A decide declared a mistrial within the Danny Masterson rape case Wednesday, because the jury couldn't attain a call on whether or not the actor was harmless or responsible.
Masterson, 46, had been charged with three counts of forcible rape over incidents that occurred between 2001 to 2003 involving three accusers.
Through the five-week trial, jurors heard testimony together with one lady who stated she thought she was “going to die” when she claimed the previous “That ’70s Present” star choked and raped her in April 2003.
Following the mistrial, prosecutors should now decide on whether or not to retry Masterson, a call they've to achieve by March 2023.
Though Scientology was not a defendant within the trial, the victims — who had been members of the faith on the time of the incidents — testified concerning the concern and alienation they felt about reporting Masterson, a distinguished member of the Church.
The alleged victims additionally claimed the spiritual practices they adopted on the time didn’t enable them to assume the incidents had been rape.
" class="wp-image-24849982"/>One of many ladies, Jen B., testified when she tried to report Masterson to different Church members, she was instructed to “cease blaming” him as a result of based on Scientology, “You possibly can by no means be a sufferer. Nothing ever occurs to you with out it being your fault.”
Jen B. additionally testified she was in an out of consciousness and woke as much as Masterson on high of her, his penis in her vagina. She stated she tried to push the actor off however he pulled her hair. Sooner or later, Masterson put his hand round her throat.
Jen B. stated she thought she was going “to die. That he was going to kill me.”
Jen B. additionally testified she was given a selection after the incident — both signal a $400,000 non-disclosure settlement or danger being excommunicated from Scientology, her household and buddies.
Chrissie B., one other accuser who was a former girlfriend of the actor, instructed jurors she met Masterson at a celebration in 1996 when she simply turned 18. A few yr into the connection, she stated Masterson turned emotionally and sexually abusive.
She stated Masterson raped her twice within the Hollywood Hills dwelling they'd shared in 2001. Throughout one of many incidents, Chrissie B. stated she woke as much as Masterson’s full weight on high of her. Regardless of screaming and objecting, Chrissie B. stated Masterson continued to rape her.
Masterson’s protection attorneys argued the three accusers had modified their tales through the years and questioned the motive and character of the alleged victims.
Protection legal professional Philip Cohen stated regardless of repeated warnings from Los Angeles Police Division investigators, the three accusers had spoken with each other and already “contaminated” the case by exchanging particulars of their encounters with Masterson.
On the stand he additionally requested them questions which led to the accusers contradicting themselves. Masterson himself didn't take the stand in the course of the trial.
Cohen identified how prosecutors depicted his consumer as a “commanding scary, abusive monster” but additionally his former girlfriend admitted on the stand she had willingly had intercourse with him after her alleged rape.
In his closing arguments, Cohen blasted the accusers “contradictions and fabrications” and stated: “The important thing to this case just isn't after they reported it. It’s what they stated after they reported it, what they stated after they reported it and what they stated at trial.”
He additionally claimed they'd used Scientology as an scapegoat, including: “We’ve heard Scientology over and over — a lot so, it turned the go-to excuse.
“When somebody didn’t bear in mind one thing or somebody received contradicted, it turned about Scientology.”
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