Danny Masterson accuses his lawyer of poor defense when he tries to overturn his rape conviction.
Masterson, a former “That '70s Show” star, is serving a 30-year sentence at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo after being convicted in 2023 of two rape charges.
IN petition for habeas corpus Filed Monday, his appellate lawyers accused his lawyer, Philip Cohen, of failing to call any witnesses and failing to resist prosecutors' claims about Scientology.
According to the documents, Masterson “begged (Cohen) to provide at least minimal evidence for the defense, but the lawyer refused.”
Masterson was convicted raping two women in his Hollywood Hills home in 2003 while the jury deadlocked on a third rape charge. At an earlier trial in 2022, the jury returned a verdict on all three counts but leaned toward acquittal.
Scientology played a role in both trials, but played a particularly prominent role in the retrial. Prosecutors argued that the women were reluctant to report a high-ranking church member. Two of them testified that they were threatened with excommunication if they went to the police.
At the retrial, prosecutors called Claire Headley, a former Scientologist, who testified that the church needed special permission to go to authorities.
According to the habeas petition, the church's lawyers urged Cohen to call Hugh Witt, a longtime Scientologist, to refute the claim. Although Witt was on the defense witness list, Cohen and his lawyer decided not to call him.
Rather than vigorously defend Masterson's religion, Cohen's strategy in both trials was to downplay its significance.
“Why have we heard so much about Scientology?” he asked in his closing remarks. “Could there be other problems with the government’s case?”
The habeas petition argues that Cohen is generally disinclined to provide an affirmative defense, instead relying on the cross-examination of government witnesses to establish reasonable doubt.
This strategy almost worked in the first trial, as Masterson came within a few votes of acquittal. But at the retrial, the prosecution armed itself with more favorable evidentiary decisions and put forward a more aggressive version.
The petition alleges that Cohen did not change his strategy to explain this and did not question many defense witnesses who could have undermined the credibility of prosecutors.
“Overall, the jury saw only the tip of the iceberg of available defense evidence in the form of conflicting testimony from complaining witnesses, while a wealth of directly exculpatory evidence
remained unused for no real tactical reason,” the petition states.
Last December, Masterson's lawyers filed a separate appeal challenging many of the judge's decisions. A habeas petition allows them to consider evidence that was not presented at trial.
“The jury only heard half the story – the prosecution's side,” Masterson's lawyer, Eric Multhaup, said in a statement. “Danny deserves a new trial where a jury can hear his side.”
