Danny Masterson Jury Has Been Told To Start Deliberations All Over Again After Two Jurors Dismissed
NEW: On Monday, the jury at the rape trial of actor Danny Masterson was told to start deliberations all over again, after two jurors were dismissed after testing positive for COVID-19.https://t.co/HOMBzsZaus
- Anna Betts (@annabettss) November 28, 2022
The Danny Masterson rape trial jury has been told to start deliberations all over again after two jurors were dismissed after testing positive for COVID. The decision came after the jurors had just returned from a week off after they announced on the 18th that they were deadlocked after three days of deliberations and Judge Charlaine Olmedo refused to declare a mistrial.
Judge Olmedo has replaced the jurors with two alternates, with one alternate remaining. The jury, which was previously seven women and five men, is now six men and six women. Judge Olmedo told the court on Monday morning that the new panel must start the deliberations "as if the earlier deliberations had not taken place."
Masterson is facing three counts of rape by force or fear for allegedly sexually assaulting three women at his Hollywood Hills home from 2001 to 2003. The women claimed to be drugged and/or intimidated into sex, but Masterson claimed all sex was consensual. The jury had to listen to graphic testimony about the violent rapes and abusive relationships he allegedly had with the three women. Masterson had chosen not to testify in his defense during the trial and his attorneys did not call any witnesses to the stand. Masterson faces up to 45 years to life in prison if convicted of all three counts.
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