Scientology was front and center on Tuesday as the rape trial against “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson began.
Masterson is a Scientologist and each of his alleged victims was a Scientologist at the time of the alleged rapes, which span from 2001 to 2003.
The first witness to take the stand — who prefers to be known as Jane Doe #1 — testified that the church warns members against “fraternizing with the enemy,” and refers to non-Scientologists as “wogs.”
That testimony drew an angry rebuke from Judge Charlaine Olmedo during a break, who blistered the prosecutor for straying from her pre-trial rulings on the issue.
“I understand these witnesses’ lives may have been completely inundated with Scientology,” Olmedo said, visibly angered. “This trial is not going to be inundated with Scientology.”
Philip Cohen, Masterson’s lead defense lawyer, asked for a mistrial, arguing that the testimony was likely to unfairly prejudice the case. Olmedo denied that request, but expressed disappointment with both sides for pushing the boundaries during their opening statements.
Reinhold Mueller, the lead prosecutor, made several references in his opening statement to church terminology and practices in explaining why two of the accusers delayed reporting to the police.
“They can declare you a suppressive person,” Mueller said. “You are essentially an enemy of the church. Your friends, your parents — if you have children who are part of the church — they all have to detach from you. Essentially you lose everything.”
Jane Doe #1 was called to the stand on Tuesday afternoon, and quickly began to delve deeply into Scientology beliefs and practices.
“The goal of Scientology is to clear the planet,” she said at one point.
The role of the church has been hotly contested in pre-trial proceedings. Cohen had sought to bar any mention of the church from the case, while the prosecution sought to introduce an ex-Scientologist, Claire Headley, to explain church concepts to the jury.
Olmedo has tried to strike a balance, denying the prosecution’s request for expert testimony, but allowing the alleged victims to give their understanding of church doctrines. That has created a dilemma for the defense, which has argued previously that the church in fact does not forbid its members from going to the police. Cohen has said that he could challenge the accusers’ interpretation of church doctrine, but that would only take the case further into Scientology, which he would like to avoid.
Jane Doe #1 testified on Tuesday about her initial sexual encounter with Masterson — which is not the subject of the charges. She is expected to relate the subsequent encounter — in which she alleges that Masterson forcibly raped her — when her testimony continues on Wednesday.
In the first encounter, which took place in September 2002, she testified that she was out drinking with Masterson and went back to his house with him. She said that they began kissing on his bed, and that led to sexual intercourse. She said she considered Masterson to be like a “mean brother” and that it felt “almost incestuous” to have a sexual encounter with him.
At one point, she said that she found herself on her stomach, and Masterson anally penetrated her. She began to cry as she discussed it on the witness stand.
“I didn’t realize that that’s what he was doing as the moment happened,” she said. “I reacted to the pain and (was) pulling away from pain.”
Masterson sat at the defense table in a light blue suit, and did not visibly react to any of her testimony. He had a group of family supporters seated in the audience.
In his opening statement, Cohen showed the jury a word cloud in the shape of an elephant, which included the word “Scientology” among other terms. He urged the jury not to get distracted by the church, and to focus instead on the allegations. He also suggested that he would not make an issue of the accusers’ delay in going to the police.
“It’s not about delayed reporting,” Cohen said. “You can report whenever you want. It’s about what they say when they do report.”
He argued that the accusers’ narratives have shifted over time, and urged the jury to take note of those discrepancies.
Cohen objected when Mueller referenced a Scientology ethics book to support the idea that the church discourages members from going to the police. After a lengthy sidebar, Mueller was asked to rephrase — at which point he emphasized that he was giving the victim’s understanding of church rules.
Mueller also argued that two of the victims were advised by their Scientology “ethics officer” not to refer to the alleged incidents as “rape.” One of them has said she was told that it was impossible to rape a “2D” — a church term for a spouse, girlfriend or significant other — and that she must have done something to “pull in” the incident.
“‘Pulling in’ means you have done something, either in this life or another life, to cause this to happen to you,” Mueller said.
He said the woman was also advised that she was “out-exchange” with Masterson — meaning that she was in a transactional relationship where he provided her shelter and she provided sex, but that she had failed to live up to her end of the bargain.
In his opening statement, Cohen argued that the three accusers had contaminated their stories by talking with each other and with the media while the investigation was ongoing. He said that the three victims in the case were each advised by LAPD detectives not to talk to each other and not to talk to other witnesses in the case.
“You’re going to hear that after being ordered, instructed, admonished by LAPD, these women all speak to each other, and to other witnesses,” Cohen said.
The defense has previously argued that the women formed a “sisterhood” to take down Masterson and the church.
Cohen also highlighted discrepancies in Jane Doe #1’s accounts between her initial statement to the LAPD, statements in a draft civil complaint and her more recent statements. Chief among them, Cohen said, is that the woman now claims that Masterson produced a gun during the alleged rape. That detail does not appear in the initial police report or the draft complaint.
Cohen also noted that she had ultimately been paid money as part of a civil settlement in 2004. He said that Masterson was making “oodles of money” as a star on “That ’70s Show,” and that she signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of the settlement.
“He’s about to renew a big contract with ‘That ’70s Show,'” Cohen said. “[She] wants the money, and that’s how this NDA comes about.”
