Court records show that Danny Masterson’s lawyers have contacted jurors in the actor’s rape trial, despite a judge’s order to limit public disclosure of information about his identity, and have tried to communicate with them and Masterson’s victims. This caused alarm among the people.
In an order released in September, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo said that as part of Mr. Masterson’s appeal, he had repeatedly contacted the jurors at their homes and businesses to interview them. He said he was “confused” by the actions of his lawyers. His 2023 conviction.
Masterson, a former star of the sitcom “That ’70s Show,” is serving a 30-year to life sentence in state prison for sexually assaulting three fellow members of the Church of Scientology in the early 2000s. .
Sean Hawley, one of the actor’s attorneys, said three jurors voluntarily agreed to meet. She said there had been no “harassment or inappropriate behavior” and that all three jurors voluntarily provided their cell phone numbers when contacted.
However, the judge said he had received complaints from jurors who “felt pressured by the defense team” and that “they were not informed at the outset that they had an absolute right not to discuss the case if they did not wish to do so.” ” he said.
“I was troubled by the fact that it came so close to my home,” Olmedo wrote.
Some jurors told Mr. Olmedo earlier this year that they were “concerned” and believed Mr. Masterson’s lawyers should not know where he lived or worked, according to court filings. sent an email.
Prosecutors last week asked Olmedo to hold a hearing to consider sanctions against Masterson’s lawyers. This is the second disciplinary hearing for members of his defense team in two years. The motion named Holley, her co-counsel Philip Cohen, and two other attorneys working for Masterson, Clifford Gardner and Eric Malthaup.
A woman identifying herself as a “member of Masterson’s habeas team” appeared on his lawn on September 15, according to a jury email attached to Olmedo’s verdict.
The foreman of the jury that convicted Masterson last year left Holley, one of Masterson’s lead defense attorneys, at work two months after the guilty verdict, according to emails filed in court. He said he called her.
Olmedo said several jurors had been the subject of “unwanted contact in their homes and workplaces by members of the defense team” and “asked how the defense team obtained their identities.” I wrote that I was asked to do so.
In his September order, Olmedo barred attorneys from having direct contact with jurors.
Holley said she did nothing wrong and was not directly involved in Masterson’s case. Gardner and Cohen also said they are no longer involved in the case and have not contacted any jurors.
Maltup acknowledged that one of the investigators approached the juror’s home on September 15 and “pretended to be in full compliance with the law.” [the California] Civil procedure law. He disputed the idea that jurors’ identities should be kept secret, saying Olmedo only conceals information contained in “documents completed by jurors in connection with their jury duties.” he claimed.
Under the state’s civil procedure law, defendants and their defense attorneys have the right to discuss the verdict with jurors, provided they agree to do so and the discussion takes place at a “reasonable time and place.” There is.
Moultup said investigators identified the jurors through routine investigation and only contacted them before the terms of Olmedo’s order took effect Sept. 17.
“In short, until Sept. 17, it was OK for defense representatives to contact jurors directly, subject to reasonable time and location requirements,” he said. “Daylight is very reasonable.”
Hawley said he has spoken to three jurors since the trial, including the presiding judge.
“I made it clear to all three jurors that I spoke to and ultimately met that they were under no obligation to speak to or meet with me, and all of them were happy to oblige. I met all three of them. [separately] At a time and place that was convenient for them, I sincerely respected their time and boundaries,” Hawley said in an email to the Times. “I am confident that not one of the three jurors I spoke to or met with reported that our interactions with Judge Olmedo were harassing or inappropriate.”
Holley said he was able to figure out where some of the jurors worked based on information provided in open court during jury selection, but that detail is not covered in Olmedo’s sealing order. There probably wasn’t.
Mr. Masterson’s case is characterized by repeated allegations of attorney misconduct and outside interference.
Last June, Mr. Olmedo sanctioned two of Mr. Masterson’s former attorneys, Thomas Mesereau and Sharon Applebaum, for inappropriately sharing court findings with the Church of Scientology. News of Mr. Masterson’s sharing of documents with the victim, including private conversations with police and the victim’s home address, caused panic among the women at the center of the case. Harassment in civil proceedings. The church denied all wrongdoing in the incident.
Earlier this year, the Times reported on allegations that the church tried to “derail” the case against Masterson by harassing law enforcement officials involved in his criminal trial. A break-in was reported at the home of the lead prosecutor’s deputy sheriff. Atty. Reinhold Moller also claimed he was harassed ahead of the trial and was on the verge of “running off the street,” according to a civil suit, police report and video reviewed by The Times.
According to a 2023 interview with former Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michelle Moore, the Los Angeles Police Department detective assigned to the case also claimed to have been followed and harassed by church officials. But Moore said at the time that an LAPD investigation could not substantiate those claims.
The church has said there is “absolutely no evidence” to support such claims and has previously accused law enforcement of bias against the religion. Neither Mr. Olmedo’s order nor the prosecutor’s motion for sanctions mention the church in connection with the case with the jury.
Attorney John Kucera, who represents Masterson’s victims, said the women were “very concerned to learn that Masterson’s attorneys attempted to make unwanted contact with jurors at his home.” Ta.
