(Photo : Anna Webber/Getty Images for Netflix)
After a hopelessly divided jury resulted in a mistrial in Danny Masterson's first trial in November, Los Angeles prosecutors will retry the 'That '70s Show' star on three rape counts.
After a judge ruled in November that the trial was a mistrial, Danny Masterson will need to go back to court to address his rape charge.
The case will proceed to trial again, according to Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller's confirmation on Wednesday.
'That '70s Show' Actor Danny Masterson to Get Second Trial
Mueller informed the courtroom that "our office has chosen to retry this case. It would be unfair not to give these victims a second opportunity with a jury that can sit there and weigh all of the evidence-win, lose, or draw."
According to The Wrap, during the hearing, Judge Charlaine Olmedo declared her intention to seek justice. After a court set a March retrial date, Masterson's defense counsel Philip Cohen submitted a request to have the rape allegations dismissed.
Olmedo brought up the fact that only 16 of the 36 prospective witnesses were summoned by the prosecution at the hearing on Tuesday. As a result, the judge said, "a different result in a retrial is at least possible," USA Today reported.
The date for the retrial has been set on March 29, with jury selection coming first. After the trial's seven-week run concluded on November 30, the jurors were unable to agree on anything. On October 18, opening remarks were read.
According to Mueller's testimony, the ladies reportedly felt dizzy and fainted before waking up to discover Masterson having sex with them.
And while Masterson's defense lawyer begged jurors not to take the actor's association with Scientology and its connection to the case into account, Mueller claimed it provided insight into why the ladies delayed reporting the occurrences for so long.
In court records and during a hearing on Tuesday, when Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo denied a defense move to dismiss the charges, the LA County District Attorney's Office laid out the prosecution's strategy.
Danny Masterson Rape Accusation
Per The Independent, the action was taken despite the fact that prosecutors were unable to persuade even half of the prior jury to find Masterson guilty of any of the counts against him. Masterson is accused of raping three women, including his ex-girlfriend, at his house between 2001 and 2003.
The case was provisionally scheduled to start in late March by the court. After the hearing on Tuesday, the 46-year-old Masterson declined to talk to reporters outside of court, and his attorney did not answer a message seeking comment.
He has entered a not guilty plea, and according to his attorney, all of the activities were consenting. The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson was a member and all three women were former members, played a significant part in the month-long trial.
The church denies that it prevented them from going public for years as claimed by the prosecution. The accusations are related to a time when Masterson was most well-known for playing Steven Hyde on Fox's 'That '70s Show' from 1998 to 2006.
Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Grace all rose to fame on the program, and 'That '90s Show' will be a Netflix revival of the original.
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