25th April 2023, Mumbai: According to the prosecutor’s opening statement in the retrial of actor Danny Masterson, he is accused of drugging and raping three women at his home in Hollywood between 2001 and 2003. Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller stated that Masterson allegedly laced drinks given to his longtime girlfriend and two women associated with the Church of Scientology, whom he knew through mutual friends, with substances before committing the alleged rapes.
Mueller asserted to the jury that there is evidence indicating that they were drugged, while the defence disputes the existence of such evidence.
In the first trial, there was no direct discussion of drugging as it was implied through the testimony of the women who described feeling woozy, disoriented, and sometimes unconscious during the nights when they alleged the actor raped them. However, this indirect approach led to a mistrial as the jury deadlocked on all three counts.
In the second trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo has permitted the direct assertion of drugging. Masterson’s defense attorney, Philip Cohen, emphasised in his opening statement that the prosecution’s case relies solely on hazy stories and assertions from the women, as there is no specific drugging charge in the case. Both the defence and prosecution acknowledged that there is no forensic evidence of any substances Masterson may have allegedly given to the women, as the police investigation did not commence until approximately 15 years after the events in question.
Mueller stated that he plans to call an analyst from the police toxicology unit as a witness, who will provide information on how common drug-facilitated sexual assaults occur, how date rape drugs typically work, their metabolism rates, and the potential side effects.