Danny Masterson civil lawsuit gets yet another new judge after challenge by Jane Doe 2

[Judge Upinder Kalra]

On February 9, we told you that the civil lawsuit filed by Danny Masterson’s accusers against the That ‘70s Show actor and the Church of Scientology had been assigned to a new judge after it had been restored by an appeals court.

At that time, the case was reassigned from Judge Steven Kleifield, whose ruling to derail the lawsuit in favor of Scientology “arbitration” had been overturned by the higher court, and was given to Judge Michael Small.

We noted that Judge Small had some background with the ACLU, but otherwise his court mostly seemed to handle family and probate matters.

The plaintiffs had a free chance to object to this assignment, and they took it. According to a minute order issued today, an objection by Jane Doe 2, one of Masterson’s accusers, resulted in Judge Small reassigning the case to Judge Upinder Kalra.

Here’s what Trellis Law says about him:

He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010. He is a registered Democrat. Kalra, who was born in India, immigrated to the U.S. with his parents when he was a child. He graduated with his B.A. in 1986 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with a degree in political science and speech communication. He returned to Los Angeles to pursue his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1989. After graduating from law school, Kalra joined the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office as a deputy public defender in 1990. After five years with the P.D.'s office, Kalra joined the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender's Office as a deputy public defender in 1995.

For now, the lawsuit, known as Bixler v. Scientology, is on hold while we await the criminal retrial of Masterson, which is scheduled to begin on April 11.

The civil lawsuit is not about the allegations of rape that concerns the trial, but instead about the harassment that Masterson’s alleged victims say they have been put through by the actor and Scientology since they came forward to the LAPD in 2016.

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