Actor Danny Masterson is blaming his own lawyer for his 2023 rape conviction in new docs filed Monday seeking to have his convictions thrown out.
Masterson’s new attorneys say the old one — Philip Cohen — failed to call key witnesses or dispute the prosecution’s claims about his Scientology religion, TMZ reports.
The new filings say that Cohen spoke to only two of “more than 20 potential witnesses” despite their “prior statements to the police and to investigators that they could provide evidence in support of the actor, now serving 30 years to life in a California prison after he was convicted of two counts of rape. The jury did not convict the actor on a third count of rape, as CrimeOnline reported.
Masterson also claimed that Cohen failed to rebut prosecutors’ claims that women in Masterson’s religion are frequently discouraged from reporting high-profile members to the police and that they have reported threats when they do.
“The unfairness of the second Masterson trial was the result of prosecutorial misconduct, judicial bias, and the failure of defense counsel to present exculpatory evidence,” Masterson’s new attorney, Eric Multhaup, said in a statement, according to NBC News. “The jury heard only half the story — the prosecution’s side. Danny deserves a new trial where the jury can hear his side as well.”
According to the petition, after the jury deadlocked in Masterson’s first trial, the actor asked Cohen to interview more witness, but he declined.
Masterson “implored Cohen to present a defense case, Cohen did not interview any potential defense witnesses prior to the retrial; did not have any witnesses under subpoena; and did not present any defense,” the petition says.
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[Featured image: Danny Masterson/California Department of Corrections via AP]
