More than a year after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, Danny Masterson is appealing his rape conviction. In a 246-page opening brief submitted to the California state court of appeal on Wednesday, Dec. 18, the That ’70s Show star’s lawyers Cliff Gardner and Lazuli Whitt argued that “fundamental flaws” led to an unfair trial.
“It is true, of course, that a defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial. He is, however, still entitled to a fair one,” Gardner and Whitt wrote in the filing. “Danny Masterson received neither. Reversal is required.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Masterson is currently serving 30 years to life in prison, the maximum allowed by law, and will be eligible for parole after serving more than 25 years. He was sentenced in September 2023 after he was convicted of two counts of rape following a high-profile jury trial. However, his attorneys argued in the Wednesday filing that numerous errors were made that “violated” the actor’s “rights to confrontation and a fair trial.”
In a statement on the Law Offices of Cliff Gardner’s website, Gardner highlighted “two fundamental flaws in Danny Masterson’s convictions” – the first being that “the trial was rife with erroneous judicial rulings that skewed the jury’s view of the evidence against him.” Gardner also alleged that “there was a stunning amount of exculpatory evidence which was never presented to the jury.”
“But the appeal represents only one part of Danny’s challenge to his convictions,” the statement continued. “Danny’s habeas lawyer will be following up on the opening brief with a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus documenting additional defects in the trial process. Stay tuned as we work toward Danny’s complete exoneration.”
Masterson’s high-profile case began in in March 2017 when four separate women accused the actor of sexually assaulting them in the early 2000s. A fifth woman came forward in December 2017. In 2020, The Ranch star was charged with forcibly raping three women in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003, with his first trial in 2022 ending in a mistrial. A second trial in 2023 saw him convicted of two counts of rape, and he was sentenced to 15 years to life on each count.
Masterson, who has maintained his innocence, was initially sent to Corcoran State Prison but is now serving his sentence at the medium-security California Men’s Colony (CMC) in San Luis Obispo.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
