Entertainment
That 70s Show star Danny Masterson’s rape trial ends in mistrial after jury ‘hopelessly deadlocked’-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
A new trial date has been set for March 2023.
The actor was charged with rape in 2020 (Picture: Frederick M. Brown for DailyMail)
A judge declared a mistrial on Wednesday after jurors said they were ‘hopelessly deadlocked’ at the trial of That 70s Show actor Danny Masterson.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo had ordered the jurors to take Thanksgiving week off and keep deliberating after they told her on November 18 that they could not come to a consensus about the rape allegations after a month-long trial in which the Church of Scientology played a supporting role.
Masterson, 46, was charged with the rape of three women, including a former girlfriend, in his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003.
He pleaded not guilty and his lawyer said the acts were all consensual.
All three women were members of the church at the time and Masterson remains one.
‘I find the jurors hopelessly deadlocked,’ the judge declared after inquiring whether there was anything the court could do to move them closer to reaching a unanimous decision.
Masterson, who pleaded not guilty and rebuked the accusations, will be due back in court again in the new year (Picture: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
He is best known for his role of Steven Hyde on That 70s Show (Picture: Robert Sebree/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock)
Jurors said they had voted seven times on Tuesday and Wednesday without being able to reach consensus on any of the three counts.
The jury foreman said only two jurors voted for conviction on the first count, four voted for conviction on the second count and five voted to convict on the third count.
Jurors were forced to start deliberations from scratch on Monday when two of their number had to be dismissed after testing positive for Covid-19.
They deliberated for two days but still could not reach verdicts.
The result was a serious setback for prosecutors and for the three women who said they were seeking long overdue justice.
Masterson at his arraignment on September 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California (Picture: Getty)
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said in a statement to Us Weekly: ‘While we are disappointed with the outcome in this trial, we thank the jurors for their service. We also want to give our heartfelt appreciation to the victims for bravely stepping forward and recounting their harrowing experiences.
‘We also are thankful for the hard work of the prosecution team and we will now consider our next steps as it relates to prosecuting this case.’
A status conference to discuss next steps in the proceedings has been scheduled for January 10, while a new trial is tentatively set to start on March 27.
Masterson, who shares an eight-year-old daughter with wife Bijou Phillips, was initially accused of sexual assault in 2017, which he denied at the time as ‘outrageous allegations’.
With wife Bijou Phillips outside court on Wednesday (Picture: Frederick M. Brown for DailyMail)
The actor was subsequently written out of his Netflix series The Ranch amid the scandal.
The trial began in October after Masterson’s legal team were unsuccessful in their attempt to get the charges dismissed.
If convicted, Masterson would face a maximum of 45 years to life in a state prison.
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The proceedings took place amid a flurry of cases on both coasts with #MeToo connotations, including the Los Angeles trial of Harvey Weinstein just down the hall from Masterson’s.
In New York, Kevin Spacey won a sexual misconduct conduct lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, while in a separate civil case a jury ordered director and screenwriter Paul Haggis to pay $10 million dollars (£8.3m).
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for Danny Masterson for comment.
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