Can the Danny Masterson jury figure things out today?
After a week off, the jury in the Danny Masterson trial will resume deliberations this morning, and we’ll be in court to bring you the results.
After two and a half days of deliberations, on November 18 the jury informed Judge Charlaine Olmedo that it was unable to find unanimous verdicts on all three counts of forcible rape that Masterson is facing. But Judge Olmedo said that the jury had not deliberated long enough to be declared deadlocked. Over objections by defense attorney Philip Cohen, she sent the jury home for the weeklong Thanksgiving break with plans to resume this morning.
On Tuesday, Law & Crime’s Meghann Cuniff published a very interesting piece about the legal history behind Judge Olmedo’s decision to encourage the jury to continue deliberating rather than to declare a mistrial. Known as the “Allen charge,” the law Judge Olmedo cited is commonly used in California but not in other states, Cuniff explained.
But will telling the jury to keep going result in verdicts? Experts we’ve consulted are telling us they think a deadlock and mistrial may be more likely at this point. And then it will be up the DA’s office whether to refile and have another trial, something that Cuniff characterized as “common” in her piece.
Well, either way, we’ll be in the courtroom this morning ready to bring you the news. Watch your inbox!
Back in LA, thanks to you!
After a week in New York, we winged our way back to LA yesterday, thanks to the generous members of the Underground Bunker. We put out a video yesterday about that to everyone, and we’re linking to it again in case you missed it. And here’s also the version at our YouTube channel.
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
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Ok jury, get your heads out of your alimentary canals and find the bastard guilty. Working on the frequent miles Tony? I am so happy that you can attend this trial. Your coverage of the testimony has been outstanding and the way you have connected the testimony to the SOP of the Clampire has been something that more news organizations need to pay attention to. Let's see if the tabloids can make room on their covers for a verdict.
Great articles during the break. They were very entertaining! looking forward to hearing how the deliberations go, and that the verdict is in the favor of those amazing women. Thanks Tony, for all you do!