Former television star Danny Masterson claims a mix of failures by his defense attorney and a police investigation that was biased against Scientology led to his conviction on two counts of rape, according to a lengthy motion filed Monday.
Masterson, 49, was sentenced to 30-years-to-life in prison in September 2023 after a jury found he sexually assaulted two women in the early 2000s, while at the height of his fame starring as the mercurial Steven Hyde in the sitcom “That 70s Show.”
Masterson met both of the victims through the Church of Scientology at the time, and church doctrine was repeatedly made an issue at trial, with the victims claiming they were discouraged from reporting the actor to police for years.
Masterson was first charged with three counts of rape in 2020, but a jury deadlocked at his initial trial in 2022. Jurors were unable to reach a verdict again on a third rape count involving Masterson’s longtime girlfriend when handing down a conviction on the other two counts in 2023.
In a 183-page filing made public Monday, attorney Eric Multhaup claimed a mix of errors by defense attorney Phillip Cohen and what he described as a law enforcement investigation heavily biased against Masterson’s faith led to a wrongful conviction.
“The unfairness of the second Masterson trial was the result of prosecutorial misconduct, judicial bias, and the failure of defense counsel to present exculpatory evidence,” he said in a statement. “The habeas corpus petition is accompanied by 65 exhibits that document the evidence of innocence that could have been presented, but was not. The jury heard only half the story — the prosecution’s side. Danny deserves a new trial where the jury can hear his side as well.”
On the eve of the first trial, Masterson was represented by Cohen and Shawn Holley, who was also representing former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer as he faced sexual assault allegations at the same time. A request to delay Masterson’s trial to accommodate Holley’s schedule was denied, and Masterson soon became frustrated with Cohen’s defense strategy, according to the filing.
In the habeas petition, Multhaup argued that Cohen failed to call a number of witnesses who would have provided exculpatory evidence, including friends of the victims who said they described their encounters with Masterson as consensual and in one case “the best sex she had ever had,” according to the filing.
Cohen, Holley and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At trial, all of the women described falling prey to Masterson after he served them drinks that made them disoriented and nauseated before he had sex with them. During the hearings, Cohen repeatedly noted that prosecutors presented zero forensic evidence to prove the victims were drugged. But in the habeas motion, Multhaup argued Cohen failed his client by not putting forward an “affirmative defense” including what they described as “mountains” of evidence that the sexual encounters were consensual.
An attorney for the women did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Multhaup also attacked the Los Angeles Police Department and district attorney’s office investigations as unfairly biased against Scientology, largely due to the involvement of actress Leah Remini in the case. Remini, a former Scientologist, often appeared in support of the victims in court and aired their allegations in her A&E documentary series about the church.
“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,” the motion read. “She was welcomed even though the LAPD knew that she had an ongoing vendetta against petitioner.”
Remini and an LAPD spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Multhaup also argued that Cohen failed to call a Scientology witness to counter a prosecution expert who testified that church doctrines would have barred the victims from reporting Masterson to police.
At various hearings since 2021, the women testified that they feared excommunication from the church and their families if they made criminal allegations against Masterson. The church has denied those claims. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo, who oversaw the trial, also ruled that evidence showed Scientology had such a policy.
While Masterson and the Church have long contended anti-Scientology bias hung over the trial, there were also allegations that the Church and its agents acted improperly at points.
Last year, Olmedo sanctioned two of of Masterson’s former lawyers, for improperly sharing discovery from the trial with the Church of Scientology. The materials included private conversations between Masterson’s victims and police as well as the victims’ home addresses. The church has denied all wrongdoing.
A 2024 Times investigation also revealed allegations that the church attempted to “derail” the case against Masterson by harassing law enforcement officials involved in his criminal trial. A break-in was reported at the home of the lead prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Reinhold Mueller, who also claimed he was harassed and nearly “run off the road” in the lead-up to the trial, according to a civil lawsuit, police reports and a video reviewed by The Times.
Los Angeles police detectives assigned to the case also claimed they’d been followed and harassed by church agents, according to a 2023 interview with former LAPD Chief Michel Moore. But an LAPD investigation failed to substantiate those claims, Moore said at the time.
The church has strongly denied the claims, arguing there is not a “scintilla of evidence” to support allegations of Scientology interference. A church spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Monday.
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