Former "That '70s Show" star Danny Masterson appeals rape conviction

Actor Danny Masterson, who is serving a sentence of 30 years to life in prison, is seeking to overturn his conviction for the rape of two women, with his attorneys arguing he did not receive a fair trial.

A Los Angeles jury found Masterson guilty last year of two counts of rape by force or fear for assaulting two women at his Hollywood Hills home in separate incidents in 2003 — during the same time he was starring on Fox TV's "That '70s Show." The jury deadlocked on the case involving a third alleged victim. The May 2023 trial followed a mistrial in November 2022.

Masterson, 48, is incarcerated at California Men's Colony, a minimum- and medium-security prison in San Luis Obispo County.

Cliff Gardner, the attorney handling Masterson's appeal, filed an appellant's opening brief Tuesday that alleges witnesses told different versions of their stories over time. The brief also argues that evidence that would have helped Masterson's defense was not presented due to what Gardner describes as erroneous rulings by the court. Gardner argues in the court filings that those factors support reversing the convictions. 

Masterson's defense argued at trial that he knew both women socially and his sexual relations with them were consensual.

"It is true, of course, that a defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial. He is, however, still entitled to a fair one," the brief reads. "Danny Masterson received neither. Reversal is required." 

During the trial, one of the women Masterson was later convicted of raping broke down on the witness stand as she testified that he choked her and smothered her with a pillow when she tried fighting back as he assaulted her, according to the Associated Press. 

"I could not breathe," she said, crying. 

When the prosecutor asked what she was thinking at the time, she said she feared for her life, AP reported.

"That he was going to kill me," she said. "That I was going to die."  

She later testified Masterson took out a gun from inside his bedside table and told her to be quiet when they heard voices at the door. She told jurors she was in and out of consciousness through the night.

Masterson and the victims were members of the Church of Scientology, which became a central focus of the case as the women alleged they were stalked and harassed after reporting the allegations to police. 

They sued Masterson and the church years earlier in connection with those accusations.

During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors the church had retaliated against the victims for reporting the the crimes — the rape of a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and assault of a 23-year-old woman, also that year.

"What happened after they were drugged, they were raped by this man over here," Mueller said, as he pointed across the courtroom toward Masterson during closing arguments. "You have an opportunity to show there is justice. It does exist."

The church released a statement at the time refuting the allegations.

"The church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone, Scientologists or not, to law enforcement," the statement reads. "Quite the opposite, church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land. All allegations to the contrary are totally false."

In the newly filed brief for Masterson's appeal, Gardner alleges the victims changed their stories "dramatically" over the years and had a financial motive to do so. Gardner argues in court documents that though the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit seeking damages had expired before the trial, under state law it would be revived if Masterson was convicted of forcible rape involving multiple victims. 

Gardner says in the brief that a court ruling prevented evidence related to that argument from being admitted at trial.

He also states in the court filings that some witnesses died before the case went to trial, more than a decade after being reported to law enforcement, and alleges that police lost a tape-recorded witness interview that would have helped Masterson's defense.

After the six-day trial resulting in Masterson's convictions, one of the women he was convicted of raping released a statement saying she was relieved he had been found guilty.

"I am experiencing a complex array of emotions – relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness – knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior," the statement reads.