Danny Masterson's attempt to throw out Jane Doe 1's case denied, trial remains set for Oct 11

[Judge Charlaine Olmedo and Danny Masterson]

Judge Charlaine Olmedo denied Danny Masterson’s attempt to dismiss Jane Doe 1’s count against him in his forcible rape case today at a hearing in Los Angeles.

Masterson’s attorney Philip Cohen once again tried to persuade the court that the delay between 2004, when the DA’s office first turned down Jane Doe 1’s case, and 2016, when the LAPD reopened it, prejudiced the matter against his client.

But Judge Olmedo found that the delay was related to additional evidence emerging. She also said that the objections Cohen raised could be included in the trial itself

“Cohen never really got close to anything really damning,” Jeffrey Augustine told us.

He said that there were many interesting issues from the case brought up, including a letter written by Jane Doe 1’s father, with Cohen saying that it contains differences from Jane Doe 1’s own testimony. And with the passing of time, the father can’t be called to testify, because he’s passed away.

But Augustine says it came off as a weak attempt. “Trying to get a case dismissed on a dead guy’s letter that contains a lot of hearsay? Cohen just wasn’t landing,” Augustine says. “Judge Olmedo at one point just asked him to stop, that he’d talked about it enough.”

The thrust of the defense’s lengthy presentation was that there was enough contrary evidence to end the case without a trial, but Augustine says it wasn’t persuasive.

He added that Cohen did seem more effective than Mesereau and Appelbaum, but “he just didn’t have a lot to work with right now.”

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