Danny Masterson rape retrial: Deliberations drag on, to resume next week
Jury has deliberated for more than a week without reaching a verdict
Jurors have deliberated for more than a week without reaching a verdict in the rape retrial of ‘That ‘70s Show’ star Danny Masterson, and will have to return and resume talks after the long holiday weekend.
The Los Angeles County jury of seven women and five men went home on May 26 without reaching a verdict on any of the three counts of rape against the 47-year-old, who could get up to 45 years in prison if convicted of all three.
The jury got the case as closing arguments ended May 17. With planned time off, they have been talking for a total of 6 1/2 days and have had relatively few questions for the judge. Jurors have asked for the reading back of some testimony — including part of the cross-examination of Masterson’s former girlfriend, who is one of the three accusers. But the requests have shed little light on the state of deliberations.
Jurors will return to court on Wednesday morning after taking the weekend, Memorial Day and another planned day off.
In the actor’s first trial, long deliberations led to a mistrial in December, when jurors couldn’t come to consensus on any counts. A majority voted to acquit him on each. A retrial began in April.
Prosecutors allege that Masterson drugged and raped the three women, including a former longtime girlfriend, at his Hollywood-area home between 2001 and 2003, when he was at the height of his fame for the Fox TV sitcom ‘That ‘70s Show’.
Masterson has pleaded not guilty. The defence said Masterson had consensual sex with the women, and attempted to discredit their stories by pointing to inconsistencies.