Featured Image Credit: REUTERS/Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: US News, News, Celebrity, Film and TV, Crime
Joe Harker
Topics: US News, News, Celebrity, Film and TV, Crime
The jury in the case of That 70s Show actor Danny Masterson has informed the judge presiding over the rape trial that they cannot deliver a verdict.
It was announced last year that Masterson would stand trial after being accused of rape by three women.
One of the alleged rapes occurred in 2001, while the other two women claiming Masterson raped them said it happened in 2003.
All three women who have accused the actor of rape took to the witness stand during the trial, alleging that Masterson raped them while they were sleeping or intoxicated.
Advert
Masterson has denied the allegations and entered a plea of 'not guilty', leaving it up to a jury to make a decision on the charges arrayed against him.
However, according to Variety, the jury in the trial have informed the judge that they can't reach a unanimous decision on any of the cases against Masterson.
This is not the end of the trial as Judge Charlaine Olmedo said the jurors had not deliberated the case long enough to have it declared as a mistrial.
She ordered the jury to return to the court on 28 November and resume their review of the evidence presented at the trial after they had taken a week off for Thanksgiving.
Masterson's attorney Philip Cohen has argued that the jury has had enough time to consider the charges against his client and spoken to the judge asking whether there is anything they can do to overcome the lack of decision.
He also raised concerns that jurors might see something or speak about the case to their relatives during the break for Thanksgiving.
During the trial Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller argued that Masterson 'had a sense of entitlement' in part due to his 'high status within the Church of Scientology'.
In 2020, actor Leah Remini claimed that Masterson's trial would be 'just the beginning' for victims of Scientology.
Remini, a former member of the Church of Scientology, spoke to two of Masterson's accusers in her documentary Scientology and the Aftermath, which looked into wider allegations of sexual assault within the church.
Masterson's accusers were Scientologists at the time the allege the rapes were committed.
The Church of Scientology responded to say Remini had 'blood on her hands', denouncing the documentary as 'lies' and 'distortions'.
The prosecution has stated that they believe all three of the alleged rapes took place at Masterson's Hollywood Hills home.
The trial will resume on 28 November.