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  • Actor Danny Masterson’s spouse seeks divorce after his rape sentence

    By AFP

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Bijou Phillips filed for divorce from Danny Masterson lower than two weeks after the previous “That ’70s Show” star was sentenced to at the very least 30 years in jail for raping two ladies, US media reported Tuesday.

    The mannequin and singer cited “irreconcilable differences” in her petition in a California court docket, superstar information web site TMZ reported.

    Masterson, discovered responsible in May of raping the 2 ladies in 2001 and 2003 at his house within the Hollywood Hills space of Los Angeles, was sentenced on September 7 to 30 years to life in jail.

    The 47-year-old US actor, who has one baby with Phillips, will be unable to hunt parole till he’s 77 years outdated.

    Phillips is looking for full custody of their daughter, aged 9, with visitation rights for Masterson, TMZ reported.

    Her lawyer didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark by AFP.

    ALSO READ | Ashton Kutcher quits as chair of anti-sex abuse organisation after Danny Masterson ‘assist letter’

    Phillips had stayed with Masterson via his two trials — the primary was declared a mistrial final 12 months after the jury failed to achieve a unanimous determination.

    The jury within the retrial deadlocked on one other rape cost towards a 3rd girl. That cost was dismissed.

    Masterson rose to fame with the 1998 launch of retro sitcom “That ’70s Show,” the place he performed the character of Steven Hyde alongside fellow stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher.

    He co-starred once more with Kutcher on Netflix’s “The Ranch,” however was fired in 2017 and written off the present after Los Angeles police confirmed they had been investigating a number of rape allegations towards the actor.

    The three ladies on the coronary heart of the fees towards Masterson had been members of the Church of Scientology on the time. Two of them mentioned church officers had discouraged them from contacting regulation enforcement.

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Bijou Phillips filed for divorce from Danny Masterson lower than two weeks after the previous “That ’70s Show” star was sentenced to at the very least 30 years in jail for raping two ladies, US media reported Tuesday.

    The mannequin and singer cited “irreconcilable differences” in her petition in a California court docket, superstar information web site TMZ reported.

    Masterson, discovered responsible in May of raping the 2 ladies in 2001 and 2003 at his house within the Hollywood Hills space of Los Angeles, was sentenced on September 7 to 30 years to life in jail.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

    The 47-year-old US actor, who has one baby with Phillips, will be unable to hunt parole till he’s 77 years outdated.

    Phillips is looking for full custody of their daughter, aged 9, with visitation rights for Masterson, TMZ reported.

    Her lawyer didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark by AFP.

    ALSO READ | Ashton Kutcher quits as chair of anti-sex abuse organisation after Danny Masterson ‘assist letter’

    Phillips had stayed with Masterson via his two trials — the primary was declared a mistrial final 12 months after the jury failed to achieve a unanimous determination.

    The jury within the retrial deadlocked on one other rape cost towards a 3rd girl. That cost was dismissed.

    Masterson rose to fame with the 1998 launch of retro sitcom “That ’70s Show,” the place he performed the character of Steven Hyde alongside fellow stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher.

    He co-starred once more with Kutcher on Netflix’s “The Ranch,” however was fired in 2017 and written off the present after Los Angeles police confirmed they had been investigating a number of rape allegations towards the actor.

    The three ladies on the coronary heart of the fees towards Masterson had been members of the Church of Scientology on the time. Two of them mentioned church officers had discouraged them from contacting regulation enforcement.

  • Ashton Kutcher quits as chair of anti-sex abuse organisation after Danny Masterson ‘assist letter’

    By Associated Press

    LOS ANGELES: Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman of the board of an anti-child intercourse abuse organisation that he co-founded after he and spouse Mila Kunis wrote letters in search of leniency for his or her former ‘That ’70s Show’ co-star and convicted rapist, Danny Masterson.

    Kutcher stepped down from the board of Thorn, an organisation he based with then-wife Demi Moore in 2009, on Thursday, the group stated in an announcement.

    “After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately,” Kutcher wrote in a letter to the board.

    “I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”

    A Los Angeles choose sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in jail on September 7.

    The actor was convicted in May of raping two ladies in 2003, when he was starring on the Fox retro sitcom ‘That ’70s Show’ with Kutcher and Kunis.

    The day after the sentencing, letters to the choose from Kutcher, Kunis and lots of others had been made public.

    In Kutcher’s, he known as Masterson a person who in his expertise had handled folks “with decency, equality, and generosity”.

    Kutcher and Kunis apologised the subsequent day in an Instagram video for writing the letters, which Kutcher stated “were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them in any way.”

    Kutcher stated in his resignation letter, first reported by Time journal, that he provided “my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did.”

