Danny Masterson's attorneys ask for concurrent sentences to lessen his time

We announced last month the reasons that we would not be in court today for Danny Masterson’s sentencing. It’s a great disappointment for us not to be there, after the days we spent in both trials bringing you as much as we could during every moment of this court drama.

As we said, we were scheduled for a hospital procedure. It went really well, the doc tells us we got all the cancer, and the recovery is going along right on schedule. However, we are still not ready to fly across the country, and so we won’t be in court this morning.

Thankfully, we still have our sources at the courthouse, and they tell us that Masterson’s legal team submitted two motions for this sentencing, not just one, and that in the first motion, they are asking that any sentences handed down by Judge Charlaine Olmedo be served concurrently rather than consecutively.

On May 31, after a second trial, Danny Masterson was convicted of two counts of forcible rape, which each bring a penalty of 15 years to life, and a combined sentence of 30 years to life in prison. But Danny’s attorneys are asking that if he receives such a sentence, both counts could be served at the same time so that he faces only 15 to life.

In the second motion, the defense is asking once again for the charges to be thrown out entirely based on the statute of limitations. Judge Olmedo has fended this off numerous times, and we don’t suspect that it will work today.

The jury could not reach a verdict on the third count, but Judge Olmedo ruled that all three victims — Jane Does 1, 2, and 3 — will get a chance to make statements in court before she passes her sentence.

So it should be a dramatic day, and like you, we are wondering what it’s going to be like in there. Judge Olmedo once again ruled out cameras, but the gallery should be packed with observers and journalists. And the family section, will it have another full showing from the Masterson clan? We suspect it will.

They will no doubt have told Danny to ignore whatever sentence Judge Olmedo throws at him, and to focus on appealing the verdict based on Olmedo’s rulings. You can see it coming a mile away: Olmedo allowed in too much of Scientology and violated Masterson’s religious rights. Olmedo allowed in too many references to drugging, which he was never charged with. And so on.

We remember thinking that Judge Olmedo’s rulings on such matters were especially detailed and heavily researched, and this is the reason why: She knew that the post-conviction appeals would focus not so much on the Jane Doe victims, but on her.

We think it was a huge shock to Danny and his family that he was convicted. But they will likely be less shocked at a long sentence. They are expecting it, and they probably believe they have a good legal strategy to fight it at the appellate level.

How that actually plays out in court, we’ll be looking forward to hear from our numerous correspondents.

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