Danny Masterson’s rape retrial winding down amid alleged Church of Scientology leak – National

Closing arguments are anticipated to start Tuesday on the second trial of That ’70s Present actor Danny Masterson, who’s charged with raping three girls at his Los Angeles house between 2001 and 2003.

Attorneys for either side rested their circumstances Friday, three weeks into the trial. Masterson’s defence lawyer declined to name any witnesses.

The 47-year-old’s first trial led to a mistrial in December, with jurors hopelessly deadlocked on all three counts.

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Mistrial declared in Danny Masterson rape trial, jury ‘hopelessly deadlocked’

The actor has pleaded not responsible. He might get 45 years in jail if convicted on all three counts.

Superior Courtroom Decide Charlaine F. Olmedo has allowed the prosecution to straight say that Masterson drugged every of the victims. Olmedo solely allowed secondary proof of it on the first trial.

The Church of Scientology has performed an excellent bigger function within the second trial than it did within the first; Masterson is a member of the church, and all three girls within the trial are former members, however the church itself shouldn’t be a defendant within the trial.

The decide allowed a former member of the church’s management to testify as an skilled on the establishment’s insurance policies about going to police. The plaintiffs claimed church officers saved them from going to authorities with their accusations about Masterson. The church has denied having any insurance policies forbidding members from reporting different members to regulation enforcement.

Final week, a courtroom controversy broke out in the course of the trial over an unaffiliated Scientology lawyer apparently having possession of trial proof. Deputy DA Reinhold Mueller advised the court docket that he acquired an e-mail on Could 2 from a lawyer belonging to the church, Vicki Podberesky, that contained 12 information of discovery materials from the continued trial. The e-mail criticized the retrial, although the invention materials connected was supposed solely to be seen by the prosecution, defence legal professionals and the court docket. It’s unclear the place the alleged leak got here from.

Actor Leah Remini, a former Scientologist, mentioned she has been visiting the Los Angeles courtroom all through the trial. The retrial has garnered ample consideration from the general public partially due to Remini’s outspoken commentary.

She shared information of the alleged discovery materials leak to Twitter on Thursday and wrote that the church had “no purpose in any respect” to own the data.

“Scientology, which SHOULD be a co-defendant on this trial, has repeatedly lied, saying it has no covert involvement on this trial,” Remini, 52, accused in a protracted thread.

Remini, who left the Church of Scientology in 2013, mentioned the obvious leak is proof the church is “colluding” with Masterson and his legal professionals.

“There’s nothing Scientology and Scientologists gained’t do to infiltrate authorities places of work, organizations, and establishments,” she wrote. “There’s nothing Scientology gained’t do to acquire the intel it wants to guard itself. It has actually been Scientology coverage for seven a long time.”

Earlier, Remini additionally claimed the church tried to have her faraway from the courtroom when the trial started three weeks in the past.

Deputy District Legal professional Reinhold Mueller will probably be first to provide a closing argument within the downtown Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday morning. He’ll attempt to persuade the jury to unanimously convict Masterson after failing to get even half of the jurors on the first trial to vote responsible on any depend.

— With information from World Information’ Sarah Do Couto 

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