    LOS ANGELES: Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman of the board of an anti-child intercourse abuse organisation that he co-founded after he and spouse Mila Kunis wrote letters in search of leniency for his or her former ‘That ’70s Show’ co-star and convicted rapist, Danny Masterson.

    Kutcher stepped down from the board of Thorn, an organisation he based with then-wife Demi Moore in 2009, on Thursday, the group stated in an announcement.

    “After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately,” Kutcher wrote in a letter to the board.googletag.cmd.push(operate() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

    “I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”

    A Los Angeles choose sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in jail on September 7.

    The actor was convicted in May of raping two ladies in 2003, when he was starring on the Fox retro sitcom ‘That ’70s Show’ with Kutcher and Kunis.

    The day after the sentencing, letters to the choose from Kutcher, Kunis and lots of others had been made public.

    In Kutcher’s, he known as Masterson a person who in his expertise had handled folks “with decency, equality, and generosity”.

    Kutcher and Kunis apologised the subsequent day in an Instagram video for writing the letters, which Kutcher stated “were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them in any way.”

    Kutcher stated in his resignation letter, first reported by Time journal, that he provided “my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did.”

  • ‘That ’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson will get 30 years in jail for raping two ladies

    By Associated Press

    LOS ANGELES: A decide sentenced “That ’70s Show” present star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in jail on Thursday for raping two ladies, giving them some aid after they spoke in court docket concerning the many years of harm he inflicted.

    “When you raped me, you stole from me,” mentioned one lady who Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”

    “You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she mentioned. “The world is better off with you in prison.”

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence to the 47-year-old Masterson after listening to statements from the ladies, and pleas for equity from defence attorneys.

    The actor, who has been in custody since May, sat in court docket carrying a swimsuit. Masterson watched the ladies with out seen response as they spoke. He maintains his innocence and his attorneys plan to enchantment.

    The different lady Masterson was discovered responsible of raping mentioned he “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused.” She instructed the decide, “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police.”

    After an preliminary jury failed to achieve verdicts on three counts of rape in December and a mistrial was declared, prosecutors retried Masterson on all three counts earlier this 12 months.

    Masterson waived his proper to talk earlier than he was sentenced and had no seen response after the decide’s determination, nor did the various members of the family sitting beside him. His spouse, actor Bijou Phillips, was tearful earlier within the listening to.

    At his second trial, a jury discovered Masterson responsible of two of three rape counts on May 31. Both assaults occurred in Masterson’s Hollywood-area dwelling in 2003 when he was on the top of his fame on the Fox community sitcom “That ’70s Show.”

    They couldn’t attain a verdict on the third depend, an allegation that Masterson additionally raped a longtime girlfriend.

    The decide sentenced the actor after rejecting a defence movement for a brand new trial that was argued earlier Thursday. The sentence was the utmost allowed by regulation. It means Masterson will likely be eligible for parole after serving 25 1/2 years, however will be held in jail for all times.

    “I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you,” Olmedo instructed Masterson earlier than handing down the sentence. “But Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice, and choice. One way or another you will have to come to terms with your prior actions, and their consequences.”

    The protection sought to have sentences for the 2 convictions run concurrently and requested for a sentence of 15 years to life. The prosecution requested for the total 30 years to life sentence Masterson was eligible for.

    “It’s his life that will be impacted by what you decide today,” Masterson’s lawyer Shawn Holley instructed the decide earlier than the sentencing. “And the life of his 9-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world.”

    After the listening to, Holley mentioned in a press release that “Mr. Masterson did not commit the crimes for which he was convicted.” She mentioned a staff of appellate attorneys has recognized “a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues” along with his convictions, which they’re assured will likely be overturned.

    Prosecutors alleged that Masterson used his prominence within the Church of Scientology — the place all three ladies had been additionally members on the time — to keep away from penalties for many years after the assaults, and the ladies blamed the church for his or her hesitancy in going to the police about Masterson.

    At the sentencing listening to, one of many ladies, who like Masterson was born into the church, mentioned she was shunned and ostracized for going to authorities in 2004.

    “I lost everything. I lost my religion. I lost my ability to contact anyone I’d known or loved my entire life,” she said. “I didn’t exist outside the Scientology world. I had to start my life all over at 29. It seemed the world I knew didn’t want me to live.”

    The church mentioned in a press release after the trial that it has “no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement.” It has additionally denied ever harassing any of the ladies.

    No prices got here from the lady’s 2004 police report, however she returned to authorities when she discovered they had been investigating Masterson once more in 2016. The different two ladies had waited greater than 15 years earlier than reporting him to anybody aside from church officers.

    The ladies testified at each trials that in 2003, they had been at Masterson’s dwelling when he drugged them earlier than violently raping them.

