Early morning session, Day 8 (Day 4 of testimony), Danny Masterson retrial
Alanna Masterson, Danny's younger half-sister, has made her first appearance at the retrial, joining the family section with a friend.
Danny Masterson is wearing a dark grey suit.
SARTORIAL SPLENDOR ALERT: It's another dark day here at the retrial, with defense attorney Philip Cohen once again choosing to eschew his usual peacocking with a dull dark grey suit, with a light pink shirt and darker pink tie. What gives? Did Shawn Holley veto the fashion show or something?
Jordan Masterson has joined his sister in the family section, along with Bijou Phillips and Carol Masterson and Will Masterson. Once again we'll point out that Jordan and Alanna sitting in the courtroom is maybe the best public display of how Scientology rips families apart. They cut their father Joe Reaiche so completely out of their lives when he left Scientology in 2005 that they even took their mother's last name rather than his.
Oh, and Scientology's longtime attorney, Vicki Podberesky, has joined the party. She's sitting in the public spectator section. We hear her tell another reporter that she "was just in the building" and thought she'd stop by.
Jury coming in. Jane Doe 3 goes to the witness stand.
Continuing with the cross-examination of Jane Doe 3.
Holley: When we ended yesterday, I was going to do the math. You corrected me when you said your relationship started in 1996, not 1995.
Jane Doe 3: I believe so.
So you were 18 and he was 21 when that started.
Yes, ma'am.
You said in the interview with Det Reyes that Danny wanted sex all the time.
Yes, ma'am.
You said more than once a day.
Yes, ma'am.
And sometimes you didn't want to have sex at all.
Yes, ma'am.
You weren't sure if the Jan 2017 interview was three hours.
Yes, ma'am.
We're going to play a portion of it, not the whole thing.
(Judge says that the jury has been given transcripts of the video merely to help them understand it.)
(Showing the video. JD3 is talking about how Danny only hit her once. A few years after that another incident. Tell me about that, what led up to it, Det Reyes said. He was on top of me and I pulled his hair to get him off me and he hit me. So he was on top of you, were you on your back? I was on my back I guess. I would always try to sneak into bed and fall asleep... In that time he got on top of me to wake me up and I said no. When you say he was getting aggressive. His whole body was on top of me, naked... He was trying to have sex, was he erect? Um-hmm. And he was trying to get inside of you.. Um-hmm. What did he say. He called me names... And you pulled his hair and he hit you. Was it a punch or a slap? I don't think he punched me. Just a slap? Was it on your head or cheek... Tell me about this other time he got violent. The first time stands out to me because it was the first time. It was the first time he got really physical. It was the first time he hit me. And that was shortly before the incident.... So either I would ignore him... I would have to go to him on my hands and knees and say I'm sorry. How many times there were times when you said no and he got aggressive with you? All the time. But I would eventually let him.... He would spit on me or call me degrading names... It was a cycle like that? Yes. Basically he would force himself on you,.. and you would let him.)
Do you remember that interview?
Yes, ma'am.
Would you agree that there are lots of opportunities for you to speak as they're asking you questions?
Can you repeat that?
Sure. (Repeats it.)
I didn't know I could do that.
In that exchange you would agree the way you described the Nov incident was very different than what you said here in the courtroom, right?
What she was asking was very, very strange,
When you talk about this incident, you talk about it as the incident when he hit you?
Yes, ma'am.
When she would ask you about other times, she was talking about other than the Dec 1 unc sodomy event. You were there primarily to talk about, you said "other times."
She asked me about other times.
In that clip, you never said anything about having your arms pinned?
I didn't.
You didn't talk about being raped for 30 minutes.
I didn't.
In fact you didn't talk about being raped at all.
She asked me about other times, I assumed she meant other times he forced himself on me without my consent.
In that regard, you respond to those questions by saying that he was trying to. And that's when you pulled his hair.
I think so.
You would say you certainly didn't say he was having sex with you when you pulled his hair.
I'm not a very good speaker, and this was the first time I was saying these things.
Was it comforting to you that the two were women?
It wasn't comforting in any way.
When you first sat down, you talked about being moms
I remember that.
And I think you spoke about being raised as a Southern Baptist in a small town.
I think so, yes.
Do you remember that Det Reyes had a similar background.
