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Danny Masterson's Lawyers Allegedly Contacted Jurors in Rape Case
Danny Masterson is embarking on a new legal battle.
Over a year after the That ‘70s Show star was found guilty of two counts of rape in May 2023, and later sentenced to 30 years to life for the crime in September of the same year, he has filed an appeal.
In a 246-page brief filed by Masteron’s attorney Cliff Gardner, obtained by US Weekly and reviewed by E! News, the actor alleged that his previous court case—which took place over a period of two weeks in May 2023, after an initial mistrial in December 2022—“violated” his rights for a fair trial.
Masterson’s attorney argued in the document that because the witnesses in the trial—who were victims of Masterson’s sexual assault—had also filed civil suits against the actor, they had a “financial motive to ensure Mr. Masterson was convicted of rape."
The documents further argued that the trial violated federal law for going against Masterson’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights—for infringing on the 48-year-old’s right to due process by “erroneously” excluding evidence.
Masterson’s appeal comes 15 months after he was sentenced to 30-years to life—the maximum sentence lawfully allowed for the conviction—after being found guilty for two out of three counts of forcible rape during events that took place in 2003. (The three women who came forward with allegations noted that they had met Masterson through the Church of Scientology, and alleged that he had “used his prominence” in the organization to “avoid consequences,” per the Associated Press.)
Following his conviction, Masterson—who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also included a count of rape from a former longtime girlfriend for which the jury could not reach a verdict—maintained his innocence, and his attorney had expressed plans to appeal.
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After Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed Masterson his sentence in 2023, she pushed back on his insistence of innocence.
“I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you,” she explained at the Sept. 2023 sentencing, per the Associated Press. “But Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice, and choice. One way or another you will have to come to terms with your prior actions, and their consequences.”
E! News has reached out to Masterson’s attorney but has not yet heard back.
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