    They mentioned Thursday that the trauma plagued them for the many years that adopted, hurting their relationships and filling their lives with concern. But they mentioned his sentencing gave them some aid.

    “I don’t have to carry your shame around with me anymore,” the primary lady who spoke mentioned. “Now it’s important to maintain that disgrace. You have to take a seat in a cell and maintain it.”

    Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in “That ’70s Show” from 1998 till 2006.

    He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” however was written off the present when the Los Angeles Police Department investigation was revealed the next 12 months.

    While that investigation started earlier than a wave of girls shook Hollywood with tales about Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, the conviction and sentencing of Masterson nonetheless symbolize a serious #MeToo period success for Los Angeles prosecutors, together with the conviction of Weinstein himself final 12 months.

    LOS ANGELES: A decide sentenced “That ’70s Show” present star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in jail on Thursday for raping two ladies, giving them some aid after they spoke in court docket concerning the many years of harm he inflicted.
    “When you raped me, you stole from me,” mentioned one lady who Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”
    “You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she mentioned. “The world is better off with you in prison.”
    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence to the 47-year-old Masterson after listening to statements from the ladies, and pleas for equity from defence attorneys.
    The actor, who has been in custody since May, sat in court docket carrying a swimsuit. Masterson watched the ladies with out seen response as they spoke. He maintains his innocence and his attorneys plan to enchantment.
    The different lady Masterson was discovered responsible of raping mentioned he “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused.” She instructed the decide, “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police.”
    After an preliminary jury failed to achieve verdicts on three counts of rape in December and a mistrial was declared, prosecutors retried Masterson on all three counts earlier this 12 months.
    Masterson waived his proper to talk earlier than he was sentenced and had no seen response after the decide’s determination, nor did the various members of the family sitting beside him. His spouse, actor Bijou Phillips, was tearful earlier within the listening to.
    At his second trial, a jury discovered Masterson responsible of two of three rape counts on May 31. Both assaults occurred in Masterson’s Hollywood-area dwelling in 2003 when he was on the top of his fame on the Fox community sitcom “That ’70s Show.”
    They couldn’t attain a verdict on the third depend, an allegation that Masterson additionally raped a longtime girlfriend.
    The decide sentenced the actor after rejecting a defence movement for a brand new trial that was argued earlier Thursday. The sentence was the utmost allowed by regulation. It means Masterson will likely be eligible for parole after serving 25 1/2 years, however will be held in jail for all times.
    “I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you,” Olmedo instructed Masterson earlier than handing down the sentence. “But Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice, and choice. One way or another you will have to come to terms with your prior actions, and their consequences.”
    The protection sought to have sentences for the 2 convictions run concurrently and requested for a sentence of 15 years to life. The prosecution requested for the total 30 years to life sentence Masterson was eligible for.
    “It’s his life that will be impacted by what you decide today,” Masterson’s lawyer Shawn Holley instructed the decide earlier than the sentencing. “And the life of his 9-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world.”
    After the listening to, Holley mentioned in a press release that “Mr. Masterson did not commit the crimes for which he was convicted.” She mentioned a staff of appellate attorneys has recognized “a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues” along with his convictions, which they’re assured will likely be overturned.
    Prosecutors alleged that Masterson used his prominence within the Church of Scientology — the place all three ladies had been additionally members on the time — to keep away from penalties for many years after the assaults, and the ladies blamed the church for his or her hesitancy in going to the police about Masterson.
    At the sentencing listening to, one of many ladies, who like Masterson was born into the church, mentioned she was shunned and ostracized for going to authorities in 2004.
    “I lost everything. I lost my religion. I lost my ability to contact anyone I’d known or loved my entire life,” she said. “I didn’t exist outside the Scientology world. I had to start my life all over at 29. It seemed the world I knew didn’t want me to live.”
    The church mentioned in a press release after the trial that it has “no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement.” It has additionally denied ever harassing any of the ladies.
    No prices got here from the lady’s 2004 police report, however she returned to authorities when she discovered they had been investigating Masterson once more in 2016. The different two ladies had waited greater than 15 years earlier than reporting him to anybody aside from church officers.
    The ladies testified at each trials that in 2003, they had been at Masterson’s dwelling when he drugged them earlier than violently raping them.
    They mentioned Thursday that the trauma plagued them for the many years that adopted, hurting their relationships and filling their lives with concern. But they mentioned his sentencing gave them some aid.
    “I don’t have to carry your shame around with me anymore,” the primary lady who spoke mentioned. “Now it’s important to maintain that disgrace. You have to take a seat in a cell and maintain it.”
    Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in “That ’70s Show” from 1998 till 2006.
    He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” however was written off the present when the Los Angeles Police Department investigation was revealed the next 12 months.
    While that investigation started earlier than a wave of girls shook Hollywood with tales about Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, the conviction and sentencing of Masterson nonetheless symbolize a serious #MeToo period success for Los Angeles prosecutors, together with the conviction of Weinstein himself final 12 months.