Yes, ma'am.
So it's proper to say that before you got into this difficult conversation, you talked about these things.
Um, no.
They ask if you were naked. And your answer was I would always sleep naked.
Yes, ma'am.
And the first time you said Mr. Masterson made yo sleep naked was here in this proceeding. You don't remember saying that in the past two times you testified.
Correct.
You talk about a cycle where Danny would want to have sex, right?
Yes, ma'am.
And sometimes you would not want to, and when you said no he would call you names, spit on you, ignore you, and those are the things you said was punishing you.
I don't know if I, well yeah. Today I can see that, he was punishing me.
One of the things you say on the tape, to avoid that you would go along with it.
That's true.
You would just let him.
That's true.
As you said there, you didn't consider it rape because you would let him. Those were your words?
Were those my exact words?
Well, I think you testified to that pretty consistently, to avoid those things you would just let him.
Yes, sure.
And comparing how you described Nov incident there with how you described it here. you don't say anything about feeling trapped?
I didn't, no.
Nothing about yelling, screaming.
Correct.
And certainly nothing about going on for 30 minutes.
I didn't.
Is it correct that Det Reyes didn't give you an opportunity to say what you needed to?
I believe a lot of the times she would sort of answer, she would aske the questions and answer for me and I would agree. I thought she understood.
Would you agree there are a number of occasions when she says, tell me about that...
Yeah, I believe she was just asking me if there were any other times when I thought she was asking about times before.
About the Paris incident, that was in 1997, was Danny with you on the trip?
Yeah, he flew out for the first week.
And you were staying together there?
Yes
And then after staying a week he came back to LA?
Yes.
And did his brother come to visit?
A few people came. His brother. Eric Balfour. A guy named Chris Weber.
You were testifying in the post-Paris incident, you said there was an argument before he pulled you by the hair.
When he dragged me, yes.
During that verbal fight did you lie to him about sleeping with someone else.
That happened after he dragged me. I just wanted to say something shocking or mean. It was a survival instinct, I think. And a response to what we were fighting about with Brie Shaffer.
There's something else you said for first time. You said that Danny said something about someone dating...
Brie. She dated his brother briefly.
Is there a reason why you said that for the first time.
(Says she was just answering a question.)
And that was the first time?
Yes.
The Esposito incident. When you were talking about that, you said it was disgusting and despicable when he yelled show them your tits.
I don't know if I said disgusting and despicable -- it was -- but degrading, and I thought he was disrespecting her.
My question was more about the manner in which you testified about it. It seems like it was difficult for you to say the words. Was it because it was a courtroom?
it's difficult for me to discuss any of this. For just, and everything that happened, I just buried it.
You have managed to testify about a lot of it, and I guess my question is, just the difficulty you have saying those words Is it because we're here, and you have a randy sense of humor on social media.
Oh, I'm brave.
And outspoken, and use colorful language and swear words, and I'm trying to understand, it seems like you use curse words on social media (Obj, sustained, not in evidence) Another thing that you said that when you got home from the Esposito incident was that he yanked your hair. Had you said that before?
I feel like I've said that. Maybe I didn't. This is my third time under oath. In October I shook for two days straight. I'm feeling a little more comfortable this time.
We were talking earlier about the last time you were intimate with Danny, in New York in 2003. When you talked to Det Vargas you didn't mention that you had sex after the incidents, did you?
No, I didn't, but I'm being completely honest. I don't like talking about that.
But you did tell them that he had a gun.
Yes, he had a gun.
In 2007, you sent Danny two emails, is that right?
I sent two emails.
I'm going to show you the first one, from Aug 24, 2007. The other one is from October 8, 2007. Is that one you sent as well?
Yes, ma'am.
The first one, August 24, 2007, you're asking for Danny's help with respect to a friend of yours.
Yes, an employee of his, too.
And one of the things you say, "I care about him. You are so good about helping people and getting them on the right path." You see that?
Yes, ma'am.
And the last line, "Thank you, and all my love and respect, [Jane Doe 3]."
I sign off like that to everybody.
Let's look at the next one. With court's permission I'm just going to read it. (People look at it. Holley comes over and shows it to Bijou in the family section.)
JD3: OK, I have an issue with this.
Judge: One moment.
Holley: There's no objection, so I'm going to read it.
