A jury in Los Angeles on Wednesday found actor Danny Masterson, best known for his role on the sitcom That ’70s Show, guilty of two rape charges, but stalled on a third. The Associated Press reported that it has become a state.
The mixed verdict came after a jury stalled on all three charges in November and misjudged. The retrial lasted over a month, and jurors deliberated for over a week.
Each charge of forced rape carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Masterson, 47, who played Stephen Hyde on “That ’70s Show” from 1998 to 2006, raped three women in his Hollywood Hills home from 2001 to 2003. and pleaded not guilty.
The case was under close scrutiny, in part because the two women accused them of preventing the Church of Scientology, to which they and Masterson belonged, from reporting the rape to law enforcement, according to court documents. was The church vehemently denies pressuring the victims.
Both trials centered around the same charges, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo said that in the second trial, the prosecutor told the jury that Masterson had drugged the three accusers. He admitted to directly tell him that he had administered Associated Press report.
Prosecutors, who only hinted at possible drug use at the first trial, testified that the women were disoriented and confused after Mr. Masterson gave them alcoholic beverages.
Mr Masterson’s lawyer, Philip Cohen, said the women’s stories were inconsistent, there was no physical evidence of drug use, and there was “no evidence of force or violence”. The Associated Press reported.