  • What All Unfolded in The Danny Masterson Rape Case And Why Was he Given 30 Years of Jail Term

    Home LeisureWhat All Unfolded in The Danny Masterson Rape Case And Why Was he Given 30 Years of Jail Term

    Actor Danny Masterson, the earlier star of ‘That ’70s Show’, may face 30 years to life in jail on two counts of rape.

    What All Unfolded in The Danny Masterson Rape Case And Why Was he Given 30 Years of Jail Term

    “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and can get 30 years to life in jail after a jury found him accountable on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, by which the Church of Scientology carried out a central operate.

    Masterson’s partner, actor and model Bijou Phillips, gasped when the choice was be taught and wept as he was taken into custody, whereas a gaggle of family and friends sat stone-faced behind him all by means of every trials.

    The jury of seven girls and 5 males reached the choice after deliberating for seven days unfold over two weeks. They could not attain a verdict on the third rely, that alleged Masterson raped a longtime girlfriend. They had voted 8-4 in favour of conviction.

    Masterson, 47, is likely to be held with out bail until he is sentenced. No sentencing date was set.

    “I am experiencing a complex array of emotions — relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness — knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behaviour,” one in every of many girls, whom Masterson knew as a fellow member of the church and was convicted of rape at his dwelling in 2003, talked about in a press launch.

    A second lady, a former girlfriend, whose rely left the jury deadlocked, talked about inside the assertion: “While I’m encouraged that Danny Masterson will face some criminal punishment, I am devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me.”

    A spokesperson for Masterson declined to comment, nevertheless his attorneys will practically really enchantment.

    After a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in December, prosecutors retried Masterson, saying he drugged and forcibly raped three girls in his Hollywood Hills dwelling between 2001 and 2003. They talked about he used his prominence inside the church — the place all three girls have been moreover members on the time — to avoid penalties for a few years.

    “We want to express our gratitude to the three women who came forward and bravely shared their experiences,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón talked about in a press launch after the choice Wednesday.

    Masterson did not testify, and his authorized professionals generally known as no witnesses. The safety argued that the acts have been consensual, and tried to discredit the women’s tales by highlighting modifications and inconsistencies over time, which they talked about confirmed indicators of coordination between them.

    “If you decide that a witness deliberately lied about something in this case,” safety authorized skilled Philip Cohen suggested jurors, going by their instructions in his closing argument, “You should consider not believing anything that witness says.”

    The Church of Scientology carried out a serious operate inside the first trial nevertheless arguably a good greater one inside the second. Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo allowed skilled testimony on church protection from a former official in Scientology administration who has develop right into a distinguished opponent.

    The church talked about in a press launch after the choice that the “introduction of religion into this trial was an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment and affects the due process rights of every American. The Church was not a party to this case and religion did not belong in this proceeding as Supreme Court precedent has maintained for centuries.”

    Tensions ran extreme inside 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 of the room.

    Actor Leah Remini, a former member who has grow to be the church’s highest-profile critic, sat in on the trial at situations, putting her arm spherical one in every of many accusers to comfort her all through closing arguments.

    Remini talked about on Twitter that the two accountable verdicts inside the retrial are “a relief. The women who survived Danny Masterson’s predation are heroes. For years, they and their families have faced vicious attacks and harassment from Scientology and Danny’s well-funded legal team,” she posted. “Nevertheless, they soldiered on, determined to seek justice.”

    The alleged harassment is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed by two of the accusers.

    The Scientology assertion talked about, “there is not a scintilla of evidence supporting the scandalous allegations that the Church harassed the accusers.”

    Founded in 1953 by L. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology has many members who work in Hollywood. The select saved limits on how quite a bit prosecutors may converse regarding the church and primarily allowed it to make clear why the women took so prolonged to go to authorities.

    The girls testified that when they reported Masterson to church officers, they’ve been suggested they weren’t raped, have been put by ethics packages themselves, and have been warned in the direction of going to laws enforcement to report a member of such extreme standing.

    “They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller suggested jurors in his closing argument. “Scientology told them there’s no justice for them.”

    The church generally known as the “testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs” all through the trial “uniformly false.”

    “The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement,” the assertion talked about.

    Next week Olmedo will preserve a listening to to learn the way a lawyer who represents the Church of Scientology had proof that the prosecution had shared with the safety. The proof involved hyperlinks that the lawyer by likelihood included in an e mail to Mueller.

    The Associated Press does not typically determine people who say they’ve been sexually abused.

