Danny Masterson accuser testifies about alleged violent rape: 'When I came to, he was on top of me'

The New York Daily News - 5/18/2021

One of Danny Masterson's accusers gave an emotional account Tuesday of her allegedly violent rape by the former "That 70 s Show" star in his Hollywood Hills home 18 years ago.

She was the first witness called to testify at Masterson's preliminary hearing in Los Angeles involving charges he raped three women in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003.

The woman, whose full name was not used in court due to the nature of the allegations, recalled feeling drugged by a drink she consumed at Masterson's house in April 2003 and worrying she might slip under the surface of a jacuzzi after the actor unzipped her pants and "threw" her in during a social gathering.

She recalled having trouble seeing, breathing and even sitting up when Masterson carried her upstairs to a bathroom where he allegedly put a finger down her throat to cause her to vomit and then placed her in a shower.

"I looked down and his hands were on my breasts. He was soaping my breasts," she testified, recalling how she was struggling to regain control of her body. "I punched him. It wasn't very strong. I couldn't believe his hands were on my breasts."

The woman said Masterson then placed her on his bed, where she drifted in and out of consciousness.

"When I came to, he was on top of me and he was inside of me," she said.

The woman said she tried to push Masterson away with a pillow, but he pushed it back in her face.

"I couldn't breathe and I couldn't see, and then I was unconscious again," she testified as Masterson sat at a table across the courtroom, taking notes as she spoke.

The woman said that at one point, the actor "puts his hand on my throat and squeezes." She claimed he also pulled a "pistol" out of his nightstand and showed it to her while saying, "Don't f---ing move."

She said Masterson also penetrated her anally before he eventually left the room. She recalled waking up again and feeling paralyzed before she finally managed to crawl inside his closet in a "panic" and hide behind some clothes in a "fetal position" until the next morning.

The woman, who described herself as a second-generation Scientologist, said a fellow Scientologist refused to talk to her as she left the house. She testified that she also was rebuffed by other church members when she tried to report what happened.

She finally filed a police report in June 2004. She testified that she waited the 14 months because Masterson was a powerful member of the Church of Scientology and she feared being labeled a "suppressive" person, the equivalent of being excommunicated.

"My parents would have to disown me," she said. "Everyone who had been my friend would view me as an enemy."

During cross-examination, Masterson's lawyer Thomas Mesereau asked the woman if she was aware that her 2004 LAPD report didn't mention a gun. She testified that she recalled discussing Masterson's gun ownership with police.

Masterson has pleaded not guilty in the case and sat quietly in the courtroom Tuesday wearing a grey suit, white dress shirt and blue mask due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to prosecutors, Masterson sexually assaulted the first victim in the case, an unidentified 23-year-old woman, between January and December 2001.

He then allegedly raped a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and a 23-year-old woman between October and December of the same year, prosecutors said.

If convicted as charged, he faces up to 45 years to life in state prison.

The actor who played Steven Hyde on "That 70 s Show" was ordered to appear at the preliminary hearing in person Tuesday after Mesereau previously appeared on his behalf due to the pandemic.

Before testimony started at the probable cause hearing used to determine whether a full-blown jury trial is warranted, Mesereau told the court he believes prosecutors have shown an "anti-religious bias" and should be limited in their ability to ask questions about the controversial church.

Judge Charlaine Olmedo said she found it "interesting" Mesereau invoked words such as "Scientology" and "religion" 88 times in a recent 29-page brief.

"I will let the people bring out victims' fear of Scientology and harassment as it goes to (their) state of mind," she said.

Masterson previously tried to get the case tossed by arguing the alleged incidents were too old to prosecute, but the court rejected his claims.

The criminal case followed after four women sued Masterson in 2019, saying he sexually assaulted them and then conspired with the Church of Scientology to cover up the abuse and "systematically stalk" and harass them.

Two of the women revealed their names, while the other two remained Jane Does.

Plaintiffs Chrissie Carnell Bixler and Marie Bobette Riales allege Masterson drugged and raped them while they were unconscious.

A judge ruled in December that Bixler and the two Jane Does signed arbitration agreements with the Church of Scientology when they were members, so the court was obligated to divert the case to church-selected arbitrators.

Masterson previously called the rape claims "outrageous" and said he was "very disappointed" when his Jameson "Rooster" Bennett character was written off the Netflix show "The Ranch."

He was charged in the criminal case last June and remains free after posting bail.