Danny Masterson is wearing a dark blue suit today.
SARTORIAL SPLENDOR ALERT: Defense attorney Philip Cohen is bedecked in a lovely cream-colored suit, lavender shirt, and darker purple tie. It's a winner, people.
Judge Olmedo on the bench. Is there anything we need to do on the record?
No, but the defense has added an attorney who is sitting off to the side. I didn't get her name.
Olmedo: I did get a few notes from jurors regarding scheduling.
We're off May 5, she says, and it sounds like we might also be off May 8 for a four-day weekend. Judge Olmedo says she will try to put together a trial schedule for us tomorrow.
It's a much smaller crowd today in the courtroom. But the Masterson section is filling up, with Danny's brothers Christopher and Jordan Masterson, mother Carol Masterson, his wife Bijou Phillips, and her sister Mackenzie Phillips.
Jane Doe 3 has arrived to testify.
Judge Olmedo gets us on the record.
Direct examination of Jane Doe 3 continues.
Mueller: I want to ask how you're feeling this morning.
JD3: Not great.
Anything about testifying causing you concern?
I'm scared.
What are you scared of?
A lot of people in this room and Scientology.
After moving from Alabama, how long were you here in Los Angeles before landing that modeling campaign you talked about yesterday?
About six months.
At the time that your agency threw a party for you to celebrate that signing, were you 17 or had you turned 18?
I was 18.
Was Mr. Masterson older than you?
Yes, about three years.
I want to show you a couple of photos. (A close-up appears to be JD3, and a group photograph with four women.)
That's me.
And how old were you there?
17 or 18 I think.
Had you met Mr. Masterson in this photo?
I don't think so.
This was from your modeling?
Yes.
And this second photo?
That was the Revlon campaign.
You are the upper left?
Yes.
Who is in the lower right?
Cindy Crawford.
And was she part of that Revlon campaign?
Yes, sir.
During this first year of your relationship, were you doing a lot of photo shoots?
Yes, sir.
Did that involved traveling?
Yes, sir.
At some point after you and Mr. Masterson had met, did he ever mention anything about Scientology?
Yes, sir.
How soon in the relationship did that come up?
I feel like it was right away. He told me he was a Scientologist.
Were you familiar with it?
I had never heard it.
Did he explain what it was?
Yes, sir.
Did he say anything about wanting to join?
He told me that I had to to remain in the relationship.
How early was that?
Winter of 1997, I believe. January 1997 is when I did my first course.
What did you think about it at that point? (Obj by Holley, relevance, overruled)
I was interested. I was told that they could help with any problems in life. And i was looking for that.
Did you have a religious background?
Yes, I was Christian.
Was there any conflict for you in converting from one to the other? (Obj, rephrase) So you were Christian and you converted to Scientology?
I was told I could remain a Christian and be involved in Scientology and that was not true.
How was that not true?
Because you are told you can't be a part of another faith in Scientology.
How did that make you feel?
Like I lost something. I never asked myself that. But like I lost something.
What did you feel like you lost?
A part of me.
You had family and friends that were not likely to be in Scientology... (Obj, sustained). You had family and friends that were not Scientology at this time?
Correct. I was told that my parents were suppressive people and I was told to disconnect from them. (Obj, overruled)
Did you understand what suppressive person was at that time?
I did a course where it talked about Suppressive Persons and if you're connected to them you're labeled a Potential Trouble Source and the handling would be to disconnect or "fair roads fair weather," where it's just "hello, how are you" kind of thing. (Obj, overruled)
Did you learn or were told about any consequences if you were not to disconnect?
In my relationship with the defendant?
No, you said you were disconnect, and I assume that was from friends and family who were not Scientologists.
My family, yes, and some of my friends.
And you were told that they were Potential Trouble Sources.
That I was, because I was connected to them.
Did you learn what that could mean for you?