    Testimony on this case was graphic and emotional.

    The two girls whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction talked about that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then grew to grow to be woozy or handed out sooner than he violently raped them.

    The third, Masterson’s then-girlfriend of 5 years whose rely left the jury deadlocked, talked about she awoke to look out him raping her, and wanted to tug his hair to stop him.

    Olmedo allowed prosecutors and accusers to say straight inside the second trial that Masterson drugged the women, whereas solely allowing the women to clarify their state of affairs inside the first trial.

    Masterson was not charged with any counts of drugging, and there was no toxicology proof to once more up the assertion.

    The costs dated to a interval when Masterson was on the height of his fame, starring from 1998 until 2006 as Steven Hyde on Fox’s “That ’70s Show” — the current that made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace.

    Masterson had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” nevertheless was written off the current when an LAPD investigation was revealed in December 2017.

    (Except for the heading and excerpt, the content material materials is attributed to AP)

  • Actor Danny Masterson drugged, raped ladies, prosecutor says

    By Associated Press

    LOS ANGELES: Actor Danny Masterson drugged then raped three ladies at his Hollywood-area dwelling between 2001 and 2003, a prosecutor instructed jurors Monday in his opening assertion inside the retrial of the star of “That ’70s Show.”

    Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller talked about Masterson put substances into drinks that he gave to a longtime girlfriend and two ladies he knew by good good friend circles throughout the Church of Scientology, all of whom Masterson is charged with raping.

    “The evidence will show that they were drugged,” Mueller instructed the jury. The safety denies such proof exists.

    Direct dialogue of drugging was missing from the first trial — which led to a mistrial when a jury deadlocked on all three counts — with Mueller as a substitute having to counsel it by the testimony of the women, who talked about that they had been woozy, disoriented and at cases unconscious on the nights they described the actor raping them.

    But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo is allowing the direct assertion on the second trial.

    Masterson’s authorized skilled, Philip Cohen, talked about inside the safety opening assertion that these hazy tales and assertions are all the prosecution has, and he instructed jurors, “there is no drugging charge in this case.”

    LOS ANGELES: Actor Danny Masterson drugged then raped three ladies at his Hollywood-area dwelling between 2001 and 2003, a prosecutor instructed jurors Monday in his opening assertion inside the retrial of the star of “That ’70s Show.”

    Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller talked about Masterson put substances into drinks that he gave to a longtime girlfriend and two ladies he knew by good good friend circles throughout the Church of Scientology, all of whom Masterson is charged with raping.

    “The evidence will show that they were drugged,” Mueller instructed the jury. The safety denies such proof exists.googletag.cmd.push(carry out() googletag.present(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

    Direct dialogue of drugging was missing from the first trial — which led to a mistrial when a jury deadlocked on all three counts — with Mueller as a substitute having to counsel it by the testimony of the women, who talked about that they had been woozy, disoriented and at cases unconscious on the nights they described the actor raping them.

    But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo is allowing the direct assertion on the second trial.

    Masterson’s authorized skilled, Philip Cohen, talked about inside the safety opening assertion that these hazy tales and assertions are all the prosecution has, and he instructed jurors, “there is no drugging charge in this case.”

  • In a #MeToo second, Hollywood figures face season of trials

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: The #MeToo motion is having one other second within the highlight as high-profile sexual assault trials play out in courtrooms from coast to coast.

    Five years after allegations towards film mogul Harvey Weinstein triggered a wave of sexual misconduct claims in Hollywood and past, he and “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson are combating legal rape costs at trials down the corridor from one another in Los Angeles.

    In New York, trials are underway in sexual assault lawsuits towards actor Kevin Spacey and screenwriter-director Paul Haggis, each Oscar winners. Spacey’s defence rested Wednesday whereas legal professionals for Haggis and his accuser gave opening statements in an adjoining courthouse. All of the boys deny the allegations.

    A forcible touching case towards one other Academy Award winner, actor Cuba Gooding Jr., wrapped up in New York final week with a responsible plea to a non-criminal harassment violation and no jail time, to the dismay of not less than a few of his accusers.

    The confluence is a coincidence, however a hanging one, amid a cultural motion that has demanded visibility and accountability.

    “We’re still very early on in this time of reckoning,” stated Debra Katz, a Washington-based lawyer who has represented many sexual assault accusers. She is not concerned within the Haggis, Masterson, Spacey or Weinstein trials.

    Besides their #MeToo reverberations, each Haggis’ case and Masterson’s have turn out to be boards for scrutinizing the Church of Scientology, although from totally different views.

    In the case towards Haggis, publicist Haleigh Breest claims that the “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby” screenwriter pressured her to carry out oral intercourse and raped her after she reluctantly agreed to a drink in his Manhattan condo after a 2013 film premiere. She’s searching for unspecified damages.

