A California appeals court has rejected Danny Masterson's bid to overturn his rape convictions and 30-years-to-life prison sentence, affirming a jury's 2023 verdict that found the former That '70s Show actor guilty of raping two women at his Hollywood Hills home in the early 2000s. The ruling closes another chapter in a years-long legal saga that has repeatedly put the actor's ties to the Church of Scientology under courtroom scrutiny.
A three-judge panel from California's Second District Court of Appeal issued an 89-page opinion rejecting the defense's arguments for reversing the conviction, according to NBC Los Angeles. “The judgment is affirmed,” the panel wrote, as reported by Deadline. Masterson, now 50, was found guilty in May 2023 of two counts of rape by force or fear, according to The Independent.
A Case That Took Two Trials to Resolve
Masterson was originally charged in 2020 with three counts of rape by force or fear, and the case went before two separate juries. His first trial ended in a mistrial on November 30, 2022, after jurors could not reach a unanimous decision, with the panel reportedly voting 10-2 toward acquittal on one count, 8-4 on another, and 7-5 on the third. A second jury later convicted Masterson of two of the rapes but deadlocked on the third charge, which involved his former longtime girlfriend. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office ultimately decided not to retry him on that count, and it was dismissed, the outlet notes.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo sentenced Masterson in September 2023 to 30 years to life in prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life upon his release. Masterson remains ineligible for parole until 2042, per the same account. He is currently incarcerated at California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Scientology Evidence at the Center of the Appeal
Masterson's defense argued on appeal that prosecution of one charge was improperly delayed and that jurors should never have heard evidence about the Church of Scientology. The appellate justices disagreed, finding that evidence about the church was relevant to understanding the victims' behavior, their delayed reporting, and how others reacted to their allegations. The panel also found no bias or departure from neutrality by the trial judge regarding Scientology, concluding that his statements, “viewed in context, evidence no animus or departure from neutrality.”
During the original trial, prosecutor Mueller said Masterson drugged and raped each victim and told jurors that all three women and Masterson were members of the Church of Scientology, later accusing the church of retaliating against the women. Masterson's trial attorney, Philip Kent Cohen, urged jurors to acquit and questioned the women's credibility, arguing there was no forensic evidence supporting claims that Masterson had drugged the victims' drinks. The trial judge rejected Cohen's requests for a mistrial, another chance to argue, or a special jury instruction.
Civil Suit and Church's Response
The Scientology thread extends beyond the criminal case. In August 2019, three women and one non-member filed a civil suit against Masterson and the church alleging they were stalked and harassed after reporting sexual assault allegations to Los Angeles police. The Church of Scientology has denied the harassment allegations in that suit, saying its policy does not prohibit or discourage members from reporting crimes to law enforcement.
Masterson's career had already begun unraveling years before his conviction. In December 2017, Netflix announced it had fired Masterson from The Ranch amid the sexual assault allegations, a move that came years before the case reached a jury.
Defense Vows to Keep Fighting
Masterson's attorneys, Cliff Gardner and Eric Multhaup, told Deadline they plan to take the matter to the California Supreme Court and intend to pursue habeas corpus relief based on what they describe as substantial exculpatory evidence that was never presented to the jury. Attorney Shawn Holley has said that appellate lawyers identified significant evidentiary and constitutional issues to raise in both state and federal appeals, maintaining that Masterson did not commit the crimes and that his convictions would ultimately be overturned.
For now, the appellate court's affirmance leaves the jury's verdict and Olmedo's sentence intact, with Masterson's legal team signaling the fight is far from over even as the state's highest court has yet to weigh in.
