Danny Masterson is taking aim at his legal team in his ongoing appeal of his 2023 rape conviction. The former That ’70s Show star, who is currently serving a 30-year-to-life sentence for raping two women, says his trial attorney didn’t do enough to defend him.
In a new court filing, Masterson argues that his attorney, Philip Cohen, dropped the ball by failing to call over a dozen witnesses who could’ve potentially supported his case.
Masterson claims that Cohen only questioned two people out of the more than 20 potential witnesses who had previously given statements to police. According to the documents obtained by Page Six on November 17, these witnesses were crucial to his defense, but Cohen reportedly didn’t bring them to the stand. What’s more, Masterson argues that Cohen missed key opportunities to challenge the prosecution’s focus on his ties to Scientology, which became a significant part of the trial.
In the filing, Masterson also says Cohen ignored advice from attorneys tied to the Church of Scientology. He claims they urged Cohen to bring in members to testify, countering the narrative that the church intimidates women who come forward with allegations. Masterson insists that Cohen didn’t follow this advice, which he believes further harmed his defense.
The court documents suggest that “the jury saw only the tip of the iceberg of available defense evidence” and that there was “a wealth of directly exculpatory evidence” that went unused. Masterson’s legal team argues that these mistakes resulted in a trial that was far from fair.
Since his arrest in 2020 and conviction in 2023, Masterson has continued his fight in the courts. His appeal, which started in December 2024, is based on what his attorney Cliff Gardner calls “erroneous judicial rulings” and the lack of key evidence, which Masterson’s team believes violated his right to a fair trial.
