Judge Olmedo nixes defense claim that door was opened to Danny Masterson’s own report
During yesterday’s full day of cross-examination endured by Jane Doe 1 at the Danny Masterson retrial in Los Angeles, we were reminded about defense attorney Philip Cohen’s idiosyncrasies that were on display throughout the first trial last fall.
His co-counsel, Shawn Holley, has a very different style, which we saw during her cross of Jane Doe 3 last week. We’re certain neither of those experiences has been pleasant for these witnesses, and once again we’re reminded of their fortitude, having to be sworn in now three times to speak about the horrendous details of their sexual assaults.
And always, the one person we don’t hear from is the defendant himself, Danny Masterson. That’s just how our system of justice works.
However, we were really surprised, in the last two days, to see for the first time references being made to reports written by Masterson himself for the Church of Scientology about these incidents, and even some description of the material in them.
That wasn’t lost on Cohen, who, at the end of the day yesterday, told Judge Charlaine Olmedo that by referring to those reports, the prosecution and Jane Doe 1 had opened the door for him to bring in something Masterson had written.
If Cohen were allowed to do that, it would bring in Masterson’s own statements about the alleged rape of Jane Doe 1 without him actually having to testify.
We were stunned when we realized what Cohen was asking for. But Judge Olmedo refused, saying that Cohen couldn’t bring in his own client’s statement, which would be hearsay, and that a reference Jane Doe 1 made to the statement — that reading it helped her clear up how much of a cocktail she had consumed — couldn’t then allow in the rest of what the statement addressed, which, based on what Judge Olmedo said, would contain claims from Masterson that the April 2003 incident with Jane Doe 1 was a consensual sex act.
And we know that besides Masterson’s statements or reports written for the Church of Scientology there are numerous others, including some written by Jane Doe 1’s mother, which she also alluded to yesterday. Some of this material became public in an excellent Daily Beast article by Amy Zimmerman in 2019. But without Jane Doe 1’s mother, still an ardent Scientologist, being asked to testify, it’s our understanding her reports — written to church leader David Miscavige and complaining about how the church was handling the matter — won’t get in.
It’s just a reminder that as much evidence as we are getting in this case, there’s still plenty more that could be considered. Hey, grand jury, are you listening?
OK, as for this morning, Judge Olmedo has given Cohen just 45 minutes more to finish up his cross-examination. We believe that the prosecution will then begin the testimony of Jane Doe 2, the third of the victims whose allegations the charges Masterson faces are based on.
As ever, watch your inboxes for our reports from court!
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In my past decades in Scientology I saw cases where celebrities who committed bad acts were protected at all costs. Celebrity Centre’s most important functions are to coddle and protect its famous people. And to give them “special handling” if they go off the rails. Also their are tiers of celebrities(A, B, C, D lists). Depending on what list you are on you receive certain perks or special attention or not. If you are in the A list and you have a conflict with some in the C list, the C lister is censured even if that person is right. The bottom line; protect income sources and create good publicity and quell publicity that harms scientology or important scientologists. I observed this first hand as a public and staff at Celebrity Centre. In 1969 I was the third founding SO member at that organization and was active until I left the cherch in 2018.
Definitely not a fan of Cohen's cross-examination style - nor his clothes for that matter. He really rubs me the wrong way.