Court upholds Danny Masterson's rape convictions and 30-year sentence on appeal

A California appeals court on Tuesday upheld actor Danny Masterson's rape convictions and his 30-year prison sentence, rejecting his appeal in an 89-page ruling. A three-judge panel unanimously found he had failed to demonstrate that his trial was flawed. Masterson was convicted of raping two women at his home in 2003. The panel rejected his claims that the trial judge mishandled evidence, denied him a fair trial and showed hostility toward Scientology. His attorneys said they will seek review from the California Supreme Court. Masterson was arrested in 2020, and his 2022 trial ended in a mistrial before his 2023 conviction. As affirmed in the ruling, he is ineligible for parole until 2042.

Left-leaning Rolling Stone and The Washington Post both lead with the denied appeal. Rolling Stone, which obtained the ruling, features the justices' finding that the judge's remarks showed no animosity toward Scientology, the judge's earlier question about why Scientology evidence was more inflammatory than gang evidence, and Masterson's own request to limit Scientology references; its headline stresses his vow to go to the state's highest court. The Washington Post offers a short report on the upheld convictions and the 2003 rapes, without that background. Right-leaning Washington Times centers on the upheld 30-year sentence and says he was found guilty in 2023, using only a brief excerpt. Alternative AP reports the unanimous panel, while The A.V. Club adds allegations that the church worked to suppress the victims' stories and cites the First Amendment holding. All sides agree on the upheld sentence; they differ in whether the Scientology-bias arguments are central.