Danny Masterson blames rape convictions on lawyer, anti-Scientology bias
Global News
Masterson, currently serving 30 years to life in prison for raping two women, continues to battle his convictions.
Former That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson is blaming his trial lawyer for his 2023 rape convictions and accusing his defence team of “failure of due diligence.”
Masterson, currently serving 30 years to life in prison for raping two women, filed a petition for habeas corpus — a legal action challenging the lawfulness of his imprisonment — on Monday, which blamed his trial lawyer, Philip Cohen, for failing to call any witnesses and for not pushing back on prosecutors’ claims about Scientology, Variety reports.
Masterson, 49, “implored (Cohen) to present at least a minimal modicum of defense evidence, but counsel refused,” according to the filing.
“Cohen had a longstanding aversion to presenting affirmative defense evidence in the cases he tried,” the filing said.
“He personally spoke to only two of the more than 20 potential witnesses who had been strongly recommended by co-counsel Karen Goldstein and investigator Lynda Larsen. He wrote off the great majority of them without any personal contact, notwithstanding their manifestly exculpatory prior statements to the police and to investigators.”
In the petition, Masterson also alleges police and prosecutors were prejudiced against Scientology, partially due to the involvement of former Scientologist Leah Remini, who supported his accusers publicly.
“She was welcomed into the prosecution fold as an adviser, strategist, authoritative arbiter on the policy and practices of the Church of Scientology, and advocate for the complaining witnesses,” said the petition. “She was welcomed even though the LAPD knew that she had an ongoing vendetta against petitioner.”
The actor was found guilty of two of three counts of forcible rape during his retrial in May 2023. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The retrial was called after 2022’s original trial on the same three counts ended in a mistrial when a jury deadlocked, failing to reach unanimous verdicts.
