Actor Danny Masterson discovered responsible of two counts of rape in Los Angeles retrial, months after jurors couldn't come to a unanimous resolution in first trial

• On Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury discovered actor Danny Masterson responsible on 2 expenses of rape.
• It was a retrial after the final one ended with a mistrial in late November 2022.
• 4 girls testified Masterson raped them, and three mentioned the Church of Scientology silenced them.

A Los Angeles jury convicted”That 70’s Present” actor Danny Masterson of two counts of rape on Wednesday, in a re-trial of an explosive case.

Jurors deliberated for shut to eight days — longer than the primary trial — discovering that Masterson was responsible of two counts of rape in opposition to two girls. Masterson’s spouse Bijou Phillips sobbed audibly when the decision was introduced, in accordance with The Los Angeles Occasions. 

Jurors have been held on a 3rd rely of rape, in accordance with the Occasions. Final 12 months, throughout Masterson’s first trial, on November 30, jurors could not come to a unanimous conclusion on any of the three expenses. 

This time round, prosecutors relied extra on the argument that Masterson had drugged the ladies he raped, per The Related Press. 

Masterson faces as much as 30 years in jail at a later sentencing date, in accordance with NBC Information.

Over the course of each trials, three charging witnesses — all former Scientologists — testified that Masterson, a outstanding Scientologist, raped them between 2001 and 2003, and that Scientology later silenced their accusations. 

Within the re-trial, jurors discovered Masterson responsible of raping Jane Doe 1, in addition to Jane Doe 2.

“I’m experiencing a posh array of feelings – reduction, exhaustion, energy, unhappiness – understanding that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his legal conduct,” Jane Doe 2 mentioned in a press release despatched to Insider. “I’m disenchanted that he was not convicted on all counts, however take nice solace in the truth that he, the Church of Scientology, and others, must absolutely account for his or her abhorrent actions in civil courtroom.”

Based on Deadline, a fourth girl who alleged that Masterson raped her in Toronto in 2000 testified as a previous dangerous acts witness. 

Because the rape allegations in opposition to Masterson grew to become public in 2017, Masterson and his authorized crew have denied them, calling them “outrageous.” He pleaded not responsible to the legal expenses introduced by the Los Angeles District Legal professional in 2020. 

The retrial tailed key parts of the final trial, with the ladies delivering pained testimony about traumatic incidents with Masterson and the invisible hand of the Church of Scientology. All through the 2 trials, the Church of Scientology has vehemently denied the allegations and any involvement.

“There isn’t a fact to the allegations concerning the Church. The District Legal professional is shamefully centering his prosecution on the defendant’s faith. With regard to the Church, the DA has elicited solutions from the Jane Does and had them state as reality allegations concerning the Church — that are categorically unfaithful,” spokesperson Karin Pouw informed Insider final 12 months. 

Philip Cohen, Masterson’s protection lawyer, centered on alleged “inconsistencies” within the girls’s tales, and the timeline of their allegations. Powerhouse lawyer Shawn Holley additionally served as co-counsel on Masterson’s crew within the retrial.

Jurors have been hung 8-4 on the rape rely associated to Jane Doe 3, Masterson’s ex-girlfriend, per the Occasions.

“I thank the jury for its service, and whereas I am inspired that Danny Masterson will face some legal punishment, I’m devastated that he has dodged legal accountability for his heinous conduct in opposition to me,” Jane Doe 3 mentioned in a press release. “Regardless of my disappointment on this end result, I stay decided to safe justice, together with in civil courtroom, the place I, together with my co-plaintiffs, will shine a light-weight on how Scientology and different conspirators enabled and sought to cowl up Masterson’s monstrous conduct.”

The three accusers from Masterson’s legal case have a paused civil go well with filed in 2019 which lists Scientology as a defendant, alleging that the Church has harassed and stalked them since Los Angeles Police began investigating Masterson in 2016.

The accounts within the civil lawsuit led to a few legal expenses of forcible rape filed by the Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s Workplace in 2020.