A jury found the actor guilty of two counts of rape Danny Masterson From That show from the 70s in a retrial in Los Angeles in which the Church of the scientology played a central role.
The jury, made up of seven women and five men, reached its verdict after deliberating for seven days spread over two weeks. They were unable to reach a verdict on the third charge, which alleged that Masterson raped a girl with whom he was in a longtime relationship. They voted 8-4 to convict him.
Masterson left the courtroom in handcuffs. The 47-year-old actor faces up to 30 years in prisonNO. His wife, actress and model Bijou Phillips wept as he was carried away. Other relatives and friends sat blankly.
Prosecutors, who tried Masterson again after a jury failed to reach a verdict in December, said forcibly raped three women, including his girlfriend, at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. They told the jury that he had drugged them with drinks in order to rape them. They also noted that she used her prominence in the church, to which all three women belonged at the time, to avoid consequences for decades.
Masterson did not testify and his attorneys called no witnesses. The defense argued that the acts were consensual and sought to discredit the women’s testimonies, highlighting inconsistencies and changes in their accounts over time, which they said showed signs of coordination between them.
“If they decide that a witness deliberately lied about something in this case,” defense attorney Philip Cohen told the jury in his closing argument, “then they should consider not believing anything the witness says.”
scientology
The Church of Scientology played a significant role in the first trial, but was probably even more important in the second. Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo allowed expert testimony on church policies by a former leader who has become a prominent opponent of the organization.
Tensions have escalated in court between current and former Scientologists, even seeping into testimony, with accusers saying on the witness stand that they felt intimidated by some members of the courtroom.
Actress Leah Remini, a former member who has become the church’s highest-profile critic, was at trial at times and put her arm around one of the accusers to comfort her during closing arguments.
Founded in 1953 by L. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology has many members working in Hollywood. The judge limited how much prosecutors could talk about the church and mostly allowed an explanation of why it took women so long to go to authorities.
The women demonstrated that when they reported Masterson to church officials, they were told they hadn’t been raped, referred to ethics programs, and warned not to go to the police to report such a high-ranking member.
“They were raped, they were punished for it and they suffered reprisals,” Assistant District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told the jury in closing the arguments. “Scientology has told them there is no justice for them. You have the opportunity to show them that there is justice.”
The church has vehemently denied having a policy that prohibits its members from going to secular authorities.
Source: Clarin
