Danny Masterson was found guilty in his retrial back in May and officially sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for multiple counts of rape earlier this week, but according to his lawyer, there are a lot of reasons to believe the conviction will eventually be thrown out. Shawn Holley, who represents the popular actor, says a team of “top appellate lawyers” has been looking into the case and found “significant” issues.
The litigator spoke about Masterson and her confidence about getting the conviction thrown out during an impromptu media scrum yesterday. She said she has great respect for the jury in the case but various “errors” in the case led to them rendering a verdict that won’t hold up. She also reiterated that her client, Danny Masterson, is innocent and did not commit the charges against him. You can read her full statement below, which was captured by Court TV…
Obviously we are very disappointed in the sentence the judge handed down today; however, for the past several months, a team of the top appellate lawyers in the country has been reviewing the transcripts of the trial. They have identified a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues, which they will address in briefs to both the state and federal courts. The errors which occurred in this case are substantial and unfortunately, led to verdicts which are not supported by the evidence. And though we have great respect for the jury and for our system of justice, sometimes they get it wrong, and that’s what happened here. Mr. Masterson did not commit the crimes for which he has been convicted, and we, and the appellate lawyers, who are the best and the brightest in the country, are confident that these convictions will be overturned.
The case against Danny Masterson was a complicated two decade ordeal. All of the alleged rapes and sexual assaults occurred between 2001 and 2003 and involved claims from at least four different women. Three came forward in early 2017, which triggered a three year investigation from the LAPD and allegations from at least one other woman. Netflix subsequently fired the actor from his show The Ranch. There was also a lawsuit filed by the accusers against Masterson and The Church Of Scientology for allegedly harassing and stalking them. There was even allegations family pets were poisoned.
Eventually prosecutors decided to move forward and formally charged Masterson with three counts of rape. The first trial resulted in a hung jury. The case was retried and Masterson was found guilty in the second trial on two of the three counts. Both trials attracted a ton of media attention, both because of Masterson’s popularity as an actor and because of The Church Of Scientology’s involvement. Masterson is a longtime member of the Church, and there have been accusations that officials played a prominent role in the proceedings.
At this point, it’s unclear what “errors” Holley and the unnamed appellate lawyers have discovered or if they’re really as significant as they’re claiming. Given how long the whole process took and how many accusers and investigators were involved, there’s certainly no shortage of possibilities. Expect to hear a whole lot more in the coming months, as appeals are filed and briefs delivered.