At yesterday’s pretrial hearing, Danny Masterson’s prosecution and defense argued over what should be included and disallowed in his upcoming retrial, which is scheduled to begin jury selection on April 11.
We are curious, of course, to learn what changes the prosecution is going to make after the first trial ended in a hung jury on November 30.
And this time Deputy DA Reinhold Mueller revealed the prosecution’s witness list much earlier than he did last time, including it in the brief he submitted before yesterday’s hearing.
We knew you’d want to know which names are on that list — and which aren’t — and so here’s our breakdown.
The victims
Jane Doe 1: One of three women whose allegations of being raped by Danny Masterson make up the charges on the case, and that could send him to prison for 45 years to life if he’s convicted of all three counts. Jane Doe 1’s account in the first trial described becoming suspiciously intoxicated in a 2003 incident after Masterson gave her a fruity red drink at his house, then throwing her in a jacuzzi. Later, she said, he raped her violently in his room and brandished a gun when they heard someone outside the door. Jane Doe 1 had been a friend to Masterson and described a previous sexual encounter with him that she had also come to regard as not consensual.
Jane Doe 2: An acquaintance of Masterson when he invited her to his house in 2003, she testified that she was unusually intoxicated after a single glass of wine that he insisted she drink when she arrived. She testified that she anticipated the potential of a mildly romantic encounter, and was willing to allow a kiss, but that she repeatedly told Masterson no when he violently attacked her on his bed.
Jane Doe 3: Was in a six-year relationship with Masterson, and she described a loveless match that had her giving in to demands for sex when she didn’t want it. In her charging incident, she described yanking on Masterson’s hair in order to get him off of her in November 2001.
Tricia Vessey: An actress who testified to being raped by Masterson after a 1996 wrap party and then again a month later at her apartment. Her incidents are not charged, but she is testifying as a “past bad acts witness.”
Kathleen Jenkins: A woman who says Masterson raped her at a cast party in Toronto in 2000. Like Vessey, she would testify as a past bad acts witness. But defense attorney Philip Cohen is objecting to her participation, saying that her allegations are more about claims that she was drugged than the forcible rapes through “force or fear” that make up the charged counts of the case.
The civilian witnesses
Kathleen Jenkins’ ex-husband: Will presumably provide corroborating testimony to back up her description of the 2000 cast party. If she is excluded, however, he will be unnecessary.
Jane Doe 2’s mother: A lovely woman who provided some heartbreaking testimony in the first trial. We noted at the time that Cohen’s cross-examination of her was ugly, and she held her own. In particular, when she described coming to learn that rape was not about outdated ideas, but was simply about a lack of consent.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala: Jane Doe 3’s husband provided some brief but powerful testimony in the first trial about his feelings for his wife.
Rachel D: Jane Doe 1’s cousin testified in the first trial about a family vacation in Florida that Jane Doe 1 had flown to immediately after she was attacked by Masterson. Rachel described how unusually her cousin acted, and she was the first to hear from her that something with Masterson had taken place.
Jordan Ladd: Actress friend of Jane Doe 2. She testified that Jane Doe 2 told her in 2003 that she had been raped by Masterson and asked her not to tell anyone.
Nicolas Olszewski: We first wrote about Nick here at the Underground Bunker in 2021. He reached out to us to let us know that he had worked on The Ranch, a series starring Masterson and Ashton Kutcher that ran on Netflix from 2016 to 2020. He told us he had witnessed some interesting behavior by Masterson. One of those incidents, and apparently what the prosecution wants Olszweski to testify to, is this incident, as it appeared in our story:
Olszewski was present with a group in Kutcher’s dressing room when he saw Danny Masterson giving advice to another The Ranch cast member, Elisha Cuthbert.
“Before Elisha and her sister and her girlfriends were going to Las Vegas for a birthday party, Danny gave them a crash course in how to avoid getting roofied. I thought it was strange, how he knew so much about it,” Olszewski says.
Defense attorney Philip Cohen is objecting to Olszewski being allowed to testify, arguing that a comment made by Masterson in 2015 is not relevant to incidents that are alleged from 2001 to 2003.
