Danny Masterson will not discover his fate on three counts of forcible rape until after Thanksgiving.
After less than three days of deliberations by the jury, the panel has just told Judge Charlaine Olemdo they are deadlocked on all three count and cannot reach an unanimous verdict. Deciding that three days isn’t enough to declare a mistrial, the LA Superior Court judge has sent the jurors home for Thanksgiving. Judge Olemdo gave the panel instructions to return on November 28 to start their deliberations again .
Masterson faces up to 45 years in state prison if found guilty on all three counts. LA County District Attorney’s office and Masterson’s Phillip Cohen-led defense presented and concluded their very different closing arguments on November 15 after nearly three weeks of testimony in the DTLA trial.

Rhttps://deadline.com/2022/11/mel-gibson-testimony-harvey-weinstein-rape-trial-1235174663/

Masterson was arrested in June 2020 on three counts of forcible rape that allegedly occurred in 2001 and 2003 at his Hollywood Hills home. Out on $3.3 million bail ever since being arrested, longtime Scientologist Masterson had previously been unceremoniously dropped from Netflix’s Ashton Kutcher co-starring comedy The Ranch at the end of 2017 as claims became known. Seated at the defense table for every day of the trial with a revolving door of family and friends in court with him, Masterson has always denied having nonconsensual sex with the Jane Does of this case or anyone else.

Just like today, the jury began their second day of closed door deliberations just after 9 AM Thursday, with Masterson and lawyers from both sides close by in the DTLA courthouse. Not long afterwards, the jurors asked if they could get a transcript of testimony about the call between the defendant and Jane Doe #1 when the latter was in Florida right after her alleged 2003 rape. Judge Olmedo told the panel the court reporter would read it back to them – which she did.

Even going into a second day, it was actually obvious from early Wednesday that the panel of seven women and five men were drilling down on their duties and a verdict may not come as quickly as assumed. Not long after gathering at 9 AM on November 16, the jurors asked to take a look at a number of exhibits in the case – which was provided to them ASAP. Mid-morning yesterday before the lunch break, the jury sought LAPD reports on the alleged assault, as well as other material from the defense’s closing argument. With the jury back in the courtroom., along with lawyers and Masterson, Judge Olmedo informed the panel that any material from closing arguments is not actually evidence. Hence, the requests were denied, and the jury went back to deliberating until about 4 PM that afternoon.


With testimony stating on October 18, the often contentious trial saw all of the three Jane Does at core of the case take the stand. All former Scientologists, the Jane Does offered often deeply emotional statements under questioning from Deputy LA County District Attorneys Reinhold Mueller and Ariel Anson and an openly combative defense team of Cohen and Karen Goldstein. Masterson himself decided not to testify in his own defense, as he told the court on November 14 and his team called no witnesses of their own. While Judge Olmedo repeatedly explicitly said Scientology was not on trial here, the David Miscavige-led church and its policies, its allegedly warnings of the Jane Does not to go to the police and protection of Masterson were frequently brought up – – at least 700 times before this week’s closing statements, according to Cohen.
Sometimes seeming to represent Scientology as much as Masterson, the defense put forth ultimately unsuccessful motions for a mistrial based on mentions of the church time and time again.

Also brought up in the trial, but never actually taking the stand were Hollywood heavyweight lawyer Marty Singer and ex-high profile Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley. Both were on the prosecution’s witness list but the latter was scheduled to testify, and even seen in the halls of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in late October. However, due to the length of Jane Doe #1’s testimony, the already reluctant Singer was bumped and eventually never called. Testimony from rock scion Presley was dropped by the prosecution on November 9 after Judge Olmedo strictly limited what they could ask her. Specifically, the judge eradicated anything about potential obstruction of justice by the Church of Scientology in the alleged sexual assault of Jane Doe #1 by the That ‘70s Show actor in 2003.

The Church failed last month in its attempt to get the Supreme Court step in and potentially into stop several former members of the church and alleged Masterson victims from taking them and the actor to court in a civil case on claims of surveillance, harassment and the killing of pets. Revived earlier this year by California’s Court of Appeal, the lawsuit from Jane Doe #1 – 3 and others says they were targeted by Scientology after going to the LAPD with their rape claims against Masterson has been paused until around mid-December aka once the criminal trial is done and over. Still, with the behind closed doors “religious arbitration” effort by Scientology swatted away by SCOTUS, and ex-Scientologists among the core victims in Masterson’s criminal trial, it was inevitable the celebrity-rich Church and its internal methods would be in the judicial and media spotlight in this case.

