Masterson's 30-Year Sentence Confirmed After Appeals Court Rejects All Claims

Danny Masterson will remain in prison for the next three decades. A California appeals court issued a unanimous ruling on Tuesday that keeps his 2023 rape convictions and 30-year-to-life sentence fully intact. The decision ends the current legal challenge to his incarceration.

The three-judge panel of the Second District Court of Appeal reviewed an 89-page decision. They found no errors in the trial court proceedings serious enough to warrant a new trial. Masterson, 50, lost every argument his legal team raised during the appeal process.

The original convictions stem from two counts of rape involving two women in 2003. Jurors reached those guilty verdicts at a retrial. The first trial in 2022 ended without a decision when the jury deadlocked. During the second trial, jurors also failed to agree on a third count involving a woman who alleged she was raped in 2001.

Masterson is a member of the Church of Scientology. His accusers were also members at the time of the alleged assaults. They testified that church officials discouraged them from reporting the crimes to police. They said they were told they had not been raped and were placed in ethics programs. They also warned against reporting a member of high standing to law enforcement.

Defense attorneys argued the trial judge violated Masterson's First Amendment rights. They claimed the judge showed hostility toward Scientology and lacked neutrality. The appeals panel rejected these claims. The ruling states that the judge's comments showed no animus or departure from neutrality regarding the church. The court noted that jurors were not asked to judge the truth of Scientology doctrines.

The panel also dismissed arguments concerning the statute of limitations and evidentiary rulings. They denied a separate habeas corpus petition that claimed Masterson did not receive adequate defense. Representatives for Masterson had not responded to contact by publication time.

Appellate attorneys Cliff Gardner and Eric Multhaup issued a statement to Variety. They said they plan to appeal the case to the California Supreme Court. They also intend to pursue a separate petition.