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An appeals court has denied Danny Masterson’s appeal of his 2023 conviction on rape charges, upholding the verdict and his 30-year prison sentence.
In an 89-page ruling, a three-judge panel rejected each of Masterson’s
arguments in turn, including the claim that the trial judge was biased against Scientology.
Masterson, a star of “That 70s Show,” was found guilty of raping two women at his Hollywood Hills home in 2003. The jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a third count involving a former girlfriend who alleged she, too, was raped in 2001.
On appeal, his attorneys argued that Judge Charlaine Olmedo made a series of remarks and adverse rulings about Scientology that together infringed on his First Amendment rights. But the panel found that the judge’s statements “evidence no animus or departure from neutrality regarding Scientology.”
Olmedo allowed a former Scientologist to testify at the trial as an expert about the faith’s beliefs and practices. The prosecution argued that the victims — who all belonged to the church and had since left — delayed reporting the incidents or classifying them as rape due to fear of retaliation for violating a Scientology rule against going to the police.
Masterson’s lawyers objected and argued on appeal that the court had improperly intruded into interpretation of church doctrine.
“The jury in this case was not asked to determine the truth or falsity of Scientology doctrine or beliefs,” the appeals court concluded, citing the specific reasons for which the religious evidence was introduced. “Admission of Scientology evidence for those purposes did not contravene the First Amendment.”
The panel also rejected separate arguments about the statute of limitations and evidentiary rulings. The panel also summarily denied a separate habeas corpus petition that argued that Masterson did not get an adequate defense.
