Danny Masterson's lawyers under fire for contacting jurors
Danny Masterson's legal team is under scrutiny after a new court filing alleges unwanted contact with jurors.
The "That 70s Show" actor was convicted on two counts of forcible rape in 2023. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the third count, involving the alleged rape of a longtime girlfriend. Now, jurors in that trial report Masterson's legal team has been trying to contact them at their homes and businesses — against their will.
In a Nov. 13 filing obtained and reviewed by Paste BN, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller said the contact was "neither wanted nor was it made at a reasonable time and place as required." Mueller asked for a hearing to consider barring any "harassing or otherwise improper conduct by members of the defense team."
This filing does not represent the first time the conduct of the team working on Masterson's appeal has been called into question.
On Sept. 17, the judge in Masterson's trial, Charlaine Olmedo, sent out a letter to both legal teams advising that multiple jurors had complained of "unwanted contact at their homes or work by members of the defense team," Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times report. The letter revealed that one juror had emailed the judge to report being contacted in mid-September while they were doing yard work and was confused about how they had been found as their names were supposed to be sealed.
"A review of the jurors' complaints received by this court indicate that some of the jurors may have felt pressured by the defense team," Olmedo wrote, according to Rolling Stone, "and were troubled that they were approached at their homes."
The filing from the Los Angeles DA's office echoed this concern, stating "These emails describe unwanted contact at their homes and work place by members of the defendant's legal team, including contact at a juror's workplace by defense attorney Shawn Holley."
On Nov. 14, Holley, a former defense lawyer for Masterson, submitted a declaration to the court that she had indeed contacted and met with a member of the jury in July of 2023. Holley denied wrongdoing, however, and called her lunch with the jury foreperson "friendly, cordial and forthright," the outlets report.
She spoke with two other jurors but reaffirmed in an email to the Los Angeles Times, that she had informed all three of them “they were under no obligation to speak with me or to meet with me."
Masterson, who is currently serving 30 years to life in a California prison, filed for an appeal of his case in September of 2023.
Actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, who co-starred with Masterson in "That 70s Show," came under fire last year when letters they wrote in defense of their disgraced former castmate became public. The married couple later apologized in a video posted to social media, saying the letters "were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury's ruling."
The actor shares one child with Bijou Phillips, who filed for divorce from Masterson shortly after his conviction.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Jay Stahl