For the second time in lower than a yr, actor Danny Masterson sat in a Los Angeles courtroom Monday.
Masterson, 47, is charged with stemming from allegations that he sexually assaulted three girls at his Hollywood Hills house between 2001 and 2003, close to the zenith of his fame for taking part in the mercurial Steven Hyde on the favored sitcom “That ’70s Show.” Prosecutors allege that he drugged two of the ladies earlier than sodomizing them.
The Los Angeles Police Department started investigating Masterson in 2016, however at the very least one of many girls’s claims was dropped at the company’s consideration as early as 2003, authorities have mentioned. Former L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey filed three counts of sexual assault towards the actor in 2020. That prosecution led to a in November, after jurors informed Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo that
While church officers and Masterson’s attorneys have tried to downplay the relevance of the actor’s religion to the trial, all three accusers had been energetic members of Scientology on the time of the alleged assaults and mentioned the insular group labored to guard Masterson.
Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller displayed photos of the church’s large Sunset Boulevard property and its superstar middle in Hollywood throughout his opening assertion Monday, whereas detailing
“If you’re a member of the Church of Scientology and you have an issue like this that’s come up with another member of the church who is in good standing of the church, you are not permitted to go to law enforcement and report,” Mueller mentioned. “You cannot do it. There are consequences for that.”
The church has denied that it has doctrines limiting when members can contact police. Former members have mentioned the church typically abhors outdoors interference from any authorities group, together with legislation enforcement.
After a 2021 preliminary listening to in Masterson’s case, the decide concluded that Scientology has “an expressly written doctrine” that “not only discourages, but prohibits” its members from reporting each other to legislation enforcement.
Scientology has disputed these assertions.
“Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land, including the reporting of crimes. This is blatantly clear in the documents we understand were put before the court — and many others,” Karin Pouw, the church’s prime spokeswoman, mentioned to The Times in a 2021 assertion.
She additionally famous that the church shouldn’t be a celebration within the felony case.
During his opening argument, Mueller continually revisited the concept Masterson’s accusers had been torn between their religion and the abuse they allege.
Several girls sought permission from church officers to report Masterson, in accordance with Mueller, however had been continually rebuffed. One lady, recognized as Christina B., had been in a six-year romantic relationship with Masterson, she alleges, earlier than he sodomized her whereas she was unconscious in 2001. Christina B. mentioned a church ethics officer informed her that the incident wasn’t rape as a result of the 2 had been courting, Mueller mentioned.
During earlier hearings, the ladies mentioned that they had family members practising Scientology and feared that reporting Masterson to police would from not solely their religion, but in addition their households. Jen B., a second-generation Scientologist who alleged that Masterson drugged and violently raped her in 2003, mentioned her “life would be over” if she reported him on the time.
“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,” she testified at a 2021 preliminary listening to.
The Times typically doesn’t title victims of sexual assault except they select to completely establish themselves. To defend their privateness, the three girls accusing Masterson had been recognized in courtroom by both their first title and final preliminary or their first preliminary and final title.
Masterson additionally was born into the religion, in accordance with Mueller. The actor’s protection crew is predicted to supply its opening remarks Monday afternoon.
Masterson has contended that the allegations towards him had been , partly, to spice up a tv sequence launched by actress Leah Remini, a former Scientologist who has develop into one of many religion’s most outspoken critics.
Remini, who didn’t attend the preliminary trial final yr, was in courtroom Monday. Defense lawyer Shawn Holley tried to have Remini thrown out on the grounds she may function a witness within the trial. Olmedo denied Holley’s request.
Holley mentioned in courtroom that she might name Remini — who additionally gained fame for her function in a sitcom, “The King of Queens” — as a witness to debate conversations with Masterson’s accusers.
“The women who Danny raped deserve justice for what they’ve been put through, not only by Danny but by Scientology, which has tried to destroy them for reporting their rapes,”
While the church has bemoaned being linked to the trial, that has not stopped its members from taking part in a component within the case and its media protection. A Scientology group that portrays itself as combating discrimination towards the church started attacking Remini on Twitter as quickly as news of her presence in courtroom surfaced.
The prosecution’s proof and witness record is predicted to be largely much like what was introduced final yr. On Monday, Mueller described a brand new allegation towards Masterson, levied by a lady who was engaged on a movie in Toronto in 2000 when she met the actor at a wrap occasion.
Mueller mentioned the girl, Kathy J., claimed that Masterson served her a drink earlier than she turned weak. When she requested for his assist to achieve a rest room, he led her to a bed room in a lodge suite and raped her, in accordance with Mueller.
The lady reported the rape to her husband months later and didn’t inform police in Toronto till Masterson was charged in Los Angeles, Mueller mentioned.
Prosecutors reviewed 5 assault allegations towards Masterson and introduced fees from three claims. During the preliminary trial, the accusers mentioned Masterson usually flew into explosive rages. One lady claimed he brandished a gun and choked her unconscious whereas raping her. His ex-girlfriend, Christina B., mentioned he beat her a number of occasions throughout their relationship and compelled himself on her whereas she was asleep.
Despite the testimony, prosecutors appeared removed from a conviction final yr. Before jurors informed Olmedo they had been deadlocked, a ballot of the panel discovered that fewer than half the jurors had been keen to convict Masterson of any rely.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