That I would be "roller-coasting" in life. Some days good, some days bad. That I wouldn't have any wins... I’m trying to translate. Scientology has their own language. Basically it wouldn't be stable in life or flourishing or prospering if I'm connected to suppressive people.'
Did you believe that?
Yes, sir.
How long had you been taking courses up to that point?
It was probably the first month that I was going to the Church of Scientology.
When you're first going, was it classes every day, what was it like.
Ultimately they wanted you to be on course, and they want you to be on course every day. If you don't they'll call you over and over, and you'll get sent to ethics and you'll have to do an ethics handling.
So did you disconnect from your family in Alabama?
Yes, sir. (emotional)
Was that hard for you.
It's hard for me.
You mentioned yesterday that after you met Mr. Masterson and that in the first year things were great.
I believed so, yes.
And some time after that things changed. He became more controlling. What did you mean by that?
An example like, I can't speak to my family. If I were to make friends I would have to bring them into the church, which I had done. My thoughts didn't feel like my own anymore.
When you say that, is that something related to your relationship you had with Mr. Masterson, or something coming from taking courses, or both?
Both. But he was very controlling and domineering... sorry.
Is there more to what you're wanting to describe about Mr. Masterson's controlling?
There's more. I really don't like talking about it. I know that's why I'm here.
Please if there is more, if you would share with us how Mr. Masterson was controlling at that time.
I didn't see it at the time, but he stripped me of almost everything. (Obj, overruled)
You also mentioned yesterday that he also was aggressive. How so?
Sexually, for sure.
Aggressive in any other way?
Aggressive with his rules and his opinions and what he felt was best for me.
Rules and opinions, what are you talking about?
Well, he was always right. And I let him be right. He had a way of how he wanted things done or how he wanted me to present myself. He spoke a lot about PR, which Scientologists speak a lot about and it's really important. Going out in public you have a have a smile on your face, and you just can't have a bad day. I mean, you can tell your ethics officer but you can't show there's any problems because it's "out-PR" for a Scientologist to...
OK, is that something you learned in your courses?
Yes, sir.
PR, that stands for...
Public relations.
Did you accept this, this controlling and everything you're describing?
Yes, sir.
Why?
I don't know. Maybe it was my upbringing. My upbringing was very strict and similar in the controlling.
When you mention sexually aggressive, tell us what you mean by that.
I couldn't say no to him. It felt like he enjoyed making it painful.
Why do you say that?
He was just really rough.
Were there times you did say no to him, at this early one-year mark?
Yes, sir.
Once, or more?
More than once. But towards the end of the relationship I tried to stand up for myself more.
We're going to talk about that. We're going to get there. Around this one-year mark or so, what would happen if you did say no?
It would turn into a fight. Or he would just do it anyway. Or I would just give in and let him. If it was a fight he would ignore me for a couple of days or a day until I would be apologizing to him.
And when you say fight, would there be more in terms of the fight?
Around the one year mark, there was a time when he became violent.
How so?
I just gotten back from Paris, and I remember being very tired, and I'd been sick. and he wanted to have sex and I did not want to. And we had gotten into a verbal fight and then it became physical. He grabbed me by the hair I grabbed his wrists, I was naked. He dragged me across the bedroom floor and threw me out and slammed the door on me. His brother was sleeping in the next room, and I just remember running to the bathroom and grabbing a towel.
Let's back up just a little. You had just got back from Paris, when?
1997.
How long were you there?
About three weeks.
What were you doing there?
Modeling.
So when you retuned, when this occurred, what time of the day was it?
I feel like it was morning time.
And how soon after you got back was he telling you wanted to have sex?
I feel like I flew in and went to sleep. And it was the morning time.
You said you left Paris early because you weren't feeling well?
I had like a really bad flu and then I had an ear infection. And I couldn't hear out of one ear when I got home.
Did you tell him this, about how you were feeling?
Yes, he knew I was sick.
And how did he respond?
I don't remember but he didn't care. (Obj, sustained, stricken)
So you went to bed, correct?