Rachel S: Friend to Jane Doe 2 and former Scientologist. She testified to being told by Jane Doe 2 that Masterson had raped her.
Mariah O’Brien: Formerly married to Giovanni Ribisi and mother to their daughter Lucia Ribisi. She testified that Jane Doe 2 blurted out she’d been raped by Masterson at a dinner party at O’Brien’s house. She also testified that she has worked closely with Danny and Bijou Masterson as a designer, and exchanged smiles with him in court.
The LAPD witnesses
Det. Humberto Jaime (did not testify in the first trial)
Det. Esther Myape
Det. Deborah Myers
Det. Alexander Schlegel
Det. Javier Vargas
The Experts
Claire Headley: In the first trial the prosecution wanted to bring in Claire, a former Sea Org official, to give testimony about Scientology policies. But Judge Olmedo ruled that, based on the testimony in the May 2021 preliminary hearing, the Jane Doe witnesses had explained those policies adequately without help. Once again, the prosecution is asking to bring in Claire, and the defense is opposing it.
Barbra Ziv, MD: The prosecution is apparently replacing expert Dr. Mindy Mechanic with Dr. Barbra Ziv, who will testify to the possibility that Masterson’s victims were drugged. Based on arguments during yesterday’s hearing, this may be the biggest change from the prosecution’s approach in the first trial, a greater emphasis on the allegation that Masterson drugged these women. Cohen is pushing back fiercely, saying that this puts an emphasis that is not related to the charges in the case, about forcible rape by “force or fear.”
LAPD Criminalist specializing in drug analysis: The prosecution also wants to call a second expert witness, also with a focus on drugging.
Who’s not on the list:
Damian Perkins: Former Scientologist, he provided a witness statement that he was present the night of the party at Danny Masterson’s house in April 2003, and that he saw Jane Doe 1 there and she said to him, “Oh my God, Danny just raped me.” Perkins was included on the witness list for the first trial but never called.
Shawn Fabos: Scientologist who was formerly friends with Jane Doe 1. The prosecution called him in the first trial, expecting to get him to admit to what he had said in a recorded phone call, that he had been told by Jane Doe 1 about the 2003 incident with Masterson shortly after it happened. But on the witness stand, Fabos unexpectedly claimed that he was also on the Florida vacation, and disputed Jane Doe 1’s testimony about it.
Erick Geisler: We were stunned to spot Geisler in the courthouse the first day of the trial, because of his past as a known Scientology spy. We believe the prosecution wanted him to testify that Scientology had instructed him to intimidate Damian Perkins if Damian planned to testify in the trial.
Marty Singer: Danny Masterson’s entertainment lawyer and a powerful Hollywood figure, he was spotted in the hallway waiting to testify in the first trial, but was never called. He would have testified about an agreement between Masterson and Jane Doe 1 in 2004 that made her promise not to speak about her incident in return for $400,000.
Yesterday’s hearing lasted into the afternoon, and both sides argued over which witnesses and issues should be allowed in the retrial.
Judge Olmedo said she would issue a written ruling today at 10 am Los Angeles time, and we’ll get it to you as soon as we can.
Another episode from Chris and your proprietor
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Thanks, Tony, for repeating the explanation about the court being unable to review or rule on The Smerch of Scienbollocky's non-existent " arbitration process".
A "church" that was legally deemed/ruled to be a for-profit business decades ago and factually has NO arbitration policy( the ol' scientology saw of if it ain't written, it ain't true; there is no "arbitration policy" in the cult's technical or administrative policies) gets to conduct its criminal fuckery tax-free, with no legal repercussions.
"Somebody some day will say ‘this is illegal.’ By then be sure the orgs [Scientology organizations] say what is legal or not."
L. Ron Hubbard, Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, 4 January 1966, "LRH Relationship to Orgs"
Mueller has a fairly high hurdle to get over. Unless he gets a conviction, Dan Masterson will walk. I don't see a lot of change in the witnesses, but those few changes may make the difference. Good luck DA, get a good jury that listens this time.