The jury in Danny Masterson’s rape trial has resumed deliberations with two new members after a pair of positive Covid tests among the panel this morning.
The Los Angeles jury had deliberated for two-plus days when they told Judge Charlaine Olmedo on November 18 that they are deadlocked on all three counts of forcible rape. The judge then sent the jurors home for Thanksgiving week, and when court reconvened today downtown, she dismissed two jurors after they tested positive for Covid. Two alternatives jurors then joined the panel, and their deliberations continued.
Masterson, who starred on That ’70s Show and The Ranch, faces up to 45 years in state prison if found guilty on all three counts. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office and Masterson’s Phillip Cohen-led defense presented and concluded their very different closing arguments on November 15 after nearly three weeks of testimony in Superior Court.
Masterson was arrested in June 2020 on three counts of forcible rape that allegedly occurred in 2001 and 2003 at his Hollywood Hills home. Out on $3.3 million bail ever since being arrested, longtime Scientologist Masterson had previously been unceremoniously dropped from Netflix’s Ashton Kutcher co-starring comedy The Ranch at the end of 2017 as claims became known. Masterson, who did not testify during the trial, consistently has denied having nonconsensual sex with the Jane Does of this case or anyone else.