Yes, sir.
Were you naked?
That was one of his rules. We were to sleep naked.
Were you OK with that rule?
Yes.
So how did that incident start?
He was on top of me and starting to have sex with me, and I was telling him I didn't want to.
He was on top of you, did you wake up with him on top of you?
I feel like I wasn't asleep. I was sleepy, tired.
When he got on top of you, did he have clothes on?
No, he sleeps naked. Or slept naked.
You said he was "starting to have sex with you." Was he actually having sex with you at that point?
Yes.
How was he having sex with you? He put himself inside of me.
What part of your body?
My vagina.
And what part of him went in your vagina?
His penis
And when you did you tell him no you didn't want to have sex.
Right away.
And how did he respond?
He did not care.
Did he continue?
He stopped pretty much right away. Because I was telling him no. And I it didn't feel good.
Was he doing something additional like pushing or...
I don't really remember.
Then what happened.
There was a verbal fight and we were yelling at each other?
What was he yelling to you?
What I remember coming up was I threatened to tell his brother that...
What was he telling you?
I'd found out that he had had sex with his brother's ex-girlfriend (Obj, sustained, stricken)
I'm just asking what he was yelling at you.
I just remember that was part of the yelling. Other than that I don't remember.
So there was yelling back and forth, is that accurate?
Yes. Sorry, I'm so sorry.
No, no, it's fine. And you said it got physical.
He got me out of bed. And he grabbed me by my hair and he was dragging me across the bedroom floor. He was calling me fat and disgusting. And what's what I remember.
When he was dragging you across the floor, was that by your hair?
Yes, but I was holding him by his wrists.
OK. So how did you feel at that point after this whole incident? Did you question the relationship? Did you have concerns about what he had just done to you?
I was stunned by it.
Did you talk to him about it afterwards?
I'm sure there was but I don't remember how that went. (Obj, overruled)
After this 1997 incident, were there other times where he would call you names -- white trash -- or drag or pull you by the hair?
Verbally he called me names. He would spit on me.
What kinds of names would he call you?
White trash, trash, stupid, out-ethics, that's a Scientology term.
Did you have an understand what that meant?
That I was doing something unethical. I would send my self to ethics all the time.
Why would you do that?
I just was always policing myself. I just really wanted to do good.
Do good in what sense?
As a person.
Did you feel then that you were not doing good?
People would tell me I was not doing good.
Who?
The defendant and his mother and his assistant.
Did they tell you what it was you were not doing good?
It was confusing because he didn't want me to work after awhile and I stopped. But then he would use it against me later.
How so?
Like calling me "out-exchange." That's a Scientology term. He puts a roof over my head, what am I doing for him.
When he called you out-exchange, did you know what he meant.
He wanted me to be on course every day at Scientology. Sex whenever he wanted. And not to embarrass him. Before he got an assistant I cleaned the house and ran the errands and things like that.
So this is quite a change from the relationship you had in terms of the way of his behavior and the way he was treating you.
The first year felt like there was a human being there. There was a light in his eyes. It was something that felt like love to me.
You mentioned that first year there was something that felt like love, in that first year when the two of you were intimate, was the sex loving to you?
I didn't have to much to compare it to. Looking back it was never loving.
And why is that?
I'm not sure he's capable of it.
Looking back, what tells you it wasn't loving?
He didn't really see me as a human being. Certainly not his partner. (Olmedo: answer will be stricken, speculation)
The spitting, how often would that happen?
It wasn't like a lot a lot. Because I rarely fought back with him. But it was time when I would make him angry. And that's something he did.
Would that be making him angry by telling him no to sex? (Obj, sustained). What would you do to make him angry?
Standing up for myself, or having an opinion that was different from his.
Standing up to him, what do you mean?
I would say no to him.
Under what circumstances?
Sexually.
And would that be the times when he would call you names and spit on you?
That happened, yes.
Did you ever think to yourself, let's say up to the Paris relationship, this is abusive I want out?
