Danny Masterson Rape Trial Turns Aggressive Fast As Scientology Spotlighted In Opening Statements

deadline.com:

With a jury finally selected and seated, Danny Masterson’s trial on multiple rape charges began today with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office putting the Church of Scientology front and center.

From the beginning, Assistant DA Reinhold Mueller proclaimed the trial as “three different sexual assault cases, in fact three different case of forcible rape.” With mere minutes to go before the lunch break and after the prosecution had completed its opening statement, defense lawyer Phillip Cohen gave an indication of the hard tone this trial could take on.

The attorney leapt up to give a “couple of highlights” of their argument, how the alleged victims disregarded the advice of the LAPD and communicated with one another and how there was a shakedown at play because Masterson made “oodles and oodles of money” on That 70s Show.

There very quickly were a number of objections from Mueller and others at the prosecution table as Cohen became more and more aggressive, and a frustrated Judge Charlene Olmedo called the parties to the bench and could be heard telling them essentially to dial it down.  “This case will also be about certain policies that each of these alleged victims understood they needed to follow,” Assistant D.A.