EXCLUSIVE: What the Danny Masterson jury didn’t hear — The Jane Doe 1 eyewitness

[Actor, singer, dancer, producer — and former Scientologist — Damian Perkins]

When the Danny Masterson trial began, both sides issued witness lists that we publicized on October 13. The list for the prosecution included 13 members of law enforcement, 22 civilians, and 1 expert.

Of those, the prosecution actually called 4 members of law enforcement, 9 civilians, and 1 expert during the trial.

Among the witnesses not called by the prosecution was a former Scientologist by the name of Damian Perkins.

We were very surprised that Perkins was not called, because he was a percipient witness — a rarity in this case — which refers to someone who actually saw or experienced something that was directly related to the allegations against Masterson.

We have obtained a detailed witness statement written by Perkins for the LAPD which explains why his testimony could have helped corroborate Jane Doe 1’s allegations of what happened in the early hours of April 25, 2003 at Masterson’s house. (Of the three named victims, Jane Doe 1’s count of forcible rape received only two votes for guilty and 10 for not guilty by the deadlocked jury.)

We thought you would want to see the witness statement by Perkins, and to consider what effect his testimony might have had on this jury. (We have lightly edited a few words in the statement for clarity and to protect Jane Doe 1’s identity.)

 
The following is my witness statement regarding an incident that occurred on the night of April 25th, 2003 to the best of my knowledge and recollection.

I had gone out earlier in the evening to a nightclub and ended up around 1:30 a.m. at my former friend Danny Masterson’s house for an after-party. As I recall Danny Masterson was DJing at his house as he had on other nights I had been there. We were having a good time as the night progressed. The party had many Scientologists in attendance. (As a side note, I have not been a Scientologist for the past six-plus years. And in fact have been the subject of several vicious and slanderous attacks by Scientologists in an attempt to silence me and ruin my life for speaking out against them.)

At some point my friend [Jane Doe 1] showed up and we said hi briefly to each other. [Jane Doe 1] and I were very close friends. The beginning of what happened was at the pool: Danny yelled at [Jane Doe 1] and everyone “[Jane Doe 1’s] going in the pool!” He then pushed her into his jacuzzi. [Jane Doe 1] had only had one drink and although I did not see Danny make it, she clearly remembers that he made her a drink in a red cup and she drank part of it before he shoved her into the jacuzzi. This happened in the backyard.

She got out of the pool and I went over as well to make sure she was cool. There were about 10 to 15 people out back, if I recall correctly. She was a little quiet and irritated. I was irritated toward Danny that he had done that to her. I asked to get a towel but rather quickly Danny had brought her one and wrapped it around her (Luke Watson and Danny sort of got in between her and me physically to take over). Danny said he was going to take her upstairs and help her dry off, and myself and a couple others were like “whoa.” We were just teasing him as never in a million years would we have thought that he would do anything to her. Danny said “No! it’s not like that, I would never do anything, she’s my homie.”

Danny picked her up and began to bring her upstairs. I remember she was resisting but she just seemed a bit drunk and out of it at that point. Again, I was just thinking that Danny was going to dry her off and get her some fresh clothes. I didn’t think anything more about it as I knew she was in good hands and I continued hanging out with people at the party.

At some point about an hour or an hour and a half later, I recall seeing [Jane Doe 1], who came up to me (I remember being in the living room, I think I was talking to Jimmy Debello). She said, “Oh my God, Danny just raped me.”

Her hair was still a bit wet and she had bare feet. I remember feeling shocked and then Luke Watson saying, “No, that’s not what happened!”

I was very concerned as she was loopy. I asked what was wrong with her. Luke and someone else said “We think someone ‘roofied’ her at the club.” I remember trying to help her as well as get her some water in the kitchen, and she was sort of stumbling around and Luke and Danny wanted to get her back upstairs. I thought to myself “That makes sense why she’s acting so weird.” They didn’t want me to interfere though, and I remember thinking that they would get her back upstairs and she would sleep it off and be better. Again, the thought never entered my mind that Danny would have or could have raped her right there at the party, especially with people downstairs. And especially not to [Jane Doe 1].

This all happened very fast, but Danny had her by the waist and was dragging her back upstairs. She was screaming and yelling at him “Get the fuck off me! Get the fuck off me!” and cursing at him. I remember myself and others kind of yelling up toward her, “[Jane Doe 1], it’s OK. Calm down, he’s going to take care of you,” and other things. And in my mind I remember thinking how messed up it was that somebody would have drugged her at the club.

As best I can recall after that she quieted down and I didn’t hear anything from her. I stayed and hung out for another 45 minutes or so and was again in the living room with Jimmy when I heard somebody wanting to get in the gate into the house. (It was Brie Shaffer, apparently.) Danny came downstairs. I remember he had his shirt off and he and Luke yell-whispered at us: “Don’t let her in! Don’t fucking let her in!”

I literally laughed as I didn’t understand why they were being so dramatic. I remember then leaving the drama in the living room to go to the backyard and smoke again. After a short while I recall being asked to leave. There were literally only three or four of us at this point. I remember Brie escorting me, walking down the front steps and leaving. I remember still being concerned about [Jane Doe 1]. Not that she had been raped! Again that was not a thought in my mind. But that she had been drugged. I knew that she was OK though and was sleeping it off. I assumed Luke and Danny were caring for her.

The next day I tried to call her several times and her phone was off. I believe the day after that I was called in to the Celebrity Centre and told by the Ethics Officer in no uncertain terms that Danny had not done anything to [Jane Doe 1] and that she had simply drunk too much and somebody roofied her drink. That was 100 percent acceptable to me at the time. I was a hardcore Scientologist and what they say you believed and followed unconditionally. And they told me that she was doing ethics handlings to help her.

I didn’t think much more about it other than I missed [Jane Doe 1] as I did not see her for many months after that night. I finally did see her again about a year afterwards and we stayed friends and started to go out and spent time as friends together. We never talked about that night though. However, that night has haunted me and bugged me for years and recently more aggressively I sought to find [Jane Doe 1].

About a year and 3 months ago I spoke with Danny Masterson’s ex-girlfriend [Jane Doe 3]. She asked me about something unrelated and she didn’t really know my friend [Jane Doe 1]. I said to her out of the blue that I believed that Danny had raped [Jane Doe 1] and asked if he’d done something like that to her. She freaked out and said “Oh my God he did that to me all the time and used to beat the shit out of me!” That began a snowball effect and here we are.

— Damian Perkins

 
As Perkins indicates at the end of his statement, his chance conversation with Jane Doe 3 did begin the process of the Jane Does learning about each other, which then led to their going to the LAPD in 2016. There’s even more to the story of how Perkins helped these women find each other, and we’re hoping to be able to tell that story soon.

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