Law&Crime Sidebar - ‘That ‘70s Show’ Actor Danny Masterson’s Rape Trial: What to Expect

Episode Date: October 10, 2022

What can we expect from Actor Danny Masterson’s rape trial starting this week? What will we learn about the Church of Scientology? Reporting from outside the L.A. courthouse, Journalist Tony Ortega comes on to discuss.GUEST:Tony Ortega: https://tonyortega.org/LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael Deininger & Logan HarrisGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Do you understand that you have the absolute right to be present at that hearing and give up that right and agree that your attorney can appear on your behalf? Yes, sir. What can we expect from actor Danny Masterson's rape trial starting this week? What will we learn about the Church of Scientology? Reporting from outside that L.A. courthouse, journalist Tony Ortega comes on to discuss. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Long Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

Actor Danny Masterson's sex crimes trial begins this week. That 70-show actor is facing three charges of forcible rape with respect to three women who were former members of the Church of Scientology. This allegedly happened from 2001. to 2003, and he faces a lengthy prison sentence if he's actually convicted, up to 45 years behind bars. So let's talk about what we can expect in this upcoming trial with journalist Tony Ortega, who's been following this case. He's been a frequent contributor on the Danny Masterson story here on sidebar. Tony's the founder of the underground bunker where he writes about Scientology-related issues and stories. You can find him at Tony Ortega.substack.com. And Tony right now is our very

special reporter in the field. He is reporting outside of the Clara Short Ridge False Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles where Danny Masterson's trial will be happening. Tony, good to see you. Jesse, thanks for having me back on. So first, let's just talk about why you're outside of court today. What's happening if you can briefly tell us? Right. The trial formally starts tomorrow as jury selection begins. Today, the judge O'Mado said she wanted to have an informal meeting with both sides to go over the jury questionnaire. air. So I flew in last night. I decided I'd come to court and get my bearings again. It's been a year since I was last year for some daddy matches and proceedings. It's amazing. We're actually

at the time of the trial. And I talk to you, you know, Tony, people might be saying, I'm confused. You know, why is Tony following this case? Specifically because the judge, Judge O'Mato, laid down a basic ground rule. She said, this is not going to become a trial on Scientology. Tony, do you believe her? Well, it's not, Scientology's not on trial, but the decision she made that's very fascinating is she will allow testimony about Scientology's policies. And the reason she did that is that these women, these incidents were between 2001 and 2003. A lot of time passed before they came forward to the LAPD in 2016. They say they were terrified of the Church of Scientology and its retaliation. and also its policies explicitly tell members they cannot turn in fellow Scientologists to the law.

So that's why she's allowing in testimony about Scientology because it helps explain why this case has taken so long to get here. And we saw that at the preliminary hearing last May. She allows a certain amount, but she will not allow a discussion about the beliefs of Scientology or anything like that. That's where I come in. We have three different women. Can you tell us what you can briefly, what the substance of each accuser's account is and how they plan to prove it? And then I'll talk a little bit more about, you know, the Scientology aspect. Let's just take a step back and talk about each of the accusers, what their basic story is and how are they going to prove it other than them just testifying.

Right. So this morning at my substack, Tonyartagena.com, I did provide a lengthy amount of detail from the prosecutor's brief. And you can look at each of the allegations. Jane Doe 1 was 28 years old in 2003. She knew Danny Masterson. She was part of the same social set. And she had gone to a birthday party that night. And they were invited back to Danny's house.

She didn't even get there until 1 o'clock in the morning because she was trying to find some keys. She wasn't even there to see Danny. But her testimony is that he then gave her a red fruity cocktail. And afterwards, she fell. felt suspiciously intoxicated and was very ill. And Danny insisted on taking her up to his bathroom so he could help her throw up. And her testimony is once he got her into the shower and then into his bedroom, he began sexually assaulting her.

And she was in and out of consciousness. And at one point, he even brandished a firearm threatening her never to say anything to anybody. That's her testimony. Jane Doe, too, was another woman who was a Scientologist. They were all Scientologists at the time. Jane Doe, too, also knew Danny socially, and he had gotten her phone number from her and was texting her very aggressively

and kept demanding that she'd come over. And she had told him, no, you can ask me out on a date. I'm not just going to come over. But he pressured her, and so she finally came over. He gave her a drink. Her testimony is that once again, she was suspiciously intoxicated, and he convinced her to go into a jacuzzi,

got her into his bedroom. And she kept saying the whole time, You know, we can kiss and stuff, but no sex, no intercourse. And then her testimony is he just got really aggressive, threw her on of all fours, and just really raped her forcibly and very violently. Jane Doe 3 is a different situation. This is a woman who actually dated Danny for six years. Those first two women, I said, they knew him socially, but they were not dating.

