Danny Masterson Trial: Jane Doe #4 Continues Testimony; Another Former Scientologist Testifies
At the #DannyMastersonTrial, a friend of Jane Doe 2 took the stand, who described talking to her about a Masterson attack in 2003. Judge Olmedo then suggested that this may have been the last testimony in the trial, and that closing arguments may come as soon as Tuesday.
- Tony Ortega (@TonyOrtega94) November 10, 2022
• On cross-examination, the defense shows Jane Doe #4, aka TV, the email she wrote to Danny Masterson’s brother Chris after seeing a "fucked up article" about Danny and "Just wanted to send you guys support." She wrote about how he stood up for her when her boyfriend cheated on her, and she signed it "xoxo."
That was pretty much all the defense had. The day before, after the jury had been removed, the defense threw a tantrum over TV's testimony.
• On redirect, the prosecution inquired more about TV's email to Chris Masterson. TV confirmed she had sent the email after the assaults because of fear. "Danny has friends that I've been warned about...I felt like because of his circle of friends that I wanted to keep everything safe for me. Send a message signaling that I wasn't a part of it. And I had tried even through those incidents, to keep everything friendly because of my fears.
And also because I didn't want to blow up my world. We have people in common. We had at the time, I just wanted to be able to work, not have trouble made for myself. And I think that was a pretty major motivator to keep everything friendly. Not draw any attention, not bring anything on me."
• On recross, TV confims she is not a part of any lawsuit. She also confirms she didn't tell anyone about her assaults until 2019.
The defense questions how TV had such a physical revulsion to seeing Masterson after the assaults, yet invited him into her apartment and accepted rides from him. TV says she shut down.
• Detective Vargas is back. They play a 2017 recording of his interview with CB. She says Masterson would slap her when she fought back against having sex with him, until she would just give in.
The defense chose to focus on it being only one slap(?). They ask Vargas whether TV in 2019 talked about bruises or Masterson barking orders (trying to imply the Jane Does matched their stories). Vargas can't recall.
• Judge Olmedo steps in when TV brings up Masterson’s stage name as a DJ: DJ Donkey Punch. The judge had that statement immediately stricken from the record and told the jurors to ignore that testimony. The judge did not elaborate on why she would not allow the name to be referenced, though it may have been something attorneys negotiated with her before the trial began (A "donkey punch" is slang for a violent, degrading sexual act).
• Next up is Rachel Smith, a friend of CB. She tells the prosecution that she really doesn't want to testify and she's "sad. We were all friends and I don't know how things got here. And it's very surreal."
Smith says she met CB around 2002. She had known Masterson since the 1990s when they were teens, they ran in the same friends circle, although not in the same group (they saw each other at parties, for example).
• CB moved next door to Smith in 2003 and they had a conversation about Masterson. "She was quite confused. And she just told me that they she went over to his place and he was very demanding about that. And it was kind of intriguing. She thought it might be fun. And she said she begged him not to have sex, and the next thing she knew it was really rough, like a jackhammer."
She continued, "She was dazed. I think she was a little out of it. I think she was trying to process what happened."
• Smith said CB's behavior became more erratic and needy, with CB one time showing up at Smith's place at 4am crying. The change in behavior resulted in Smith distancing herself from CB.
Smith reconnected with CB in 2017 when the rape accusations went public. CB asked her to speak with the district attorney’s office, which she did.
• Smith confirms while she currently isn't a Scientologist, she was raised in it. She said she is fearful of testifying because of Scientology.
• On cross-examination, the defense asks her if CB was okay with Masterson fingering her, if she wanted romance with Masterson, if she was happy to see him. Smith says no or she doesn't remember. She confirms she told Detective Vargas that her takeaway was not that Masterson had raped her. She tried to clarify but the defense won't let her.
On cross, the prosecution asked Smith to elaborate on her 2017 belief that CB wasn't raped. "Based on my upbringing, things like that didn't happen. Danny was an old friend and an opinion leader, he was a catch...And I just normalized it. I just thought they had had a sort of fling, and he had just used her. I thought that was douchey. But my belief system was anything negative happens to you, you created it. I didn't put it together. It just went right over my head." She also said her views were different now.
Court resumes Monday, and the prosecution is expected to rest their case.
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