The 47-year-old former star of “That ‘70s Show” is on rape trial for a second time after the first ended in a mistrial in December, with a jury hopelessly deadlocked on all counts. And he does it over and over and over again.” The defendant makes that choice for these victims. “You don’t want to have sex? You don’t have a choice. He does this to take away his victims’ ability to consent,” Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told the jury of seven men and five women. “The defendant drugs his victims to gain control. Masterson had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy "The Ranch," but was written off the show when an LAPD investigation was revealed in December 2017.LOS ANGELES (AP) - Danny Masterson drugged women’s drinks so he could rape them, then relied on his prominence in the Church of Scientology to avoid consequences for years, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday in closing arguments at the actor’s trial. These charges date to a period when Masterson was at the height of his fame, starring from 1998 until 2006 as Steven Hyde on Fox's "That '70s Show" - the show that made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace. The motion was denied, but the issue is likely to be a major factor in any potential appeal. His attorney asked for a mistrial over the issue's inclusion. Masterson was not charged with any counts of drugging, and there is no toxicology evidence to back up the assertion. "He does this to take away his victims' ability to consent." "The defendant drugs his victims to gain control," Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson said in her closing argument. The second time, they were allowed to argue it directly, and the prosecution attempted to make it a major factor, to no avail. At the first, Olmedo only allowed prosecutors and accusers to describe their disorientation, and to imply that they were drugged. The issue of drugging also played a major role in the retrial. You have the opportunity to show them there is justice." "Scientology told them there's no justice for them. "They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against," Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors in his closing argument. The women testified that when they reported Masterson to church officials, they were told they were not raped, were put through ethics programs themselves, and were warned against going to law enforcement to report a member of such high standing. The judge kept limits on how much prosecutors could talk about the church, and primarily allowed it to explain why the women took so long to go to authorities. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology has many members who work in Hollywood. Tensions ran high in the courtroom between current and former Scientologists, and even leaked into testimony, with the accusers saying on the stand that they felt intimidated by some members in the room.Īctor Leah Remini, a former member who has become the church's highest-profile critic, sat in on the trial at times, putting her arm around one of the accusers to comfort her during closing arguments.įounded in 1953 by L. Olmedo allowed expert testimony on church policy from a former official in Scientology leadership who has become a prominent opponent. The Church of Scientology played a significant role in the first trial but arguably an even larger one in the second. The Church of Scientology played a role in the trial "If you decide that a witness deliberately lied about something in this case," defense attorney Philip Cohen told jurors, going through their instructions in his closing argument, "You should consider not believing anything that witness says." The defense argued that the acts were consensual, and attempted to discredit the women's stories by highlighting changes and inconsistencies over time, which they said showed signs of coordination between them. Masterson did not testify, and his lawyers called no witnesses. They said he used his prominence in the church - where all three women were also members at the time - to avoid consequences for decades. They told jurors he drugged the women's drinks so he could rape them. Prosecutors, retrying Masterson after a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in December, said he forcibly raped three women, including a longtime girlfriend, in his Hollywood Hills home between 20.
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