One year ago today (June 7, 2023) ... Sentencing date set for actor Danny Masterson in rape case

One year ago today (June 7, 2023) … a judge set August 4 as the sentencing date for That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson, who was convicted of raping two women in his Hollywood Hills home about 20 years ago.

Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo ordered Masterson, 47, to be detained after the jury’s verdict was read on May 31. He had been free on bail since his arrest by the LAPD’s Robbery and Homicide Unit in June 2020.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Masterson faces a possible prison sentence of 30 years to life.

The downtown Los Angeles panel failed to reach a consensus in a stalemate in a third rape charge against Masterson involving a longtime ex-girlfriend of the actor after asking to re-listen to portions of her testimony and a videotaped interview and to view transcripts of that January 2017 interview between the same woman and two Los Angeles Police Department detectives.

The jury, consisting of seven women and five men, began deliberating on May 17 and deliberated for a total of about seven days before reaching its verdict.

Masterson’s wife, actress Bijou Phillips, cried audibly in the audience after the verdict was announced, whereupon the judge asked her to keep her composure.

The jury was the second to hear the case against Masterson. Masterson was charged in 2020 with three counts of rape by force or fear, involving the three women on separate occasions.

During the trial last year, jurors leaned toward acquittal on all three counts—voting 10-2 on one count, 8-4 on another, and 7-5 on the third—but could not reach a unanimous verdict, leading to a mistrial on November 30.

In January, prosecutors confirmed they wanted to retry the actor. Olmedo rejected the defense’s attempt to drop the charges.

In his closing argument at the retrial, Assistant District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told the jury: “The defendant drugged and raped each of these victims. … It is time to hold Mr. Masterson accountable for his actions.”

In his closing argument, defense attorney Philip Kent Cohen asked the jury to acquit his client because he questioned the women’s credibility.

In his counterargument, Mueller said the three women, like Masterson, were members of the Church of Scientology and told jurors that the church had retaliated against them.

“After you were drugged, this is what happened: you were raped by this man here,” the prosecutor said, pointing across the courtroom to Masterson. “…You have an opportunity to show that justice exists. It exists.”

But Cohen questioned why the panel had heard “so much about Scientology” and asked jurors whether there might be problems related to the government’s charges against Masterson.

Masterson’s attorney said he was not alleging there was a “vast conspiracy” against his client, but he told jurors that the alleged victims had spoken to each other despite admonitions from an LAPD investigator and that their statements had been falsified over the years.

He said there was no forensic evidence to support prosecutors’ claims that Masterson laced the alleged victims’ drinks with drugs.

In the absence of the jury, the judge denied Cohen’s requests for a mistrial, another opportunity to hear the jury, or special instructions to the jury because prosecutors had repeatedly argued that the women were allegedly drugged.

The Church of Scientology issued a statement criticizing the prosecutor’s portrayal of the church’s activities.

“The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging its members from reporting criminal conduct by anyone, Scientologist or not, to law enforcement,” the statement said. “On the contrary, Church policy specifically requires that Scientologists obey all laws of the land. Any claims to the contrary are completely false.”

In a civil lawsuit filed in August 2019 against Masterson and the Church of Scientology, the three women involved in the criminal case and one woman who was not a member of the church claim they were stalked and harassed after reporting allegations of sexual assault against the actor to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The Church of Scientology issued a statement regarding the lawsuit, saying: “The Church rejects the harassment allegations as obvious, cynical and self-serving fabrications and is aware that they will be vindicated.”

In December 2017, Netflix announced that Masterson had been fired from the Emmy-winning comedy The Ranch due to allegations of sexual harassment.

The actor said at the time he was “very disappointed,” adding: “It seems like the moment you’re accused, you’re presumed guilty.” He “denied the outrageous allegations” and said he looked forward to “clearing his name once and for all.”

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