The third woman, he was in a relationship with her for six years. They want to bring in testimony that over that time, he was physically aggressive. He would, there was domestic violence in the relationship is what they want to testify to, and that's going to be contentious. And then she testified in December and January, in January 2001, I think, he had forced her to have sex, and she didn't want to. That's basically what hers is about. She went to the church, and they told her, you can't report your own partner.

Jane Doe One also went to the church and they told her not to go to the LAPD. So again, the sort of involvement of the church is definitely part of these allegations. And I guess the question becomes, you know, as we look at this, is how much do they have to back it up? And obviously the Church of Scientology plays a critical issue here because the defense, what is the defense here? The defense is that you can't believe these women because they were out to get Danny Masterson because he's a Scientologist. They're trying to bring the church down. They were looking for a quick payout. Am I understanding the defense correctly?

Well, in cases like this, Jesse, you know, it's just generally the way the defense works is they're just going to trash these women and say that they made things up and that they've colluded and all that. That's just standard. So the question then becomes, what do these women have to back up their stories? And one thing you can bring into a case like this that would normally be considered hearsay is what's called a first. fresh complaint witness. That is, when somebody's been attacked, they may not go to the police right away, but they might tell a friend. And in California law, you can bring that person in to say, yeah, at the time, they were telling me that they were raped. So there are fresh complaint witnesses for Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 3, as a matter of fact. But here's

the other wrinkle that you just brought up, Jesse. The Church of Scientology knew about these incidents. And the thing you need to know about Scientology is they're very bureaucratic. It's a snitching culture. It's an interrogation culture. These women were interrogated. Danny Mancheson was interrogated. There are records. There are documents. And so I believe some of those documents are going to come into this trial. That's another reason why this is going to be such a fascinating trial is that Scientology was involved in documenting it. And that's or and ultimately helping maybe the prosecution proved that it actually happened. I have been seeing reports that Lisa Marie Presley, of all people, is going to be a central

figure in this case. And I didn't want to look too much into it. I wanted to give you the floor on it because that's a big development. She's going to be a critical witness for the state. I wrote that story last Wednesday that I confirmed that the prosecution has notified the defense that they plan to call Lisa Marie Presley. And as I discussed with Angenet last week, that doesn't necessarily mean that she'll ultimately be in the trial. But it indicates that the prosecution would like to bring her.

Now, why is the question I'm still working on? Because she wasn't there that night of the Jane. The interesting thing about the Jane Doe 1 allegation, it was at a party. And so there are some people, I think, are going to be brought in to testify of what they saw. Lisa Bresson was not there. Exactly why they're bringing her in and what she can add, I'm not 100% sure. But what I did confirm was that multiple times Jane Doe 1 referred to their good friend Lisa in her testimony last year at the preliminary hearing. I have confirmed those were references to Lisa Marie Presley that this whole group of friends were all very close with her.

And so I'm interested to find out what it is they think she can testify to that would be relevant to the case. I don't know yet. I guess the overall arches, because I know I have to let you go to go into court, is what are you hoping to learn maybe today? What are you hoping to learn from the first day? And what are you hoping for this trial to ultimately shed light on? Right. Today, I think what I'm interested in is they're going to be talking about the jury questionnaire.

So, you know, when you're selecting jurors, one of the special things about this case, Jesse, is you need to ask these jurors, are you Scientologists? Do you know Scientologists? Do you have any opinions about Scientologists? Do you have any opinions about Danny Masterson? So that's going to be interesting to see how they settle on those questions that both sides agree to. And then also, I think this week, I think they're still going to be talking about witnesses and who gets to testify, who doesn't. So I'll be interested if there's any discussion of that as well.

All right. Tony Ortega, I appreciate you taking the time. And for being our reporter on the scene there, you can follow Tony at the underground bunker. You can follow them at Tonyartega. substack.com. It's a fascinating story that's happening, a very eerie story and really creepy story, but also one that I think is very important

to learn a little bit more on and shed some more light on because I don't know how many people are talking about it and probably should be talking about it. Tony Ortega, thank you so much. Thank you, Jesse. And thanks, everybody, for joining us here on Sidebar. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify,

wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. We'll speak to you next time. this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.