As spilled by The Hollywood Reporter, a jury found That ‘70s Show actor Danny Masterson guilty of allegedly raping two women in the early 2000s at his house in Los Angeles on Wednesday. But the verdict was split on another sexual assault charge as the jury was not able to reach a determination. Five men and seven women made up the squad of jurors that convicted Masterson on alleged forcible rape charges.
After making a unanimous decision involving two of the women, they were divided on a charge related to ex-girlfriend Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, who openly identified herself as one of the actor’s accusers. With most of the jurors finding Masterson guilty, eight apples fell into the basket while four fell on the ground. Taken into custody, Masterson might be dialing out from prison for 30 years to life.
This ruling tapes off the retrial of one of the most prominent criminal cases of the #MeToo movement. Masterson’s investigation launched in 2017, when three women articulated their allegations near Harvey Weinstein’s publicized accusations of the sexual assaults of multiple women.
The first trial was declared mistrial after the jury emerged deadlocked in November. After ten to two, eight to four and seven to five, the trial ended in an acquittal. Each trial contained the three women’s testimony of their alleged violent rapes during 2001 and 2003. After being invited to Masterson’s house in the Hollywood Hills, they recounted an ritual of being given drinks and feeling excessively intoxicated before he allegedly raped them.
Allegations that the Church of Scientology didn’t let the three women, who are former Scientologists, report their alleged assaults immediately to law enforcement in fear of being labeled a “suppressive person” of the church — leading them to excommunication and alienation, and being told that their accusations were subject to internal handling was also considered at the trial.
Captured from a statement by Carnell-Bixler, she has “encouraged that Danny Masterson will face some criminal punishment” but is “devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me.”
The second Jane Doe also expressed in a statement that she was “disappointed that he was not convicted on all counts.”
Kathleen Jenkins, fourth accuser and “prior bad acts” witness, also testified that Masterson allegedly raped her at a wrap party for Dracula 2000 in 2001. Her allegations never led to any charges.
Another accuser alleged that she was dragged into a jacuzzi before passing out but woke up in bed to Masterson penetrating her.
Masterson was cut from That 90s Show and Netflix’s The Ranch after the accusations hit the pavement in 2017.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo, the black robe encircling both trials, may still have the leaking of discovery material into the Church of Scientology lurking at the back of her consciousness. She may investigate emails that a lawyer for the Church of Scientology sent to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office opposing the prosecutors’ depiction of the religious group. The defense rejected claims that the leak flowed from them.
Seeking civil case against the church, the accusers claim that they were harassed by members of the church after disclosing their alleged rapes to law enforcement. The Supreme Court were unconvinced by the church to tackle the case in arbitration last year. Upon termination of Masterson’s criminal proceedings, the civil suit will be paused.
Former Los Angeles County prosecutor, Joshua Ritter, dubbed the conviction “remarkable” after the district attorney’s office converted a case that ended around the necks of a hung jury the last time it was tried.
“The prosecutors were able to focus more heavily on the allegation that Masterson used drugs or intoxication to facilitate the rapes,” said Ritter. “Jurors sometimes have a difficult time when an alleged rape involves a dating relationship, because they have trouble figuring out how sex can be consensual in one instance but rape in another instance. When prosecutors can say the victims were drugged, that allows the jurors to wrap their heads around what changed to make the sex suddenly not consensual.”
Ritter commented that Masterson may be sentenced to around 12 years in prison since the alleged crimes happened so long ago and the actor has no previous criminal record.
Phillip Cohen and Shawn Holley, Masterson’s defense attorneys, protested that there were inconsistencies between testimony and police reports. They tried to persuade jurors to neglect any evidence related to Scientology while Masterson (Dracula 2000) maintained that every encounter with his accusers was consensual. Neither attorney called witnesses to the stand.