No, sir.
And do you know why?
No, sir.
Did you love up him up until this Paris incident?
Yes, sir.
Did you still love him after the incident?
Yes, sir.
Where were you and Masterson living at the time?
A building, the Fontenois (spelling).
In the county of Los Angeles.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Masterson, did he ever travel for filming.
He did twice in our relationship.
Where were those two times.
One time he went I think to Austin for a week. The second time was to Toronto, he was going just for one scene, but then he called me and said he was going for a whole month.
Do you know what project that was?
A movie called Dracula 2000. It was late summer 2000.
Around that time you had already stopped modeling, is that correct?
I had a Los Angeles agency and would do things here and there, but for the most part yes. I was doing a bit of acting in commercials.
How did Mr. Masterson think about the work?
He wasn't encouraging. He didn't think I was any good.
How long did that acting go on.
It was about 2001. His mother was my manager. I think it happened in 2000. I drove a friend to an audition, and the casting director asked me if I would do an audition. And I was the first position for two months, but I didn't get it. They went with someone with a name.
What year?
I believe it was 2000.
After this Paris incident. Was there another time that occurred with you and Mr. Masterson that stands out in your mind?
Yes, sir. Another time where it got violent. He hit me, and he had never hit me before. '
When did that occur?
I believe it was November 2001.
Where?
He bought a house. He booked a TV show, and he bought a house. In the second year of our relationship he booked a show called 'That '70s Show.'
And the he bought the house.
Yes, sir.
I want to show you some photographs. (Of house, of Masterson and victim.)
This was the house he bought.
6227 Hollymont, is that the address?
Yes, sir.
Second photo...
That's a photo of me and Mr. Masterson. Do you now when this was taken?
I feel like that was the Battlefield Earth premiere, because I wore a white dress.
How far into the relationship?
Three years?
When did this next incident occur?
Around November 2001.
And why are you remembering it?
We weren't doing very well in our relationship at that point?
Why?
It was really since the end of the summer of 2000.
What was it that wasn't doing really well at that point? Was there something that made it worse?
Yes, for me. One night we went out to the Standard Hotel Bar, and I was with my best friend Annie, and he was with this guy named Luke Watson. We went to meet this actress he had worked with, Jennifer Esposito, and her husband or boyfriend. We had some drinks with them. And then when we were leaving, Esposito and boyfriend were walking ahead of us, and there were two paparazzi, and he started shouting these really sexually degrading things at her. And after about two minutes of him just not stopping, Ms. Esposito started charging him and I was holding his hand, and started beating him up. And they were on Sunset Blvd, fighting. Normally I would have stayed and tried to protect him. But I felt so bad for her, it was so gross. And I felt, I remember the first time, he talks like that to people, and to women. (Obj, sustained, last portion stricken)
You say he talks like that to women?
So disrespectful. He likes to make people uncomfortable. (Obj, last part stricken)
What were the words he shouted to Jennifer Esposito, the paparazzi there, that you say are so offensive.
He was yelling to show them parts of her body.
Did he use a different term?
Yes, he did.
Tell us the specific words.
Hey, Jennifer, show them your tits! And...
And what?
Things like that.
Was there more?
Yes, sir
Tell us what you remember him shouting.
Judge Olmedo tells us we're going to take our morning break.
During that last portion of testimony, we heard three buzzes from the jury room. The jury in the other trial that Judge Olmedo is handling has reached a verdict.
So, we will continue with Jane Doe 3’s testimony up to the lunch break, but then we won’t return until 2:30 so they can reveal the verdicts in the other case (a complex gang murder case).
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Jane Doe is so brave. What a difficult experience for her to keep having to revisit.
She mentioned something about Danny having slept with his brother's ex girlfriend. I have to wonder if this is the first time the brother is hearing this info.
Such good coverage, Tony! I felt like I could see everything happening. JD’s whole story breaks my heart. Hang in there, lady!