Danny Masterson Loses Appeal of Rape Convictions

Danny Masterson has lost his bid to overturn his 2023 rape convictions, leaving the former That ’70s Show actor’s 30-year-to-life prison sentence in place. A three-judge panel of California’s Second District Court of Appeal rejected his arguments in an 89-page decision issued Tuesday.

The appellate court upheld the trial

Masterson was convicted in a 2023 retrial of raping two women. An earlier trial in 2022 ended with a hung jury on three counts; the second jury convicted him on two and did not reach a verdict on the third. He was sentenced in September 2023 and has remained in custody.

His appeal challenged several parts of the proceedings, including the admission of evidence concerning Scientology and claims that the trial judge unfairly limited the defense. The appellate panel concluded that the evidence had relevant purposes and did not require jurors to decide whether the religion’s beliefs were true or false.

The judges also rejected arguments that the trial court had prevented Masterson from presenting the defense he wanted. The decision therefore affirmed both the convictions and the sentence rather than ordering a new trial.

His attorneys plan another challenge

Masterson’s attorneys, Cliff Gardner and Eric Multhaup, said they intend to ask the California Supreme Court to review the case. Such a request is not a new trial, and the state’s highest court will decide whether to take up the issues raised by the defense.

The case has drawn sustained attention because the women were Scientologists at the time of the assaults and testified about the pressures they said affected whether they reported the incidents. The appellate ruling found that admitting evidence connected to that context did not violate constitutional protections.

Tuesday’s decision closes the actor’s first direct appeal without changing his custody status or sentence. The next legal development will depend on whether the California Supreme Court agrees to consider the case; unless it does, the appellate judgment stands.