    She did not go public till after the allegations towards Weinstein burst into view in 2017 and Haggis condemned him.

    “The hypocrisy of it made her blood boil,” lawyer Zoe Salzman stated in her opening assertion.

    Jurors may even hear from 4 different ladies who informed Breest’s legal professionals that Haggis sexually assaulted them, or tried to take action, in separate encounters. One of them testified Wednesday, by way of videotaped questioning, that Haggis raped her throughout an after-hours assembly in her workplace in 1996 when each labored on a Canadian TV present.

    The jury will not hear, nevertheless, that Italian authorities this summer season investigated a sexual assault allegation towards Haggis, which he denied.

    Haggis maintains that his encounter with Breest was consensual, and defence legal professional Priya Chaudhry famous that the opposite ladies who’re set to testify by no means took authorized motion of their very own towards him.

    “Paul Haggis is relieved that he finally gets his day in court,” Chaudhry informed jurors.

    Both sides pointed to what Breest texted to a good friend the day after the alleged assault.

    Her lawyer emphasised that Breest wrote that “he was so rough and aggressive. Never, ever again … And I kept saying no.” Haggis’ legal professional, in the meantime, stated Breest added “lol” — widespread texting shorthand for laughter — when she talked about performing oral intercourse, and that she informed the good friend she needed to be alone with Haggis once more to “see what happens.”

    Chaudhry argued that Breest falsely claimed rape to angle for a payout. But the legal professional additionally recommended one other clarification for the allegations.

    Promising “circumstantial evidence,” she recommended that Scientologists ginned up Breest’s lawsuit to discredit him after he grew to become a distinguished detractor.

    The church denies any involvement, and Breest’s legal professionals have referred to as the notion a baseless conspiracy idea.

    “Scientology has nothing to do with this case” or with any of Haggis’ accusers, she informed jurors. The church has stated the identical.

    Scientology is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals centered on non secular betterment. Science fiction and fantasy writer L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 ebook “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” is a foundational textual content.

    The faith has gained a following amongst such celebrities as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. But some high-profile members have damaged with it, together with Haggis, singer Lisa Marie Presley and actor Leah Remini.

    In a memoir and documentary collection, Remini stated the church makes use of manipulative and abusive techniques to indoctrinate followers into placing its targets above all else, and he or she maintained that it labored to discredit critics who spoke out.

    The church has vociferously disputed the claims.

    Haggis says he was a Scientologist for 3 many years earlier than leaving the church in 2009. He slammed it as “a cult” in a 2011 New Yorker article that later knowledgeable a ebook and an HBO documentary, and he foreshadowed that retribution would come within the type of “a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.”

    The church, which did not reply to a request for remark this week, has repeatedly stated Haggis lied about its practices to get consideration for himself and his profession.

    Masterson’s lawyer, in the meantime, is asking jurors to ignore the actor’s affiliation with Scientology, although prosecutors say the church discouraged two of his three accusers from going to authorities. All three are former members.

    Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday in a $40 million lawsuit introduced by actor Anthony Rapp who says Spacey made a sexual move at him in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey denies the encounter ever occurred.

    Weinstein is going through his second legal trial, this time set in L.A. and involving 5 ladies and a number of rapes and sexual assault costs. He is already serving a 23-year jail sentence on a rape and sexual assault conviction involving two ladies in New York.

    The Associated Press doesn’t often identify folks alleging sexual assault except they arrive ahead publicly, as Breest and Rapp have carried out.

    NEW YORK: The #MeToo motion is having one other second within the highlight as high-profile sexual assault trials play out in courtrooms from coast to coast.

    Five years after allegations towards film mogul Harvey Weinstein triggered a wave of sexual misconduct claims in Hollywood and past, he and “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson are combating legal rape costs at trials down the corridor from one another in Los Angeles.

    In New York, trials are underway in sexual assault lawsuits towards actor Kevin Spacey and screenwriter-director Paul Haggis, each Oscar winners. Spacey’s defence rested Wednesday whereas legal professionals for Haggis and his accuser gave opening statements in an adjoining courthouse. All of the boys deny the allegations.

    A forcible touching case towards one other Academy Award winner, actor Cuba Gooding Jr., wrapped up in New York final week with a responsible plea to a non-criminal harassment violation and no jail time, to the dismay of not less than a few of his accusers.

    The confluence is a coincidence, however a hanging one, amid a cultural motion that has demanded visibility and accountability.

    “We’re still very early on in this time of reckoning,” stated Debra Katz, a Washington-based lawyer who has represented many sexual assault accusers. She is not concerned within the Haggis, Masterson, Spacey or Weinstein trials.

