Jurors who served on the 2023 trial that found Danny Masterson guilty on two counts of forcible rape have claimed that members of the disgraced That '70s Show actor's legal team have been making "unwanted contact" with them at their homes and workplaces.
As Rolling Stone reports, a new court filing saw Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller suggest that Masterson's lawyers' reported outreach to jurors "was neither wanted nor was it made at a reasonable time and place as required." Mueller is urging the court to conduct a full hearing on the matter "to consider the imposition of sanctions, if appropriate, for any unwanted, harassing or otherwise improper conduct by members of the defence team."
The document states that one juror reached out to the court about Masterson's appeal team visiting them and some other members of the jury via email in July, writing, "We thought our information was going to be sealed. We don't recall the timeframe of this. We are concerned."
In a letter sent to all counsel on September 17, Judge Charlaine Olmedo — who presided over Masterson's trial — revealed that several jurors had submitted complaints "of unwanted contact at their homes or work by members of the defence team."
Olmedo shared an email from another juror who claimed that they were doing yard work outside their home on September 15 at around 2 p.m. when a car pulled up and a woman, who said she was a member of Masterson's habeas team, approached and said she wanted to ask questions about incidents that resulted in the jury being sequestered.
The judge said she was issuing a new order "that all further contact with trial jurors and alternate jurors must take place through the court clerk," and that she was willing to conduct a hearing if needed.
Shortly after Mueller's filing, Shawn Holley, one of Masterson's former defence lawyers, submitted a declaration admitting to having contacted and met with the jury foreperson back in July of last year, writing, "Her email address was easy to locate online, given the information she provided in open court concerning her place of employment."
Holley alleged that the foreperson put her in touch with two other jurors, claiming that all three of them "indicated that I was welcome to contact them again," adding in an email to the Los Angeles Times that she had "made it clear to all three jurors" that "they were under no obligation to speak with me or to meet with me." The attorney said she had no further contact with any additional members of the jury.
Masterson filed to appeal his sentence of 30 years in prison on September 18, 2023 — the same day his wife, Bijou Phillips, filed for divorce. New Linkin Park singer Emily Armstrong addressed her past support of Masterson, claiming that she "misjudged" him; and, after "unimaginable details emerged," she has "never spoken with him since."