Danny Masterson’s Lawyers Make ‘Unwanted Contact’ at Jurors’ Homes, Workplaces
Jurors who served on the 2023 trial that ended with Danny Masterson’s conviction on two counts of forcible rape have reported “unwanted contact” by Masterson’s legal team at their homes and businesses — and now prosecutors have asked for a hearing on the matter.
In a new Nov. 13 court filing reviewed by Rolling Stone, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller said it appeared that the reported outreach to jurors by Masterson’s legal team “was neither wanted nor was it made at a reasonable time and place as required.” Mueller urged the court to conduct a full hearing “to consider the imposition of sanctions, if appropriate, for any unwanted, harassing or otherwise improper conduct by members of the defense team.”
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According to court filings, one juror reached out to the court in July, asking for help. “Some of the jurors have been visited at their homes by Danny Masterson’s Appeal team. We thought our information was going to be sealed. We don’t recall the timeframe of this. We are concerned,” the July 22 email, obtained by Rolling Stone, read.
Mueller’s request followed after the judge who presided over Masterson’s trial, Judge Charlaine Olmedo, sent a letter to all counsel on the case Sept. 17 stating several jurors had submitted complaints “of unwanted contact at their homes or work by members of the defense team.” She said the jurors wanted to know how Masterson’s reps knew where to find them considering their identifying information had indeed been sealed.
“A review of the jurors’ complaints received by this court indicate that some of the jurors may have felt pressured by the defense team … and were troubled that they were approached at their homes,” Olmedo wrote in her letter, which was first reported by journalist Tony Ortega. Olmedo said the jurors also reported that the defense team failed to advise them they “had an absolute right to not discuss the case.”
Olmedo shared another juror’s recent email to the court as evidence of a contact that purportedly happened in mid-September — more than a year after Masterson, a prominent Scientologist, was sentenced to 30 years to life following his May 2023 conviction. The juror, whose name was redacted, said they were doing yard work outside their home around 2 p.m. on Sept. 15, 2024, when a car pulled up and a woman got out and approached.
“She said she is a member of Mr. Masterson’s habeas team and wanted to ask me questions about incidents regarding parking and in front of the courtroom that resulted in the jury being sequestered,” the juror wrote to the judge. “I declined to speak with her and asked her how she got my name. She said she got it from another juror and said, ‘So you decline to participate.’ I told her I was declining and that I would be letting the judge know of this because juror information is confidential and there should be no contact with me.”
In her letter to the lawyers on both sides, Olmedo said she was issuing a new order “that all further contact with trial jurors and alternate jurors must take place through the court clerk.” The judge said she would conduct a full hearing “in necessary,” setting the stage for Mueller’s request.
In a Tuesday filing that opposed any hearing on the issue of alleged unwanted contact, Masterson’s habeas lawyer Eric Multhaup said his investigator’s interaction with the juror on Sept. 15 was in “complete compliance” with the rules governing post-trial juror interviews. He argued that the law “clearly permits contact with jurors after verdict” and said the “point of these contacts is to determine whether juror misconduct or other misconduct occurred that undermined the fairness of the trial.” He called such contacts “an integral part of the criminal justice system” and defended the visit to the juror’s home.
“The September [15], 2024 contact was made in broad daylight on a Sunday when the juror was working in her front yard. It is near impossible to conjure up a more innocuous and benign time and place for initial contact,” he wrote.
One of Masterson’s trial lawyers, Shawn Holley, submitted a declaration to the court on Nov. 14 saying she previously contacted and met with the jury foreperson, but she said it was back in July 2023. “Her email address was easy to locate online, given the information she provided in open court concerning her place of employment,” Holley said, adding that the juror agreed to meet with her for lunch at a restaurant in Santa Monica the following day.
Holley said their meeting was “friendly, cordial and forthright,” and that the juror put her in touch with two other jurors who also agreed to meet her at restaurants. She said all three jurors “indicated that I was welcome to contact them again if I had follow-up questions and/or wanted to meet again.” Holley said she was “confident” none of the three jurors considered her contact with them “unwanted, harassing or otherwise improper.” Holley said she had no further contact with any other jurors.
In an email to the Los Angeles Times, Holley said she “made it clear to all three jurors” that “they were under no obligation to speak with me or to meet with me.”
Masterson, 48, filed his appeal in his case on Sept. 18, 2023. His opening brief is due Friday. The disgraced That ‘70s Show actor remains locked up in a California prison in the meantime. Attempts to reach other members of his defense were not immediately successful. Judge Olmedo has not yet ruled on prosecutors’ request to set a hearing on the juror matter.
This story was updated on Nov. 20, 2024 with the response filing from Masterson’s habeas attorney.
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