    Besides their #MeToo reverberations, each Haggis’ case and Masterson’s have turn out to be boards for scrutinizing the Church of Scientology, although from totally different views.

    In the case towards Haggis, publicist Haleigh Breest claims that the “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby” screenwriter pressured her to carry out oral intercourse and raped her after she reluctantly agreed to a drink in his Manhattan condo after a 2013 film premiere. She’s searching for unspecified damages.

    She did not go public till after the allegations towards Weinstein burst into view in 2017 and Haggis condemned him.

    “The hypocrisy of it made her blood boil,” lawyer Zoe Salzman stated in her opening assertion.

    Jurors may even hear from 4 different ladies who informed Breest’s legal professionals that Haggis sexually assaulted them, or tried to take action, in separate encounters. One of them testified Wednesday, by way of videotaped questioning, that Haggis raped her throughout an after-hours assembly in her workplace in 1996 when each labored on a Canadian TV present.

    The jury will not hear, nevertheless, that Italian authorities this summer season investigated a sexual assault allegation towards Haggis, which he denied.

    Haggis maintains that his encounter with Breest was consensual, and defence legal professional Priya Chaudhry famous that the opposite ladies who’re set to testify by no means took authorized motion of their very own towards him.

    “Paul Haggis is relieved that he finally gets his day in court,” Chaudhry informed jurors.

    Both sides pointed to what Breest texted to a good friend the day after the alleged assault.

    Her lawyer emphasised that Breest wrote that “he was so rough and aggressive. Never, ever again … And I kept saying no.” Haggis’ legal professional, in the meantime, stated Breest added “lol” — widespread texting shorthand for laughter — when she talked about performing oral intercourse, and that she informed the good friend she needed to be alone with Haggis once more to “see what happens.”

    Chaudhry argued that Breest falsely claimed rape to angle for a payout. But the legal professional additionally recommended one other clarification for the allegations.

    Promising “circumstantial evidence,” she recommended that Scientologists ginned up Breest’s lawsuit to discredit him after he grew to become a distinguished detractor.

    The church denies any involvement, and Breest’s legal professionals have referred to as the notion a baseless conspiracy idea.

    “Scientology has nothing to do with this case” or with any of Haggis’ accusers, she informed jurors. The church has stated the identical.

    Scientology is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals centered on non secular betterment. Science fiction and fantasy writer L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 ebook “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” is a foundational textual content.

    The faith has gained a following amongst such celebrities as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. But some high-profile members have damaged with it, together with Haggis, singer Lisa Marie Presley and actor Leah Remini.

    In a memoir and documentary collection, Remini stated the church makes use of manipulative and abusive techniques to indoctrinate followers into placing its targets above all else, and he or she maintained that it labored to discredit critics who spoke out.

    The church has vociferously disputed the claims.

    Haggis says he was a Scientologist for 3 many years earlier than leaving the church in 2009. He slammed it as “a cult” in a 2011 New Yorker article that later knowledgeable a ebook and an HBO documentary, and he foreshadowed that retribution would come within the type of “a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.”

    The church, which did not reply to a request for remark this week, has repeatedly stated Haggis lied about its practices to get consideration for himself and his profession.

    Masterson’s lawyer, in the meantime, is asking jurors to ignore the actor’s affiliation with Scientology, although prosecutors say the church discouraged two of his three accusers from going to authorities. All three are former members.

    Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday in a $40 million lawsuit introduced by actor Anthony Rapp who says Spacey made a sexual move at him in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey denies the encounter ever occurred.

    Weinstein is going through his second legal trial, this time set in L.A. and involving 5 ladies and a number of rapes and sexual assault costs. He is already serving a 23-year jail sentence on a rape and sexual assault conviction involving two ladies in New York.

    The Associated Press doesn’t often identify folks alleging sexual assault except they arrive ahead publicly, as Breest and Rapp have carried out.

  • Woman testifies she woke to search out actor Masterson raping her

    In hours of typically tearful testimony, a girl informed a choose Tuesday that she was slipping out and in of consciousness on an evening 18 years in the past when she stated she discovered actor Danny Masterson raping her.
    “When I came to, he was on top of me,” stated the lady, figuring out herself on the witness stand solely as Jen B. “The first thing I recall is grabbing his hair to pull him off.”
    She testified at a preliminary listening to in Los Angeles Superior Court, the place a choose is deciding whether or not there’s possible trigger to order a trial for the “That ’70s Show” actor, who’s accused of raping three ladies. The Associated Press doesn’t usually title individuals who say they had been victims of sexual abuse.
    Masterson has pleaded not responsible, and his lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, has stated he would show his consumer’s innocence.

