Jury convicts actor and Scientologist Danny Masterson of raping two women in 2003
Masterson was handcuffed at the defense table. His $3.3 million bond was exonerated and he's been jailed without bail as he faces 30 years to life in prison.
A jury on Wednesday convicted actor and Scientologist Danny Masterson of two counts of forcible rape but deadlocked on a third, ending eight days of deliberation after a trial heavily focused on the Church of Scientology.
Masterson, 47, was handcuffed at the defense table and taken into custody. He’d been out of jail on $3.3 million bond since he was indicted in June 2020. His wife, Bijou Phillips, started crying after the verdict was read at the criminal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
“Can you maintain your composure? I know it’s hard. But if not I need you to step outside,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo said.
Phillips quieted as friends and family comforted her, but she loudly sobbed again when Masterson was handcuffed. Her supporters included Billy Baldwin, the third youngest of the Baldwin celebrity brothers and the husband of Phillips’ half-sister, Chynna Phillips.
Masterson’s lawyer Phil Cohen asked Olmedo to consider allowing Masterson to stay out on bail. The crimes for which he was convicted occurred 20 years ago, and Cohen said the judge should consider his age then versus his age now.
But Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller said, “As the court indicated, these are serious and violent charges.”
Olmedo said she believes Masterson “to potentially be a flight risk” and a danger to the community now that he’s been convicted.
Olmedo’s clerk read the verdict about 1:55 p.m. Jurors sent a note to the court about 11 a.m. saying they had decided two counts but were deadlocked on the third, and the judge told them they could fill in the verdict form for the counts upon which they’ve agreed upon.