‘THAT ’70S’ GUY DENIES RAPES
Masterson pleads not guilty to drugged assaults
Actor Danny Masterson, best known for his role on the hit sitcom “That ’70s Show,” has pleaded not guilty to raping three women in Los Angeles.
Masterson’s lawyer Tom Mesereau entered the plea on his client’s behalf Wednesday and asked to “put the case out as much as possible,” citing an alleged lack of discovery from prosecutors and the pandemic.
Mesereau fought media coverage of the court proceeding, arguing it might taint the jury pool for a possible trial, after he previously claimed the charges were “politically motivated.”
The judge assigned the case to a new courtroom and asked both sides to work out the next date with the trial judge, Charlaine Olmedo.
Masterson, 44, is accused of raping three women in separate incidents at his Hollywood Hills home.
According to prosecutors, Masterson sexually assaulted the first victim, an unidentified 23-year-old woman, between January and December 2001.
He then allegedly raped a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and a 23-year-old woman between October and December of the same year, prosecutors said.
If convicted as charged, he faces up to 45 years to life in state prison.
Masterson previously tried to get the case tossed by arguing the alleged incidents were too old to prosecute, but the court rejected his claims.
The criminal case followed after four women sued him in 2019, saying he sexually assaulted them and then conspired with the Church of Scientology to cover up the abuse and “systematically stalk” and harass them.
Two of the women have revealed their names, while the other two remained Jane Does.
Plaintiffs Chrissie Carnell Bixler and Marie Bobette Riales allege Masterson drugged and raped them while they were unconscious.
Bixler, who dated and lived with Masterson between 1996 and 2002, said the actor also violently dragged her naked body across a bedroom when she once refused to have sex with him.
A judge ruled last month that Bixler and the two Jane Does signed arbitration agreements with the Church of Scientology when they were members, so the court was obligated to divert the case to church-selected arbitrators.
Masterson previously called the rape claims “outrageous” and said he was “very disappointed” when he was written off the Netflix show “The Ranch” in the wake of the women’s allegations.