    Jen B. testified that she and Masterson had been a part of the identical group of mates who had been tied to the Church of Scientology within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s and that she had gone to Masterson’s home to select up a set of keys on April 25, 2003, and obtained caught there.
    She stated Masterson had given her a drink with vodka in it at her request _ her first of the evening _ however stated she was “blurry,” weak and queasy about 20 minutes later and had no energy to withstand as Masterson threw her in his jacuzzi.
    She stated when she obtained out she couldn’t even sit up. A mutual pal, Luke Watson, tried to assist her.
    “I couldn’t walk or stand, so he put me on the tile on the ground,” stated Jen B., who started crying however remained composed all through her testimony. “I said, ‘Luke I can’t see,’ and he said, ‘Open your eyes,’ and I didn’t know my eyes were closed. I couldn’t open my eyelids. I felt really, really sick.”
    She testified that Masterson carried her upstairs, the place she vomited, then put her in his bathe. She stated she started shedding consciousness however was awake to search out Masterson soaping her naked breasts. She stated she tried to punch him within the face however was too weak and solely landed evenly on his chest.
    She testified that he put her on the mattress and raped her and has solely flashes of reminiscence within the minutes that adopted. She stated that after she didn’t get Masterson off her by pulling his hair, she put a pillow in his face, however he pushed it again on her.

    She stated he pulled a gun out of his nightstand drawer to threaten her.
    During cross-examination, Mesereau challenged her over why the gun made no look in a police report she filed the next yr.
    “Do you think that the police just forgot to put it in?” Mesereau stated. Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo forbade the query after a prosecution objection.
    Mesereau repeatedly requested Jen B. about inconsistencies between her 2004 police report and a 2003 “knowledge report” she crammed out concerning the incident for the church because it tried to mediate between her and Masterson. She acknowledged there have been variations however stated she tried to be truthful in each case.
    Jen B. testified that within the following days, bruises appeared on her wrists and neck space and that she had unbelievable ache in her genitalia.
    She stated the management of the Church of Scientology, of which her dad and mom and all her mates had been members, strongly discouraged her from going to the police, mentioning that by coverage she could be declared a “suppressive person” if she made a report in opposition to a member in good standing like Masterson.
    “I would lose my family and everyone I knew,” she stated, although in June 2004 she determined to go to the police anyway.
    Mesereau stated she had “mischaracterized” the Scientology response.
    Before the listening to started, Mesereau argued that references to the church or harassment of girls by officers and members shouldn’t be allowed. He alleged that the prosecution and lead detective within the case had proven “religious bias in the most blatant form.”
    The choose declined to situation a blanket ban, however she stated she would enable the witnesses to debate the church because it affected their way of thinking.

    In a lawsuit that the ladies filed in opposition to the church and Masterson, the church denied ever partaking in any harassment.
    In Tuesday’s testimony, Jen B. acknowledged prosecutors informed her in 2004 that her case had been rejected partly as a result of there have been too many witnesses in opposition to her. She returns to the stand Wednesday for the listening to that’s anticipated to final 4 days.
    Masterson, 45, sometimes took notes in courtroom and had no clear response to the testimony. He has been charged in Los Angeles with three counts of rape by drive or worry over assaults ladies stated occurred in 2001 and 2003.

  • Rape fees denied by lawyer for That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson

    An lawyer for That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson pleaded not responsible on his behalf Wednesday to the rapes of three ladies within the early 2000s.
    Defense lawyer Tom Mesereau entered the plea for Masterson, who was not current in courtroom, to a few fees of rape by drive or worry in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
    The regularly delayed listening to coincided with the inauguration in Washington of President-elect Joe Biden, leading to far much less media consideration than Masterson’s preliminary courtroom look in June. His arraignment has been postponed a number of occasions since.
    Prosecutors have alleged that Masterson, 44, who has been free on bond since his June 17 arrest, raped a 23-year-old lady someday in 2001, a 28-year-old lady in April of 2003, and a 23-year-old lady between October and December of 2003. All of the alleged rapes occurred at his Hollywood Hills residence.
    Masterson might withstand 45 years in jail if convicted.
    Mesereau, whose earlier shoppers have included Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby, mentioned in courtroom in June that the costs had been the results of unfair hype from media shops and political stress to prosecute his shopper. The lawyer mentioned his workforce would show that Masterson shouldn’t be responsible.
    Masterson’s arrest got here after a three-year investigation that resulted within the uncommon prosecution of a well-known Hollywood determine within the #MeToo period. Despite dozens of investigations, most have led to no fees primarily based on lack of proof or an excessive amount of time having handed because the alleged sexual assaults.

    The alleged rapes occurred on the top of Masterson’s fame as he starred as Steven Hyde on Fox TV’s retro sitcom That ’70s Show from 1998 to 2006 alongside Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace.