‘That “70s Show” actor Danny Masterson filed a petition to overturn his 2023 rape convictions from prison earlier this week, arguing his former attorney, Phillip Cohen, failed to present a “mountain of exculpatory evidence.”
Masterson was convicted in 2023 of raping two women in the early 2000s and is currently serving 30 years to life in the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo.
“[These] convictions were a major miscarriage of justice,” reads Masterson’s appeal, which alleges he is being held in prison “against his state and federal constitutional rights.”
During Masterson’s trial, women testified that he drugged, threatened them with a gun, and brutally raped them while they were unconscious or too weak to resist him.
The former actor is now represented by Eric Multhaup, an attorney who unsuccessfully represented Brock Turner in his attempt to overturn his sexual assault convictions, arguing that Turner’s charges should be overturned because he was fully clothed when discovered engaging in sexual activity with an unconscious, half-naked woman.
Masterson’s appeal argues that his former attorney “failed” to call 18 available witnesses to provide testimony that would have helped his case, alleging this violated his Sixth Amendment right.
The petition also argues that evidence regarding the Church of Scientology’s doctrine and practices, of which Masterson and the women he was convicted of raping were members, should not have been included in his retrial. It also suggests the presiding judge, Charlaine Olmedo, was biased against Scientology.
“The primary change was to prominently portray the Church of Scientology, of which [Masterson] was a member, as a villainous force that had discouraged the complaining witnesses from reporting their allegations of rape to the police in 2003, and that was actively harassing the complaining witnesses in retaliation for making their complaints in 2017,” the appeal reads.
The 183-page appeal calls Masterson’s convictions incorrect and outlines a series of specific instances in which Masterson believes opportunities for evidence showing his innocence were missed.
“The jury saw only the tip of the iceberg of available defense evidence…while the wealth of directly exculpatory evidence went unused for no viable tactical reason,” the appeal reads.
Masterson’s petition for a new trial remains pending.
