Former TV star Danny Masterson claims a combination of his lawyer's failures and a police investigation that was biased against Scientology led to his conviction on two counts of rape, according to a lengthy motion filed Monday.
Masterson, 49, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in September 2023. after a jury found he raped two women in the early 2000s while at the height of his fame starring as the spunky Steven Hyde on the sitcom That '70s Show.
At the time, Masterson met both victims through the Church of Scientology, and the church's doctrine has come up repeatedly in court, with victims claiming they were discouraged from reporting the actor to police for years.
Masterson was first charged with three counts of rape in 2020, but the jury deadlocked at his first trial in 2022. The jury again failed to reach a verdict on a third count of rape involving Masterson's longtime girlfriend, returning a guilty verdict on the other two counts in 2023.
In a 183-page document released Monday, defense attorney Eric Multhaup said a combination of mistakes by defense attorney Philip Cohen and what he called a law enforcement investigation heavily biased against Masterson's faith led to the wrongful conviction.
“The injustice of Masterson's second trial was the result of prosecutorial misconduct, judicial bias and the failure of defense counsel to present exculpatory evidence,” he said in a statement. “The habeas corpus petition is accompanied by 65 exhibits documenting exculpatory evidence that could have been presented but was not. The jury only heard half the story – the prosecution's side. Danny deserves a new trial where the jury can hear his side.”
On the eve of the first trial, Masterson was represented by Cohen and Sean Holley, who also represented Former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer facing sexual assault allegations at the same time. A request to delay Masterson's trial to accommodate Holley's schedule was denied, according to the documents, and Masterson soon became disillusioned with Cohen's defense strategy.
In the habeas petition, Multhaup argued that Cohen failed to call a number of witnesses who could have provided exculpatory evidence, including friends of the victims who said they described their encounters with Masterson as consensual and in one case as “the best sex she had ever had,” according to the suit.
Cohen, Holley and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At trial, the women all said they became Masterson's victims after he served them drinks that left them disoriented and nauseated before he had sex with them. During the hearing, Cohen repeatedly noted that prosecutors did not present any forensic evidence to show the victims were under the influence of drugs. But in the habeas petition, Multhaup argued that Cohen failed his client by failing to raise an “affirmative defense,” including what they called “mountains” of evidence that the sexual encounters were consensual.
An attorney for the women did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Multhaup also criticized investigations by the Los Angeles Police Department and the District Attorney's Office as unfairly biased against Scientology, largely due to the involvement of actress Leah Remini in the case. Remini, a former Scientologist, has often spoken out for victims in court and voiced their allegations in her A&E docuseries about the church.
“She was brought into the prosecution service as an advisor, strategist, authority figure on the policies and practices of the Church of Scientology, and as an advocate for complaining witnesses,” the motion states. “She was welcomed even though the LAPD knew she was continuing a vendetta against the complainant.”
Remini and an LAPD spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Multhaup also argued that Cohen did not call a Scientologist witness to confront the prosecution's expert, who testified that church doctrines would have prevented victims from reporting Masterson to police.
At various hearings beginning in 2021, the women testified that they feared excommunication from the church and their families if they brought criminal charges against Masterson. The church has denied these claims. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlene Olmedo, who oversaw the trial, also ruled that the evidence showed Scientology had such a policy.
While Masterson and the Church have long claimed that the trial is biased against Scientology, there have also been allegations that the Church and its agents acted improperly at some points.
Last year Olmedo imposed sanctions on two former Masterson lawyers, for improperly providing information obtained as a result of legal proceedings to the Church of Scientology. The materials included private conversations between Masterson's victims and police, as well as the victims' home addresses. The church denies all wrongdoing.
The 2024 Times investigation also uncovered allegations that the church tried to “thwart” the case against Masterson harassing law enforcement officers involved in his criminal trial. A break-in was reported at the home of the chief prosecutor, a deputy district attorney. Atty. Reinhold Mueller also claimed he was followed and nearly “run off the road” ahead of his trial, according to the civil suit, police reports and video reviewed by The Times.
LAPD detectives working the case also alleged that they were being followed and harassed by church agents, according to a 2023 interview with former LAPD Chief Michel Moore. But the LAPD investigation did not substantiate those claims, Moore said at the time.
The Church has strongly denied these claims, saying there is “not a shred of evidence” to support allegations of Scientology interference. A church spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.
