Former That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson, by way of his attorneys, has appealed his 2023 rape convictions.
In September of 2023, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in jail for raping two ladies, each former members of the Church of Scientology (Masterson continues to be a member of the church). The actor, 47, was discovered responsible of two of three counts of forcible rape throughout his retrial in May 2023.
He had pleaded not responsible to the fees towards him. The retrial was known as after 2022’s authentic trial on the identical three counts resulted in a mistrial when a jury deadlocked, failing to achieve unanimous verdicts.
Now, in a 242-page appellant’s opening transient filed on Dec. 18, Masterson’s attorneys allege that key witness testimonies morphed over time and “erroneous judicial rulings” skewed the jury’s view of the proof towards him.
In an announcement posted to the Cliff Gardner legislation places of work web site, the attorneys mentioned there have been “two fundamental flaws” in Masterson’s convictions, one being the aforementioned skewed view and the second a “stunning amount” of alleged exculpatory proof “never presented to the jury.”
Get each day National information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
His authorized crew goes on to say that these are solely “one part” of their deliberate problem to his convictions, and they’re working in direction of Masterson’s “complete exoneration.”
Masterson initially filed a discover of attraction in November 2023. In January, the choose in his felony case, Charlaine Olmedo, denied him bail pending his attraction, calling him a flight danger.
In June of 2023, Olmedo dominated Masterson’s ex-defence attorneys, Tom Mesereau and Sharon Appelbaum, leaked delicate trial info to the Church of Scientology in regards to the ladies who accused Masterson of rape, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The confidential discovery materials from Masterson’s rape trial was despatched to a different Church of Scientology lawyer, Vicki Podberesky, and it contained police studies from the victims and their private info, together with residence addresses and banking particulars.
The leak to Podberesky was uncovered throughout Masterson’s retrial, when Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller mentioned he acquired an electronic mail from Podberesky — who was not affiliated with the trial — that included an attachment of 570 pages of discovery materials. It is unclear if the attachment was despatched accidentally.
Podberesky tried to say prosecutors had been soliciting false testimony from victims so as to wrongfully convict Masterson of rape. Olmedo mentioned the allegation was “demonstrably false.”
The Church of Scientology has denied all accusations of wrongdoing and was not a celebration in Masterson’s trial. Podberesky informed the Los Angeles Times she legally obtained the confidential trial paperwork however didn’t say how.
Mesereau and Applebaum represented Masterson in court docket till May 2022, after they had been changed by different Scientology-affiliated attorneys.
Masterson’s attorneys had additionally been accused by Mueller of undesirable contact with the jurors in his case. In September of 2023, Olmedo despatched a letter to each authorized groups stating that a number of jurors complained of “unwanted contact at their homes or work by members of the defense team,” in keeping with a Los Angeles Times report.
Mueller and his crew tried to color Masterson as a serial rapist who has been protected by high-ranking officers within the Church of Scientology. They claimed Masterson, on separate events, put medication into the drinks of a longtime girlfriend and two different ladies he knew by way of the church earlier than he raped them.
After the retrial’s responsible verdict was introduced, a shocked Masterson was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs and he stays in state custody.
Bijou Phillips, his spouse of 12 years, filed for divorce from the actor in September of final 12 months.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.