Danny Masterson’s rape retrial: Closing arguments set to start

LOS ANGELES — Closing arguments are anticipated to start Tuesday on the second trial of “That ’70s Present” actor Danny Masterson, who’s charged with raping three ladies at his Los Angeles residence between 2001 and 2003.

Attorneys for each side rested their instances Friday, three weeks into the trial. Masterson’s protection attorneys declined to name any witnesses.

The 47-year-old’s first trial resulted in a mistrial in December, with jurors hopelessly deadlocked on all three counts.

The actor has pleaded not responsible. He might get 45 years in jail if convicted on all three counts.

The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member and all three ladies are former members, has performed a fair bigger position within the second trial than it did within the first. The decide allowed a former member of the church’s management to testify as an knowledgeable on the establishment’s insurance policies about going to police, and a courtroom controversy broke out in the course of the trial over a Scientology lawyer apparently having possession of trial proof.

The ladies testified that church officers stored them from going to authorities as quickly as they might have about Masterson. The church has denied having any insurance policies forbidding members from reporting different members to legislation enforcement.

Superior Courtroom Choose Charlaine F. Olmedo additionally allowed the prosecution to instantly say that Masterson drugged every of the victims. Olmedo solely allowed secondary proof of it on the first trial.

Deputy District Lawyer Reinhold Mueller might be first to provide a closing argument within the downtown Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday morning. He’ll attempt to persuade the jury to unanimously convict Masterson after failing to get even half of the jurors on the first trial to vote responsible on any depend.