Danny Masterson Convicted of Rape in Retrial

[demmiblue]

Nearly three years after Danny Masterson was first arrested on three counts of forcible rape — and six months since the first trial ended in a mistrial — the That ’70s Show star was convicted on two of the three charges Wednesday, according to TMZ.

The jury first started deliberations on May 17, before reaching a verdict two weeks later time later on May 31, a similarly lengthy deciding process to the first trial, which took nearly two weeks of deliberation before the jury declared it was deadlocked. Masterson faces up to 30 years in prison on the two convictions, Variety reported, with jury voting guilty on the first two charges but deadlocked on the third, voting 8-4 in favor of conviction but unable to reach a unanimous decision.

The decision follows a month of emotional testimony from the three women whose allegations are linked to the charges, recalling violent allegations that Masterson drugged them before raping them, and that the Church of Scientology protected Masterson while discouraging the women from coming forward with their allegations.

A notable change compared to the first trial is that during the retrial, prosecutors told jurors directly that Masterson drugged the three women who accused him of rape; in the initial trial, the prosecution and witnesses described symptoms that could line up with date rape drugs but stopped short of directly labeling the symptoms as a result of being drugged. Prosecutors had no evidence of the drugging claims but brought in a toxicology expert witness to describe symptoms.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/danny-masterson-convicted-guilty-rape-retrial-1234736587/

Link to tweet

[underpants]

1. Didn't know he was that level Scientologist. Ashton Kutcher dropped him like a hot rock

My wife watched a show - The Farm, I think - that started Ashton and his sidekick was Danny.

Sam Waterston was on it too.

I didn’t think that much of it but it was an earnest effort.
When this came out about Danny the character died. Quick. Gone.

[obamanut2012]

2. Only when he was made to -- I was really disappointed in Kutcher

[petronius]

3. The Ranch, you mean, with Sam Elliot?

It started strong, but jumped the shark sooner than most IMO. And yes, they disappeared Masterson right quick...

[underpants]

5. Yes Sam Elliott

[AnotherMother4Peace]

4. Good. The women testified that he drugged them. They all

testified that Masterson served them a drink or was alone with their drink and that was the last coherent thoughts they had. And Scientology was telling them they had to only report to Scientology and not to law enforcement. During the civil trial all the fair game harassment should come out. I was kinda following the proceedings