Despite all attempts by defense attorneys – and the judge – to ensure that Scientology would not be on trial in the criminal rape case against former “That 70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, the Church loomed large in both opening statements and early witness’ testimony Tuesday.
Masterson’s attorneys argued in pretrial motions to keep his religion out of the trial, and the judge agreed that the Church should only be brought up when talking about why the alleged victims – also Scientologists – took years to report the assaults. But once the trial got rolling, that all went out the window.
Several of Masterson’s family members sat in the public gallery, including wife Bijou Phillips, his mother Carol, and his sister Alanna and brothers Chris and Jordan. Dressed in a blue jacket, white shirt, navy tie and grey pants, an unmasked Masterson clenched and unclenched his fists as several members of the public filed in.
In his opening statement for the prosecution, Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller laid out each of the three alleged victims’ testimony the jury would hear – known for trial purposes as Jen B. N. Trout and C.B – stating: “The people are confident that after you hear the evidence, each of you will be able to find guilty verdicts in this case for forcible rape.”
Defense attorney Phillip Cohen stated that all three alleged victims were told directly by an LAPD detective not to speak to one other or anyone else about the case – but they did, and contaminated the case. He added that there is “no medical evidence, no rape kit, no forensic evidence, no photos or video, no voicemail,” to corroborate the alleged victims’ testimony.
Taking the stand Tuesday after the jury was seated, Jen B. said she was “born into Scientology. My parent were Scientologists.”
Mueller also had the witness establish that all her close circle of friends were Scientologists, and that she had attended the Delphi School (a Scientology school). Mueller then asked whether she was aware of certain Scientology policies.
“Did they have an impact in terms of relationships with other people?”
Jen B. responded: “It was frowned upon to fraternize with the enemy,” explaining it meant “not one of us, someone had not been enlightened and engaged in Scientology.”
She then went on to use the term WOG, which in Scientology, refers to a Worthy Oriental Gentleman – a derogatory term for someone who is not a Scientologist.
“You can be reported for relationships with WOGS unless you were bringing them into the Scientology fold,” she said.
Cohen – who for days has fought to limit the presence of Scientology throughout the trial – strongly objected and Olmeda called the afternoon break.
After the jury had been dismissed, she admonished both sides saying she would not allow the trial to be inundated with Scientology and threatened to remove the jury every time they did not abide by her rulings.
Mueller then asked Jen B. about the specifics of an incident in September 2002 where Jen B. alleges she was raped by Masterson while intoxicated.
That incident was never reported to police, and Masterson was not charged for it; however, the charge stems from an alleged subsequent rape nine months later, also at the actor’s home.
In the 2002 incident, Jen B. testified that she that she had planned to spend the night with her best friend after a night out, but the friend was unable to attend. The friend told her she should stay in Masterson’s guest room that night. She testified that Masterson gave her two drinks, the two kissed, and fell asleep.
She said they were on the bed when he suddenly flipped her on her back; her feet were on the floor and Masterson was standing over, her penetrating her anus. When asked by Mueller if she could see or tell what was happening, Jen B. broke down crying and said she couldn’t, but “I pulled on the sheet to pull away … I pulled myself across the bed with one hand and reached back with the other to swat him away.”
She testified she screamed “No!”
Asked about how she felt about the initial kissing, Jen B. said: “Like, it was stupid. It almost felt incestuous. We’re such a tight knit group … He was more like a brother. Sometimes a mean brother. It kind of varied if he was drinking.”
Mueller walked the witness through what happened the following morning. She recalled waking up in his bed, but he wasn’t there or in the house. She called a friend to pick her up and did not have any contact with him later that day.
Once the session concluded and the jury was dismissed, Cohen raised objections to Jen B’s testimony regarding WOG and the “enemy.”
“The jury has now been told Masterson significantly looks down upon those not of the same religion,” he argued.
Olmeda denied the defense’s request for a mistrial and reiterated that she would allow information that shows defendants’ beliefs are rooted in Scientology, because “anyone’s beliefs are going to be rooted in something.”
She told Cohen, “I appreciate your concern. I’m not sure how surprised you were when the last slide you had [in opening statements] was filled with Scientology terms and talking about the elephant in the room. She then added, “The court is disappointed because you have both pushed the boundaries.”
Mueller apologized and said Jen B’s statements were spontaneous. He reiterated his goal in relation to his opening statement, when he told the jury, “This case will also be about certain policies that each of these alleged victims understood that they needed to follow, so you’re going to be hearing some testimony about that. Based on the understanding of these particular polices, they acted in certain ways, [and] made certain choices based on their understanding of the policies.”
Testimony resumes Wednesday morning.
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