After a morning off, deliberations in the Danny Masterson retrial will resume today at 1:30 pm here in Los Angeles. The jury will then have only a little more than two hours to reach a verdict today before the court takes tomorrow off entirely.
We don't know, of course, if the jury will use that two hours to ask a question or request a readback or to reach some verdicts. But we'll be in the courtroom to bring you that news as soon as possible.
While we have this short pause this morning, however, we wanted to reflect briefly on something that, once again, has been a central feature of this experience for us.
We first broke the news of the Danny Masterson investigation by the LAPD more than six years ago, on March 3, 2017, and the focus then, as it always has been for us, was on the ordeal this has been for the women, Jane Does 1, 2, and 3, who put their lives on hold to bring Masterson to justice.
We can't imagine the torment they are going through waiting for this jury to do its work.
But along the way, we have also had the privilege to get to know some really terrific journalists working at the courthouse. People like producer Lisa Bartley at ABC-7, Neil Blincow at the Daily Mail, Gene Maddaus at Variety, Dominic Patten at Deadline, Kelly Hartog at the Wrap, Meghann Cuniff at Law & Crime (and make sure you check out her great Substack), and James Queally and Noah Goldberg at the Los Angeles Times. (And our apologies for mentioning all of you, which is only going to make you targets even more of Scientology's hate-filled social media operations.)
And especially, we wanted to thank Chris Shelton, who has become such a good friend and strong ally of the Underground Bunker. We hope you have had a chance to sample the weekly show that we've been doing with Chris at his YouTube channel, After Scientology: Straight up and Vertical. We try to boil down some of the news of the week in a fast, brief, and fact-filled broadcast that draws on our reporting and Chris's valuable insights about the Scientology mindset.
OK, that's our self-promotional pitch for the morning. We know it's going to be a long wait for word from us this afternoon (or late into the evening for our UK folks). But who knows, maybe this jury can actually get something done in those two hours it has today. As ever, watch your inboxes for our reports!
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Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
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Cue Tom Petty and his 'Waiting is the hardest Part'. This jury is taking its time and I hope giving the victims testimony all the weight that it deserves. I can't fault the prosecution for anything and if the defense is depending on Cohen's funny attire to mount a Chewbacca defense, Danny boy, the prison cells are calling.
Much thanks to TonyO and every other reporter who is working on this story. The CO$ very much needs to have its tactics and operations in the public spotlight. The CO$ coverup and resulting stalking and 'tortuous interference' of the victims will be the subject of another trial. The testimony there will really bring out the true modus operandi of the Clampire.
Keep up the good work, Tony!