Judge: You can publish it and then ask her questions about it.
Holley: OK.
Holley puts it on the projector. It looks like a pretty lengthy email.
Holley: The subject line is "Important"
That's what it says.
You wrote that, right?
I don't think I wrote some of this. I don't understand. Some of this was not what I wrote. I would like an explanation.
Judge: Listen to the question, the DA will have the opportunity to come back.
Holley: You recognize this?
Some things have been added. How did that happen.
So you wrote some of it.
I wrote some things, and I was forwarding things. I ran into Brie and she said I ahd to send it to him and to Celebrity entre. And she gave me his email. I was with Jimmy DeBello and one of my girlfriends when I ran into her.
It's the same email address to Danny as from the August email, right?
Yes.
Like the August email it ends "all my love and respect."
Yes, ma'am.
The email is talking about Bijou, Danny's wife.
Mm-hmm
Can you say which of this you did write, if you recall?
There's some things I didn't write. I don't call him "Dan." I don't call her "Beej." I don't use the word "honey." The whole thing about Sean Lennon, I didn’t write that. Can we do some forensics here? Because there are things I didn't write.
Are there things you can say you did write?
I would have told him that I also sent it to Alicia at CC because that's what his assistant had instructed me to do. I remember just writing a quick thing, I remember saying that Brie, I had these emails between his wife and this other man and I didn't know what to do with it. And something's wrong with this, I'm telling you right now.
And I want to give you the opportunity to point out the parts you didn't write.
This has been altered.
Did Danny respond to either of those emails?
No, but I spoke to Bijou about, a couple of months after, and I saw her and I thought oh shoot, because I don't want to be disrespectful to her.
Because she's here?
Well, I don't want to be disrespectful because I don't know her situation'
And you know she's here?
Yes. And she said ‘can I get in comm with you,’ which is a Scientology thing and kind of scary...
Judge: We don't need to get into the content of the conversation.
Holley: The August 2007 email. When you sent that one it had been five years since you and Danny had broken up.
Yes.
You testified on direct about your conversation with your husband, Cedric, where you told him about the Dec 2001 incident.
Yes, ma'am.
And you made it clear that was the only incident you discussed initially.
Initially, yes.
And he was the first you told since Chris and Miranda ten years earlier.
Yes.
And he was the first to call it a rape, which changed your mind about this
No, ma'am.
Well when he told you it was rape, that was meaningful.
It was.
Even then, you told him that Danny saved your life by getting you into Scientology.
I did.
And you testified that later you only told Cedric generally about the November incident.
Can you say that again?
That when you talked about the November incident, it was the time he hit you.
That's how I referred to it.
When you and Cedric got together, you brought him into the Church of Scientology.
A little while later, yes, ma'am.
You and he would sometimes run into Danny at the church or church events.
During the prelim I said no, but then I was a photo that we were at an event together. Oh yeah, the president's office sat us right behind him.
And then after you broke up, you said you were friendly, and Cedric had a problem with that.
No, ma'am.
He didn't express to you any problem with how you and Danny interacted?
Not that I can say under oath what he said. Trying to be very honest.
You testified previously that the reason you brought Cedric to the church was to help him smoke less marijuana.
He's an evil pot-smoker. And in my mind that was the out-ethics that I was being reasonable that my husband would smoke marijuana. And in Scientology you don't smoke marijuana, and I thought that was why I pulled in, losing my baby, and I thought that's why.
Judge: Taking morning recess.
Jury out. Holley and Jane Doe 3 are speaking in a friendly matter.
Jane Doe 3 leaves.
Judge is discussing the publishing of the email. With regard to authentication, the witness acknowledges that it comes from her email but not recognizing it all. The jury is free to determine that it is inauthentic, and they are free to believe the witness that it is altered.
While the court said it would not allow evidence of harassment, the Court will be willing to allow the People to go into hacking of emails and whether she is credible about her email being altered.
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Hey scientology: if you’re going to hack someone’s email, at least use their speech patterns when sending fake emails. Sigh, there are so many levels to this case, I’d hate to be a juror, tbh, if I hadn’t lived scientology, it would be hard to believe things she described really happened.
Altered e-mail, well I never! (Gets smelling salts...)
What I'm wondering, is whether we're going to end up with the magic disappearing LAPD files?