Danny Masterson’s lawyers accused of ‘unwanted’ contact with rape trial jurors as actor works on appeal
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The lawyers for actor and convicted rapist Danny Masterson have come under fire for allegedly harassing jurors from his trial at their homes and places of employment, reports say.
According to documents filed this month by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office obtained by Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times, Masterson’s appeal team made contact with the jurors that was “neither wanted nor was it made at a reasonable time and place as required.” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller requested a hearing to consider forbidding “harassing or otherwise improper conduct by members of the defense team.”
A jury convicted Masterson last year of two counts of rape and a judge sentenced him to to 30 years to life behind bars. The “That 70s Show” star filed an appeal following his conviction.
In July, a juror sent an email to the court requesting assistance.
“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 email reportedly said.
Another juror sent an email in September to complain about being approached by Masterson’s legal team. Journalist Tony Ortega posted the email on his Substack page.
“I was doing yardwork in my front yard when a car pulled up, parked, and a woman got out and approached me. She asked if I was [redacted],” the email said. “I said yes. She said she is a member of Mr. Masterson’s habeas team and wanted to ask me some questions about incidents regarding parking and in the hallway in front of the courtroom that resulted in the jury being sequestered.”
Apparently the lawyer got the juror’s information from another juror. The juror was uninterested in speaking with the attorney.
“I told her I was declining and that I would be letting the juror know of this because juror information is confidential and there should be no contact with me by Mr. Masterson’s legal team,” the email said.
Content retrieved from: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/danny-mastersons-lawyers-accused-of-unwanted-contact-with-rape-trial-jurors-as-actor-works-on-appeal/.
