Actor Danny Masterson’s rape trial resulted in a mistrial on Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles as a deadlocked jury couldn’t agree on a verdict.
The choose within the case declared the mistrial after a weeks-long trial wherein three completely different ladies testified that Masterson raped them and different witnesses appeared to corroborate their accounts.
Prosectors retain the choice to strive Masterson, a member of the Church of Scientology, once more. They haven’t but indicated whether or not they intend to take action.
Masterson, who achieved fame together with his function on the sitcom “That ‘70s Show,” is accused of assaulting the three women at his Hollywood Hills home in the early 2000s. His accusers are also members of the Church of Scientology, and two said that they delayed reporting their alleged assaults because they feared reprisals from church officials.
One of the accusers dated Masterson in the late 1990s and early 2000s and said that while he charmed people when he wanted to, he could also turn violent. She accused him of raping her while she was sleeping in 2001 and that he slapped her face and spit on her when she awoke and tried to make him stop.
Masterson has denied her allegations, as well as the allegations of two women who testified that he assaulted them in his jacuzzi. He was fired from a role on the Netflix show The Ranch following the publicization of the allegations in 2017 and has not recieved a credit for a television or movie appearance since. He did not testify or call any witnesses in his defense.
The Church of Scientology’s function in allegedly defending Masterson and chilling the advocacy of his alleged victims performed a central function within the trial.
“I was a Scientologist and Mr. Masterson is a Scientologist, and you cannot report another Scientologist in good standing to the authorities,” one accuser testified in an announcement reported by the Los Angeles Times. “My life would be over. My parents would have to disconnect from me. … I couldn’t talk to any of my friends ever again. … I wouldn’t have anywhere to work or live.”
Masterson’s accusers all finally left the church, which denied allegations that it labored to guard Masterson. The protection legal professional within the case, Philip Cohen, mentioned that the accusers had been utilizing Scientology as a way to redirect consideration away from holes of their case.