Starting around the fifth anniversary of the New York Times‘ exposé of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of rape and other abuses of women, the ongoing Masterson trial was also mirrored by the one-time mogul’s ongoing West Coast trial for a multitude of sex crimes just down the hall at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. With a number of Jane Does taking the stand the past few weeks, including current California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the already East Coast convicted and incarcerated Weinstein is looking at over 60 years behind bars if found guilty in LA. That’s up to 60 years in a Golden State prison in addition to the 23 years he was sentenced to in NYC in March 2020.
Like the Masterson trial, the Weinstein trial is also going dark next week for the holiday, and will be back on November 28.
 

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Never have I ever seen a mask that tight where he looks like he's sucking it in with a sigh of relief with that mistrial

Mistrial declared after jurors deadlocked in Danny Masterson rape trial

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CNN —
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in the rape trial of actor Danny Masterson on Wednesday after jurors remained deadlocked, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said.

Masterson was charged in 2020 with forcibly raping three women in separate incidents occurring between 2001 and 2003, CNN previously reported.

“While we are disappointed with the outcome in this trial, we thank the jurors for their service,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “We also want to give our heartfelt appreciation to the victims for bravely stepping forward and recounting their harrowing experiences.”

The district attorney’s office said “we will now consider our next steps” on prosecuting the case and did not indicate if they plan to refile.

CNN has reached out to Masterson’s attorney for comment. Outside of the court, Masterson did not respond to a verbal request for comment.

Masterson, who was charged by his full name Daniel Peter Masterson, is best known for his role as Steven Hyde on “That ’70s Show,” which aired for eight seasons on the Fox network from 1998-2006.

The show also starred Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama.

Masterson would co-star with Kutcher again on Netflix’s “The Ranch.” He also had a role on TBS’s “Men at Work.” (TBS, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)

In 2017, Netflix and producers of “The Ranch” wrote Masterson off the show amid rape allegations.

At the time, Masterson said he was “obviously very disappointed” by the decision, in a statement to CNN.

Following his arrest in June 2020, Masterson’s attorney Tom Mesereau told CNN: “Mr. Masterson is innocent, and we’re confident that he will be exonerated when all the evidence finally comes to light and witnesses have the opportunity to testify.”

All of the alleged crimes took place at Masterson’s Hollywood Hills home, authorities said at the time.

Danny Masterson: Mistrial declared after jurors deadlocked in rape trial | CNN

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Ashton Kutcher addresses That '70s Show costar Danny Masterson's rape trial

“I wholesale feel for anybody who feels like they were violated in any way.”
By Emlyn TravisJanuary 31, 2023 at 02:49 PM EST




Ashton Kutcher has complicated feelings toward his former The Ranch and That '70s Show costar Danny Masterson's ongoing rape trial.
The actor told Esquire that he still keeps in touch with Masterson and that he'd like to see him "found innocent of the charges brought against him." In June 2020, Masterson was charged with "forcibly raping three women in separate incidents occurring between 2001 and 2003." The case was declared a mistrial in November and Masterson, who denies all charges, is set to be retried in March.
Kutcher has been an advocate for victims of sexual abuse. In 2012, he and Demi Moore co-founded Thorn, a technology start-up which aims to prevent online child sexual abuse and sex trafficking. "I wholesale feel for anybody who feels like they were violated in any way," he told Esquire.
He's also aware that the trial will affect Masterson's daughter too, noting, "Someday, his kid is going to read about this."


Danny Masterson and Ashton Kutcher

| CREDIT: JEFF KRAVITZ/FILMMAGIC
Ultimately, it has left Kutcher at a crossroads. "I'm not the judge. I'm not the jury. I'm not the DA. I'm not the victim. And I'm not the accused. And so, in that case, I don't have a space to comment," he said. "I just don't know."
Kutcher and Masterson — alongside Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, and Mila Kunis — starred opposite one another on That '70s Show for eight seasons. Masterson is the only member of the original cast who did not make an appearance in its Netflix reboot That '90s Show and his character, Steven Hyde, was not mentioned in the series at all.
In addition to That '70s Show, Kutcher and Masterson played brothers Colt and Rooster Bennett on the Netflix sit-com The Ranch, which ran from 2016 to 2020. When rape allegations were first made against Masterson in 2017, he was fired by Netflix and his character was subsequently written off the show.
 
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